I HATE the Yankees, but God Darn if this wasn't perfect for that man. A true good guy. It pains be to say it about a Yankee, but I have to.

People who have enjoyed watching Jeter over that last 18-20 years are excited to honor someone that they cherished as their Yankee captain. He projected himself with class, respect, and honor. What made him special was that he seemed to come through in the clutch in Octobef & November, a very important time in the baseball year. Whether it was a clutch hit or a great fielding play or a cutoff, he had the drive and instincts of a Winner. This was a kid that was raised to Respect the game and treat his competition with this same respect. ( not showing someone up) Today's players and society in general do not show that respect or class in their daily lives. This thread was written to honor him and there are a few of you that showed how classless you are. If you don't have anything nice to say don't say it. Those of you that had negative posts should go hang out with Keith O and talk about how each of you have more talent and World Series rings then this loser of a shortstop named Jeter. I guess you are what they call Haters in today's world. You either have class or you don't and you don't. I read a lot of your ignorant posts on Net54 but don't say anything because I respect people's opinions but this was not the thread to rip someone but Honor what they have accomplished. Olberman is a lot like Jim Rome, they put down professional athletes yet they never reached the level of the person they are ripping. Wow Keith you have a T206 Wagner but you weren't even as skilled as Billy Ripken? Well at least you are a F___ F___ above and beyond him. Get a life and keep it positive and treat people like you would like to be treated.

Steve Skibel, I just read the entire thread up to this point and I really don't see what you are complaining about. There is just a lot of praise. Who are you complaining about being negative??

I hope Steve doesnt venture over to the Adam Dunn thread. :eek:

For me, he will always be tainted by his association with Mariah Carey.

Just kidding. Great commercial. Never a big fan, but you have to appreciate a guy who puts together a career like that. A terrific ballplayer who represented the sport about as well as you can in the toughest market there is.

Yankees, no matter Jeter wanted, could have played him anywhere and could have batted him anywhere in the lineup. If you dont like where he played (who did they have that would be better this year?) and if you dont like him batting second, then talk to Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman, its their fault he didnt move out of either spot.

But look at the batting averages of most of the Yankees, and their horrible stats with RISP, almost the whole offensive team failed this year, not just Jeter, the old man.

I admired him for how he could tolerate and exist in the most crazy and high profile media scrutiny and performed consistently well for so many years..... I am going to miss not seeing him play anymore...

Ricky Y

Ouch! That's a pretty tough op ed piece, but Obermann makes some valid (and hilarious) points.

I agree with Bill Gregory, Obermann and some other sports writers who've spoken out on this point - it's been taken to an overkill level, if not a morbidly absurd spectacle. Besides the over saturation of media hype, the worst case as Obermann pointed out is putting the "#2" on the Yankee's caps while he's still alive, let alone still playing is disturbing. Just yesterday, I read about all these public farewell appearances Jeter's making for huge bucks. Nothing is sacred anymore as long as money can be made.

Just catching up on the thread. Please excuse any bad language, but Steve's response immediately made me think of this....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmvkRoEowc

No offense meant, I am the same way for Peyton Manning.

Ah, the old "if you aren't an athlete/actor/director, you can't criticize the player/movie".

By the same token, do you have the many years of anchoring Sportscenter and a huge gig on MSNBC that it requires to be able to critique Keith Olbermann?

You can criticize anybody you want to and that is Freedom of Speech. The point I was making is that Derek Jeter does not talk himself up like a Ricky Henderson. it is Olberman's own Media friends that blow him up not Jeter himself. Guys like Mantle and Jeter respected their fellow players and never tried to show them up. Fans are trying to celebrate the career of a classy player and it is sad that people need to take cheap shots. Kinda like a guy that has a 52 Topps Mantle and all his friend is talking about is how off-center it is instead of being happy for his friend.One thing that has grown over the last 10-15 years is arrogance, narcissism and Jealousy. Take it how you want to. If your good, you don't need to talk about yourself, tell people how great you are or put people down. Jeter has never claimed to be the greatest Yankee or thinks he is. He was successful and can't stop the media from over exaggerating things. It is funny how Dan Patrick ripped his ex ESPN partner this morning on his radio show talking about the anger that was shown in his ex partners monologue. I'm just not a fan of Narcisism and Arrogance and people who display these characteristics are not people that I respect. Jealousy brings out the worst in people!

In this day and age of pampered, arrogant, me-only, a**hole athletes, it's just stupid to be putting down Jeter in any way.

I haven't seen many or even any criticize Jeter as a person. The notion that Jeter cannot be criticized as a ballplayer is, of course, laughable. I've criticized Cy Young. I've criticized Babe Ruth. Everyone has holes in their game. Everyone. Its unfathomable to me that people think Jeter or anyone else is simply beyond reproach as a player.

Derek Jeter
 

Well said Peter, and you forgot one other major issue with most great athletes..."use of performance enhancing substances". I heard an additional Jeter supporting fact the other day that blew my mind. In 20 years, Jeter was NEVER thrown out of a game for arguing a call!!! In an era of ridiculously pampered, spoiled and over-paid athletes, I found that truly amazing.

Joe

This was just posted on ESPN:

http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/stor...baseball-cards

A Perfect Ending for a Yankee Great! It is Nice how the cream always rises to the top!

It's cool that he had a great last game at Yankee Stadium... but his OPS is .614... there are only 4 players worse than him this year....

Sorry if being blunt, but who cares?? He's a stud, and ending his amazing and ever clutch career with a game winning hit in his last AB at Yankee Stadium is pretty fitting. I'm happy for him and for the Yankee fans that got to see him exit in style.

As a kid I remember seeing Mike Schmidt (an All Star that year) go 0-fer and make two errors in SF, prompting him, in tears, to call it quits right after the game (my dad had taken me specifically to see Schmidt). Do I feel this is worth pointing out if/when his career comes into discussion?--- "But he barely hit.200 and booted two balls in his last game..."--- No, I do not because it happens to almost all the greats (Ruth, Mays, Aaron, etc). Guys age, their skills, play, and stats diminish over time. That's why they retire. It does not take away from the greatness of their careers, nor from the thrills/joy they gave fans over years, even decades of great play.

Wondering if he ever walked through the neighborhood chatting with fans when he wasn't on camera.

I don't think it's fair to compare Mike Schmidt and Derek Jeter... Schmidt won THREE MVP's. Jeter? zero. :)

Sorry, I'm from Minnesota.

Schmidt only came to mind because I remember that game so well. Frankly, it's my only "in person: impression of the guy, but I take it with a grain of salt because I know he had been great for so many years prior to those last couple. I think Jeter's 2013-2014 stats fall into that "grain of salt" category.

I've never been a Jeter or Yankee lover, but not a hater either... and I do genuinely think he's a guy who will never be fully defined by his numbers and/or awards. It's becoming cliche, but I really think his intangibles--confidence/calmness/smarts/toughness, that he brought and maintained every day for 20 years equaled many many wins for the Yanks.. though of course this can never be measured or broken down by anything found on Baseball Reference. As a quick aside, though I love stats, I really hope they don't completely replace eyes, ears, gut feel when assessing baseball greatness/talent.

Jeter is the real deal.

Awesome. I graduated from Western Michigan and Kalamazoo is one of my absolute favorite places. I am about 90% sure I had Jeter in class when I was student teaching at K-Central.

There's got to be some reason 48,000 fans stay on their feet for an hour after the game is over. The guy is extraordinarily likable, I don't know why, why he always is the one put in the position to do something special, why more often than not he comes thru in those spots regardless of how his skills have diminished. The guy is just magical. I think a lot of it is how we/I seem to easily identify with him how easy it is to see/project ourselves in him. Somehow he makes you feel special, special just watching him play. A lot of improbable things had to happen last night to allow him to be put in that position to succeed. Asked after the game, "Derek what were you thinking your last time up?...Just don't cry". He might not have cried but I did. I also screamed, jumped up and down, gave my kids watching the game with me a high five and kissed my wife. I will miss him.

+1 - For all those people who refuse to place an ounce of faith in fate/destiny, I highly advise them to replay the 9th inning of the Yankee game last night! "Magical" is indeed the perfect word to describe Jeter's career that extends far beyond "black & white" statistics such as WAR, OPS, etc., for so many of Jeter's amazing feats Bill James could not even dream of compiling via a mathematical calculation. Watching Jeter for 20 years is sheer proof that the full measurement of a great baseball player cannot always be seen in a box score or league leader's category. While Jeter has certainly amassed some formidable statistics of his own (e.g., a .310 lifetime average for a shortstop that includes nearly 3,500 hits), I firmly believe his "intangibles" far outweigh the significance of statistical achievements. Box scores don't measure a ballplayer taking an extra base when necessary, laying down a critical bunt, making a near-impossible "flip-play" to the catcher to keep a season alive, sacrificing his body to catch a foul ball by diving head-first into the stands, playing every inning of every game as if its his last, and NEVER uttering one derogatory word towards either his teammates or any peers throughout his remarkable 20-year career. How else can you explain the seemingly infinite adoration of this man who could stop traffic with his presence, and has brought so much joy to the countless number of fans who truly appreciate his unbridled love for our National Pastime. Is he naturally gifted like Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio and Mantle...no....absolutely not. But, I think even those four iconic Yankees would roll over in their graves to tip their caps to Derek Jeter for everything he has meant not only to the Yankee organization, but even more significantly, to the game of baseball.

Joe T.

Thanks to my wife (I don't even want to know what she paid) my son-in-law and I were there. It was awesome and surreal. I cannot lie...after Robertson blew Kuroda's save (AGAIN!) I told my son-in-law it was as if Girardi had gotten together with Showalter before the game and said "If we're winning in the top of 9th and Derek is due up in the bottom of the 9th, we'll blow the lead so he can win it." And he performed right on cue! If someone wrote up a script like that for a movie and that was the ending, no one would buy it!

Much needed. In general, professional athletes are such tools. Ok, NHL gets a pass. Good for the sport. Great for the kids. -I love NY too... It's the (modern) Yankees I hate :)

1 Finally, there’s this astounding number. According to Elias, it’s the number of games Jeter has played, in his entire career, in which his team, the mighty Yankees, was mathematically eliminated from some sort of race for some sort of trip to the postseason. One meaningless game in 20 seasons? Whoa. On one hand, it would be nuts to argue that was all Derek Jeter’s doing. On the other hand, what defines his career better than that? A man who lived for the big game -- and played nothing but big games. For 20 years. What better way to put a frame around the career of one of the greatest shortstops who ever turned a 4-6-3?

So last night made 2.

I dont think this was posted.

what a great ending!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqKcTYxARJU

Jeter
 

I wiould take Jeter as my shortstop any day. Anyone who puts him down are just haters and dont really understand How Graet and Classy this Guy is. Not only is he the Captain and Face of the Yankees but he is also the Face of all MLB. Every Player,Manager ,Coach etc have nothing but Great Respecty for Jeter because he always gave respect to the Game .
Class Act in every way...

John P

Incredible game. Would have still been a good way to go, driving in the go ahead run. But that error would have left a bad taste in my mouth.

Glad to see things play out the way they did. I even made my girlfriend get off her computer to watch his last at bat because I told her it was important. She wasn't disappointed either.

Amazing ending.

I was at the game but I agree with bill omg :)

I only arrived in the United States in January of 2000, aged 32.
Had never before watched baseball, never collected US sportscards.

In the 4 months I travelled around the USA I watched endless sports, and in April of that year bought my first baseball card.

It was a 93 Pinnacle Jeter.
He just stood out, as champions do.
I have purchased thousands of cards since, and a foil version of Derek has replaced the Pinnacle in my collection, but 13 years later I still remember that card arriving and my falling in love with sportscards.

Thanks Derek Jeter. :)

I have never been so happy that a Yankee reliever blew a save in my life. Talk about fate setting it up for Jeter!!!!

The Onion has a nice retrospective look at Jeter's last couple of seasons.:D

http://www.theonion.com/articles/der...retires,35253/

edit to note some language may be offensive

Waiting for the pitcher to say he laid one in for him on purpose.