Derek
Sanderson Jeter is a former professional baseball shortstop
and now a baseball executive. He has been the CEO and part
owner of the Miami Marlins since September 2017.Playing
shortstop, Jeter spent his entire 20-year career with the New
York Yankees. Jeter was a 5-time World Series champion,
regarded as the primary force behind the Yankees unbelievable
success in the late 90’s and 2000’s. He was drafted by the
Yankees in 1992. During 1996, his first full season in the
majors, his performance helped the Yankees win the World
Series against the Braves. Since then, he's seen four more
Yankees World Series wins in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009. Jeter
is the all-time Yankees hit leader and was named team captain
in 2003. He is the Yankees' all-time career leader in hits
(3,465), doubles (544), games played (2,747), stolen bases
(358), times on base (4,716), plate appearances (12,602) and
at bats (11,195). He is a member of the prestigious 3000 hit
club, only the 28th player in history to be apart of this
club. His 3,416 hits leads all shortstops and ranks 6th all
time in MLB history.
Early Life
Jeter was born on June 26, 1974 in Pequannock Township, New
Jersey but later relocated to Kalamazoo, Michigan at 4 years
old. His father, Sanderson Charles Jeter, played baseball as a
shortstop at Fisk University. His mother was an accountant and
also played softball. His parents raised Derek and his sister
Sharlee in a baseball family as Sharlee was a softball star in
high school. His mother is of English, German, and Irish
ancestry, while his father is African-American. They met while
serving in the United States Army in Germany.
Derek and his sister
spent their summers with their grandparents in New Jersey.
This is where his love of the Yankees started as he attended
Yankees games with his grandparents where he became a huge
fan. Outfielder Dave Winfield was his favorite player and
inspired him to pursue a baseball career. Jeter later attended
Kalamazoo Central High School where he was a basketball
player, cross country runner, and a baseball player. In high
school, Jeter won many awards including the 1992 Gatorade High
School Player of the year Award and all-state honors.
While
playing in high school, Jeter batted .557 in his sophomore
year and .508 as a junior. In his senior year, he batted
.508 and compiled 23 runs batted in, 21 walks, four home
runs, a .637 on-base percentage, a .831 slugging percentage,
12 stolen bases, and only one strikeout. His performance
earned him a scholarship to the University of Michigan and a
spot on the Wolverines baseball team.
Minor
Leagues
Jeter played four
seasons in minor league baseball, then known as the National
Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (NAPBL). Jeter
began the 1992 season with the Gulf Coast Yankees of the
Rookie-level Gulf Coast League, based in Tampa, Florida. In
his first professional game, Jeter failed to get a hit in
seven at-bats, going 0-for-7, while striking out five times.
Jeter continued to struggle during the rest of the season,
batting .202 in 47 games.[16][23] Manager Gary Denbo benched
Jeter in the season's final game to ensure his average would
not drop below .200, known in baseball as the Mendoza
Line.[24] Frustrated by his lack of success and homesick,
Jeter accrued $400-per-month phone bills from daily calls to
his parents.
The Yankees promoted
Jeter to the Greensboro Hornets of the Class A South Atlantic
League (SAL) to give him more at-bats.[23] He batted .247 in
his first 11 games with Greensboro, and struggled defensively,
making nine errors in 48 chances. Weighing 156 pounds (71 kg),
Jeter had a scrawny appearance that did not match his
reputation as the Yankees' future leader. Jorge Posada and
Andy Pettitte, who played for the Hornets that season, at
first questioned the hype surrounding Jeter, but recognized
his talent and poise.
Jeter focused the next
offseason on his fielding. Baseball America rated Jeter among
the top 100 prospects in baseball before the 1993 season,
ranking him 44th. Returning to the Hornets in 1993, his first
full season of professional baseball, Jeter hit .295 with five
home runs, 71 RBIs, and 18 stolen bases; SAL managers voted
him the "Most Outstanding Major League Prospect" in the
league. He finished second in the SAL in triples (11), third
in hits (152), and eleventh in batting average, and was named
to the postseason All-Star team.[13] Jeter committed 56
errors, a SAL record. Despite this, he was named the SAL's
Best Defensive Shortstop, Most Exciting Player, and Best
Infield Arm by Baseball America.
Coming off his strong
1993 season, Baseball America rated Jeter as the 16th-best
prospect in baseball.[25] Jeter played for the Tampa Yankees
of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League (FSL), the
Albany-Colonie Yankees of the Class AA Eastern League, and the
Columbus Clippers of the Class AAA International League during
the 1994 season, combining to hit .344 with five home runs, 68
RBIs, and steal 50 bases across the three levels. He was
honored with the Minor League Player of the Year Award by
Baseball America, The Sporting News, USA Today, and
Topps/NAPBL. He was also named the most valuable player of the
FSL.
Considered the
fourth-best prospect in baseball by Baseball America heading
into the 1995 season, Jeter was projected as the starting
shortstop for the Yankees. However, he suffered mild
inflammation in his right shoulder in the Arizona Fall League
after the conclusion of the 1994 regular season. As a
precaution, the Yankees signed Tony Fernández to a two-year
contract. With Fernández the starting shortstop, the Yankees
assigned Jeter to Class AAA. During the 1994–95 Major League
Baseball strike, Gene Michael, the Yankees' general manager,
offered Jeter the opportunity to work out for the MLB team
with replacement players in spring training before the 1995
season. Jeter denied receiving the offer, and he did not cross
the picket line.
Major
Leagues
Following his graduation, Jeter was selected by the
Yankees with the sixth overall pick in the June 1992 draft. He
also enrolled at the University of Michigan, but his time on
campus was brief as he rapidly ascended the ranks of the
Yankees' farm system. After batting .344 with 50 stolen bases
in 1994, he was selected as "Minor League Player of the Year"
by several publications, including The Sporting News and
Baseball America.
In 1995, Derek Jeter realized his dream when Yankees shortstop
Tony Fernandez was put on the disabled list. Jeter made his
big league debut on May 29 of that year, playing against the
Seattle Mariners. The following year, in his first full season
as a Major League Baseball player, he batted .314 with 10 home
runs. The skilled shortstop also performed well in the infield
and helped the Yankees win the World Series against the
Atlanta Braves. Jeter won the 1996 American League Rookie of
the Year Award for his performance that season.
Jeter developed into one of baseball's top all-around players
and the lynchpin of a perennially dominant Yankees team. He
earned his first of 14 All-Star selections in 1998, a season
that ended with the first of three straight world
championships for the Bronx Bombers. He led the majors in hits
and tallied career highs in home runs and RBIs in 1999, and in
2000 he became the first player to be named the All-Star Game
and World Series MVP in the same season.
Known for his patented "inside-out" swing and acrobatic
jump-throws, Jeter developed a reputation as a player who
thrived in pressure-packed moments. In perhaps the most famous
play of his career, he ran down an errant throw from the
outfield and delivered "The Flip" to home plate to record an
important out against the Oakland A's in the 2001 playoffs. A
few weeks later, he blasted a 10th-inning home run to beat the
Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 4 of the World Series. His
winning style earned the respect and admiration of coaches,
sports commentators, peers and fans, and he was named team
captain in 2003.
Jeter suffered his first major injury that season when a
collision left him with a separated shoulder, but he was as
good as ever after returning. He won the first of five gold
glove awards for fielding excellence in 2004, and in 2006 he
finished second in the voting for the league MVP award.
In September 2009, Jeter passed Lou Gehrig with his 2,722nd
hit -- the most in franchise history -- before earning his
fifth world championship ring at the end of the season. In
July 2011, he homered to become the 28th player in history to
reach 3,000 career hits.
Limited to just 17 games in 2013 due to a lingering ankle
injury, Jeter announced he would be retiring after the 2014
season, his 20th in the majors. Although his numbers were well
below his usual lofty standards, "The Captain" proved he could
still rise to the occasion for big moments. He started a rally
for the American League with a leadoff double in the All-Star
Game, and knocked home the game-winning run in his final
at-bat at Yankee Stadium in September. In addition to his five
world championships, Jeter finished with an impressive .310
lifetime batting average, and his 3,465 hits ranked sixth in
big league history.