With the sixth pick of the 1992 Major League Baseball draft
the New York Yankees selected a tall, scrawny shortstop out of a Midwest high
school. Over the course of the next 22 years that scrawny kid became a five time
world champion, a 14-time all-star, captain of the winningest franchise in
professional sports and the face of Major League baseball. In that time, though, Derek Jeter also became
the greatest player of his generation.
It would be foolish to deny or not discuss that Jeter’s
generation of baseball took place mostly during the steroid era. Jeter’s peers
were hitting homeruns at incredible paces. They were putting up numbers that
had only been reached one time or a handful of times in the history of the
game. Players were not playing on an even playing field. For many, it wasn’t
fair. But Jeter rose above all of that and played his game to the best of his
ability. And because he played it righteously and honestly he ascended to the
top of the game and performed at a high level for 20 years.
Jeter came up at a time in baseball where shortstops were
becoming not only cornerstone defensive players but they were also becoming the
big threats in lineups. His contemporaries at shortstop include players like
Nomar Garciaparra and Alex Rodriguez. There was constant conversation about who
the best of the three was. Mariners’ fans claimed that A-Rod was because of his
power and production. Red Sox fans argued that Nomar was the best. He was the
one winning multiple batting titles as well as producing in the heart of the
lineup. Jeter didn’t care. He kept his mouth shut and sat in the number two
hole of the Yankees lineup and kept hitting. A-Rod switched teams twice, was
forced to a new position and got caught up with steroids ending up in a
yearlong suspension in 2014. Garciaparra moved teams several times and his
career ended in 2009 due to ongoing injuries. Once again, Jeter rose above his
contemporaries.
Jeter never put up gaudy numbers. In fact he only reached 20
homeruns thrice and 100 RBI once during his storied career. Jeter was never the
American League MVP, although he finished in the top-10 eight different times.
Although many experts categorized Jeter as a deficient fielder, he racked up
five Gold Gloves. And while Jeter wasn’t a power hitter either four times he
brought home the Silver Slugger award. Those numbers aren’t the important ones
to Jeter and they aren’t the ones that define who he is.
What defines Jeter is simply his fistful of rings, the five
World Series championship teams that he played for. He never cared about
accolades, although he has many. He never cared about being on the back pages
of newspapers, although he appeared there several times. He never cared about playing
in all-star games, although he is about to appear in his 14th. None
of that ever mattered to Jeter. All he ever wanted was to hoist the
Commissioner’s Trophy and be the last team standing. Jeter was lucky enough to
do that five times.
Jeter has played baseball at a high level for so many years.
He has worked hard day in and day out to be the best that he could be. By
working so hard he became the captain of the most storied franchise in sports.
He became the face of our National Pastime. He is now the all-time leader in
many New York Yankee categories.
During his 20 year career he may never have been considered
the “best” player in the game. But when we look back at the last 20 years of
baseball, Derek Jeter will be looked at above every other player and we will
all know that scrawny kid from Kalamazoo, MI was the only real MVP.
