Thank you Captain

Today there is an epidemic of sadness coursing through the veins of baseball fans across the country with the core of it coming out of New York. Derek Jeter will never wear Yankee pinstripes again and baseball won’t ever be the same for many Yankees fans.

Jeter spoiled Yankees fans for 20 years. We are an unrelenting fan base that demand greatness every day from our team and Jeter thrived on our demands. He played the game the right way and made it easy to cheer for him. He excelled in the big moments and always made us expect greatness. While he never put up gaudy numbers like others in his era, his consistency proved he was the greatest of them all.

Jeter represented an amazing time to be a Yankees fan, in his 20 years he captured five World Series rings and seven American League pennants. He became the face of the winningest franchise in the history of sports and of the game he played. Young boys and girls became Yankees fans because of Jeter and now they’ve grown into young men and women and are passing along their love for the Yankee captain to their families.

Jeter’s professionalism has caused other major leaguers to marvel at him. He is revered by others in his profession and is held up as the model they aspire to be. Former and current teammates praise him for being a great leader, for playing hard every play and leaving it all on the field. He never took plays off and did everything he could to win, whether it was a sacrifice bunt to move a runner over or sacrificing his body by diving into the stands.

Derek was the picture of perfection in many fan’s eyes. He played hard for them on the field and never made off the field headlines which would make them regret rooting for him. There was never a split between Jeter fans and Jeter haters because the latter never existed. Fans might not have liked him for beating their teams but they couldn’t do anything but respect his tenacity and gameplay.

Jeter usually showed a cool demeanor on the field but there wasn’t much better than seeing him celebrate. His big smile while holding the Commissioner’s Trophy after winning the 2009 World Series is implanted in the heads of fans. The Jeter fist pump will be remembered by Yankees fans as a sign of triumph and opposing fans as acknowledgement of defeat. Last night, though, he provided maybe the greatest image of them all.

With a runner on second base during a tie game in the bottom of the ninth Jeter strode to the plate for the last time ever at Yankee Stadium. In classic “Jeterian” fashion he provided a dramatic ending to baseball fans worldwide. He simply brought his arms in and smacked a pitch through the hole between first and second like he’s done so many times before and after rounding first and seeing the winning run score he jumped with both arms reaching toward the sky.

When Jeter was a young boy he dreamed he could reach for the stars and play shortstop for the New York Yankees. With his hands held high last night he didn’t have to reach any longer because he finally grasped them.