Derek Jeter Plays Above The Numbers
Jeter Defines The Yankees, But Intangibles Define Jeter
Sep 12, 2009
The hit itself was nothing special, just a skipping line drive down the right field line past the first baseman. Jumbled in with the hundred other baseball replays on television that morning, it could have been mistaken for any one of them. In typical Derek Jeter fashion, however, it wasn’t the hit itself that stood out.
Jeter Now Yankee Hit Leader
Derek Jeter broke Lou Gehrig’s Yankee hit record with a typical Jeter swing, resulting in the typical Jeter single on a typically dreary fall night. Meaning there was nothing typical about the event whatsoever.
Consider the intangibles of the event itself; Jeter breaking the record on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Eight years after the most horrific event the nation had ever seen, Jeter returned to the city he has meant so much to, and took a little of the sting away from a day that most people would like to cross off their calendars.
After September 11, 2001, New York turned to baseball following the attacks, and it united the city and the nation. Seeing baseball again signaled that everything was going to be okay, that the nation and city was going to get through this. Jeter, in his first game back after the attacks delayed the season in 2001, went three for four with a double; he was going to get through this too.
Safe At Home
Jeter managed to achieve the record at home in the new Yankee Stadium. No one thought he was going to break the record on the road; it isn’t Jeter’s style. Derek always manages to find himself in the middle of the largest of spotlights; breaking the record at Toronto simply wouldn’t do. While the old stadium was referred to as “The House That Ruth Built,” this stadium can rightly be called “The House That Jeter Built.”
In the World Series, Jeter is a .302 hitter with a .980 fielding percentage. He’s a .309 hitter in the post season. Even though his numbers don’t always match up favorably, to think that there was even ever a debate as to whether any other shortstop was better is astounding. Despite having Nomar Garciaparra (.321 post season), A-Rod (.305 post season), and most recently Jose Reyes (.205 post season) in the same league or the same area code, they’ve never been remotely close to Jeter in stature and tenure.
With half of his career hits coming at home, and the other half on the road, Jeter continues to prove what it is that makes him so special. Jeter’s intangibles make the difference, whether it’s “The Flip,” “The Dive,” the smile he gives on the field, or the glares he has given to A-Rod, "Mr. Novemner" may well be remembered not for the things he did, but for what he didn’t.
Character And Class
Jeter isn’t a problem in the clubhouse. Jeter isn’t on the Mitchell Report. Jeter doesn’t have mental lapses like A-Rod, Nomar and Reyes. Jeter is clutch, and A-Rod isn’t. Jeter doesn’t speak of himself in the third person. Jeter’s not on the back page of the Post unless it’s baseball related. Jeter finds his own weaknesses and makes them better; consider his range and defense this season, which has him in the running for AL MVP. He was cut down by critics last season as losing a step. They said he would need to be moved to the outfield. Jeter took it personally, and improved.
Years from now, Jeter has his place in the Hall Of Fame, without question. When old men point to the Hall Of Fame plaque of the skinny short stop from the Yankees, they can whisper to their children about why Derek Jeter was what was right about baseball. While the record is a number, and baseball is all about the numbers, Jeter is the icon.
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