Derek Jeter Day

Derek Jeter day was a bittersweet day for me and not just because the New York Yankees continued their season long trend of losing big important games.  While it was nice to see the captain get the celebrity sendoff he deserved (Michael Jordan was there!  How cool is that?), the day also served as another crushing blow to my mortality and one of the final nails in the coffin that is my childhood.  Derek Jeter is the last link to the dynasty years of the late nineties and early thousands where everything just seemed to go the Yankees way.  Growing up he was never my favorite player, but rather a guy that was another cog in the puzzle who also happened to be very good with the ladies.  Over the years, the Yankees organization turned over with new expensive free agents replacing old expensive free agents leaving only Posada, Rivera, and Jeter as the links to the glory years (Pettitte left or those three years in the desert).  While I enjoyed the other two (I mean I enjoyed Posada, but revered Rivera like the pitching god he was and shed numerous tears while watching his last game at Yankee Stadium ), Derek Jeter became the player I rooted for the most.  I had fully bought into the Jeter narrative and I could and still care less about any flaw that St Jeter showed.  The man would come up in any big situation and simply make it his own.  Everyone plays the same worthy highlights but I like to remember the lesser known great Jeter moments like how he hit a 2 out go ahead 3 run home run to beat the Kansas City Royals in the 2006 home opener to start off a fantastic should have been MVP year (after new Yankee Johnny Damon struck out).  Jeter is the last player from my childhood rooting years and as corny as it is to mention, we’ve both grown up together (I believe Jeter mentioned something like this in his speech today).  I doubt I will ever see another player like Jeter, who I would consider my generation’s Mickey Mantle in terms of reverence.  Fittingly like Mantle, Jeter will go out on a mediocre team that is a shell of the great teams he used to lead, but for now I’m okay with that.  As long as Robinson Cano and the Mariners miss the postseason, I’ll be fine with watching the Viking funeral that is Derek Jeter’s last few weeks in the sport he’s played oh so well.  It’s strange to think that the next time we see Derek Jeter pick up a bat it’ll be at an old timer’s game joking around with old teammates and other former Yankees.  It’ll be even stranger to see him become the name they call out last like Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra, but that day will come as well.  I’m just glad I got to see the Captain play day in and day out as he’s provided me with many great moments as well as a few not so great moments (mainly the double plays).  So here’s to Derek Jeter, the only player that can make me sincerely utter that old stupid phrase “he was a true Yankee”.  We’ll miss you Jeter.