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Can Yankees send Jeter off with World Series?

By Jeff Weisinger

Jul 2, 2014; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter (2) is unable to throw out Tampa Bay Rays center fielder Desmond Jennings (8) (not pictured) during the first inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 2, 2014; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter (2) is unable to throw out Tampa Bay Rays center fielder Desmond Jennings (8) (not pictured) during the first inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports /
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So here we are.  Just 68 games left until we say goodbye to the last Yankee great we’re going to have for a long while.  Just 68 chances left to see that navy blue number two jersey take his usual spot at shortstop and just 40 more chances in the Bronx to hear the late Bob Sheppard announce “now batting: the shortstop number two, Derek Jeter.  Number two.”

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    • The Yankee captain begins his final career second half of the season when the Yankees take the field against the Cincinnati Reds in the first game of a 10-game home-stand in the Bronx.

    While the Yankees are still aiming to make it to the postseason to give Jeter a proper farewell with the Yanks involved in October baseball, Jeter is more than content ending his career where it began: in the infamous Yankee pinstripes.

    “The thing that means the most to me is to be remembered as a Yankee,” Jeter said at his retirement press conference earlier this year.

    There’s no question that Jeter will always be remembered as a Yankee not just because they are the only team he has ever played for, but also because he’s personified what it meant to be a Yankee.

    From his first-class personality to his remarkable ability to win and lead others to win, it would be poetically fitting if the Yankees can pull off a second half comeback and (dare I say it) win a World Series in The Captain’s final chapter.  However, don’t look for the Yanks to “win one for the Cap!”

    “We have been trying to win one on a yearly basis, regardless,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman stated.   “It is not a win one for Derek.  I think Derek would take offense to that.  We are all trying to win, period.”

    Jeter is the last of the Yankees core-four (Jeter, Andy Pettite, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada) that led the Yankees to five World Series titles in seven trips to the Fall Classic from 1996-2009.

    The captain is currently hitting .272 with a pair of home runs and 25 RBI in 83 games for a Yankee team that is third in the AL East at 47-47 entering the second half of the season.  The Yanks are five games out of first place in the division and three-and-a-half games out of the second wild card spot in the American League.

    Jeter will also overtake Omar Vizquel for most starts at shortstop when he takes the field against the Reds tonight for his 2,610th start.

    The Bronx Bombers are more like the walking wounded entering the second half of the season after the injury bomb exploded in the Bronx.  They lost four of their five original starting pitchers due to injury, while new acquisitions Carlos Beltran (.216, 9 HR, 28 RBI) and Brian McCann (.239, 10 HR, 39 RBI) are struggling  in their inaugural Yankee seasons while Jacoby Ellsbury (.282, 6 HR, 42 RBI) has cooled off a bit toward the All-Star break after a hot start to the season.

    The Yankees are just 18-23 at home going into Friday night’s series opener against the Reds and will need to turn that around if they are going to make a run at October.  However, while the Yankees have struggled in the Bronx, they’ve been very successful on the road, going 29-24 this season, leading the AL East in road wins so far.

    Although the Yankees don’t need a rallying cry to get the ship right before it completely submerges for the winter, if they need a reason to win, looking at shortstop may just be it.  This is the third time the Yankees have a chance to send someone, or something out in style.  They failed to make the playoffs in 2008, sending the old Yankee Stadium out in silence and failed to make the playoffs last year in Mariano’s final season.

    If the saying is true and the third time really is a charm, then it would be perfect if Jeter can play a final game in October, with a World Series title on the line.

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