Derek Jeter: 5 best moments of career
Derek Jeter will have his No. 2 jersey retired by the New York Yankees Sunday, and to celebrate, we recount the five greatest moments of Jeter’s career.
The New York Yankees are arguably the biggest and well-known sports brand in the world. With 27 World Series championships and dozens of Hall of Fame players, no franchise in baseball comes close to matching the team’s success.
With so much history and the expectations that come with it, not to mention the wide range of challenges that comes with playing in the media capital of the world, it can be a difficult to succeed with the Yankees. It’s far more rare to thrive.
But somehow, Derek Jeter did it. Jeter became the face of the Yankees for 20 years, and Sunday, the franchise will honor him by retiring the No. 2 jersey he wore 2,747 times for the club from 1995-2014.
It’s hard to imagine what moments Jeter himself remembers most fondly from his pro baseball career. Perhaps the New Jersey-born, Michigan raised Yankees fan learning he had been selected No. 6 overall in the 1992 MLB Draft by his favorite childhood team, or making his major league debut May 29, 1995 – when he went 0-for-5 in Seattle against the Mariners. Perhaps his favorite moments came in dramatic fashion, such as the walk-off single he hit to secure a 6-5 win over the Orioles in his final plate appearance at Yankee Stadium. Maybe winning his first World Series ring, or his fifth. His first hit, or his 3,000th.
Jeter’s fondest memories of his successes may not line up with his biggest fans’ favorite moments watching him. Nevertheless, as the Yankees prepare to retire No. 2 Sunday, we take a closer look at five of the greatest moments of Jeter’s career, in the order in which they occurred.
5. Derek Jeter wins 2000 World Series MVP
October 21-26, 2000
Derek Jeter didn’t have to wait long to win his first World Series ring. In 1996, his rookie season, Jeter had an RBI single and scored what would be the deciding run in Game 6 of the World Series against the Atlanta Braves.
However, having occurred in the third inning, nether Jeter’s single to left field or his coming around to score on a Bernie Williams single, had the drama of many of his best moments. The same can be said for Jeter’s second and third World Championships given the fact the Yankees swept the Padres and Braves, respectively (even though Jeter had 12 hits and a .353 batting average combined in the 1998 and 1999 Fall Classics).
But, in 2000 Jeter raised his game. During the regular season, Jeter hit .339/.416/.481 with 15 home runs, 73 RBI and 22 stolen bases. He was selected to the AL All-Star team for the third time, and won the All-Star Game MVP Award – remarkably becoming the first Yankee to earn the honor – for knocking in the winning run.
Jeter spent the bulk of the season hitting in the No. 2 hole in the lineup, but manager Joe Torre moved him into the leadoff spot for Game 4 of the World Series against the New York Mets. The move paid off quickly. Jeter swung at the first pitch from Mets starter Bobby Jones and sent it over the left field wall at Shea Stadium for his first World Series homer.
The Yankees won the game 3-2, and won the Subway Series in five games. Jeter hit .409/.480/.864 and added a second home run in Game 5. He was named World Series MVP for the first and only time in his career. It was the third straight World Series title for the Yankees, and the fourth in five seasons for Jeter.