Jeter Walks Off In Yankee Stadium Finale

[iandhr]

Source: ESPN

Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter hits single to right field, driving in the game-winning run in his Bronx farewell.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=11590438&ex_cid=sportscenterFB

Read more: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=11590438&ex_cid=sportscenterFB

[Doctor_J]

1. amazing

[BeyondGeography]

2. Amazing how that all came together

Robertson gives up two homers and a three-run lead in the top of the 9th. Jeter due up third in the bottom of the 9th. Hit, sacrifice, game winner.

It was perfect.

I tell you what, when he graciously wished the Orioles luck in the playoffs in front of 50K people, you were reminded just how special he is. I bet that blew them away.

[alcibiades_mystery]

9. In many ways Jeter's storybook career began with a long fly ball against the Orioles

The Orioles were really supposed to win the Series that year.

The Yankees won, and the rest is history.

An Orioles World Series win this year would be a remarkable bookend, and I think Jeter knows it.

[BeyondGeography]

12. Showalter was in the dugout, too

His first manager. A lifer who has never really sniffed a ring. Of course, if the Yankees hadn't canned him, he and Jeter would have probably won a few.

[alcibiades_mystery]

13. Showalter was fired the year before

I don't know if he was in the dugout, but the Yankees (under Joe Torre) won the World Series that year against the Atlanta Braves.

On edit: Oh, I guess you mean in the dugout tonight. Sorry!

[StevieM]

16. Showalter was the guy who turned the Yankees around. Here is a great article about him.

It was written about 5 months ago, early in the season.

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/73716834/inside-baseball-life-of-baltimore-orioles-manager-buck-showalter

[JonLP24]

71. I think he did the same w/ the DBacks

Built them up from an expansion team and they won the series the year after they fired him.

[Renew Deal]

32. I was at that game

I was sitting in the upper deck way above home plate. I think everyone knew what happened except the umps.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

55. That one still hurts.

I'm hoping this is finally the year.

Jeter himself I've got nothing against...future first ballot hall of famer, and by all accounts a decent enough person.

His team (and its fans) on the other hand.....

[msanthrope]

64. I was there. nt

[yeoman6987]

3. Will be missed. Exceptional everything!

[ornotna]

4. What an ending

Perfect.

[RadicalGeek]

5. Hollywood Could Not Have Written a Better Ending!

<EOM>

[Historic NY]

6. Nail biter finish to a good career.

[Nye Bevan]

14. Well, since it was a completely meaningless game from the Yankees' point of view,

as they had already been eliminated from playoff contention, it wasn't that much of a "nail-biter".

[CANDO]

49. Says he's not playing SS in Boston for the final 3 games.

Don't know if he plans on DHing. Boston fans may be a little miffed at him if he never takes the field.

[RoccoR5955]

7. big deal

He was not as good as many of the Yankees I saw at the ORIGINAL House that Ruth Built!
And seats were seventy-five cents for the longest time, then with the renovation, became a buck and a half.
I will be damned if I will ever go to a ballgame and pay forty bucks for bleacher seats!

[BeyondGeography]

8. None of them were shortstops

[RoccoR5955]

17. None of them were multi-millionares either

I haven't seen Jeter at an environmental, anti-war, civil rights, or other rally, march or demonstration.
Please refresh me as to why I should think of him as a hero, when he has done nothing in his commercial career to show me.

[BeyondGeography]

19. He's a good guy, and he voted for Obama

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/derek-jeter-talks-obama-future-plans-steinbrenner-sons-article-1.1947766

There are stories about him staying close to fans who have reached out to him, like Brielle Saracini, whose father was the pilot on UA 175 on 9/11. You have him on the hook for society's ills and everything down to high-ticket pricess...it's silly.

[RoccoR5955]

20. What's silly is

People going crazy about a mediocre shortstop millionaire.

[BeyondGeography]

21. Gene Michael was the SS when I was a kid

Now that was mediocre.

[RoccoR5955]

26. Me too, but

then there was Phil Rizzuto, Bucky Dent, and Tony Kubek during my lifetime. They were better shortstops than Jeter.
My parents told me of Frank Crosetti, who was in 7 World Series winning teams, and while coach with the Yankees, amassed another TEN!
Jeter only has one World Series ring. Not the mark of someone to be idolized as a shortstop afaic.

[BeyondGeography]

28. One ring?

And you call yourself a Yankee fan?

Re. the rest, you'd have the beginnings of a slender point if all you're talking about is fielding. And none of those guys ever made a play like this:

[CanSocDem]

39. That, at best, is a 'heads up play'...

...not, like some non-athletes characterize it as the second coming of Jesus himself.

Hero-worshipping a single player on a baseball team is the first indication that a misunderstanding of the game is taking place. A team sport requires ALL the players to contribute small, but heroic efforts to achieve the win.



.

[BeyondGeography]

40. Actually, it's called winning

You're sniffing the truth about what made Jeter great in the second part of your response. It was a fundamentally sound play made under pressure that a lot of players never make. Without it, the Yankees may very well have been out in the first round and not made the Series that year.

[Trajan]

53. Were you inclined to rain on THEIR parade as well?

Some people ... wet blankets, through and through ...

I hope you go around New York, telling little kids how Jeter is just crappy ball player ...

Really though, I did know a few older DUers who are WAY better than some newer ones ... not naming any names ...

[sabbat hunter]

67. Jeter has

5 WS rings. And Bucky Dent a better SS? What the hell are you smoking cause I want some of that.
And Tony Kubek??! A lifetime .265 hitter with a grand total of 373 RBI and 60HRs for his entire career.

[Reter]

68. Jeter has 5 World Series rings, I thought everyone knew that

And Rizzuto couldn't hit.

[RoccoR5955]

70. No, but Rizzuto could bunt to get on base or sac in a run.

Rizzuto was the ace of the bunt. He was coaching for many years when it came to bunting for the Yankees.

[sabbat hunter]

29. yeah because

a SS with 5 gold gloves, 5 silver slugger awards, 6th all time in hits. Most hits, Games played, runs scored by any yankee ever, is just a mediocre shortstop.

[alcibiades_mystery]

52. You're not going to convince people who are just intent on hating Jeter

They have their little opinion, and are impervious to anything but their own pettiness.

I'm a Mets fan all my life, too. But the pettiness displayed by the Jeter haters is truly the sign of a poor character making itself visible.

[RoccoR5955]

62. Any MVPs? n/t

[msanthrope]

65. You know, there's a chant the Bleacher Creatures have for you. nt

[RoccoR5955]

69. I WAS a Bleacher Creature back in the 70s!

I am just not enthused about the state of professional sports these days.
It wasn't always about the money.
Jeter may be a good person, but what about all the community things that people like Roy Campanella did, and he was paralyzed from the waist down! Sorry, I don't see much of that today in the sports world.
And people in professional sports make too much money today. They are, in fact part of the 1%, who we are all trying to overcome.
When the baseball players went on strike because they were not making enough money back in the 90s (I think) and they raised ticket prices up more than 25 fold, I decided that it was not more than a distraction for us. A distraction designed to make us ignore the REAL issues of the day.

[sabbat hunter]

66. he won

the World Series MVP and was robbed at least once of the AL MVP in 2006, when he came in second. and he came in third twice.

[alcibiades_mystery]

10. Oh fer fucks sake

[IDemo]

11. You kids get off my diamond...

[Javaman]

22. I use to walk to school in blizzards everyday, even in the summer when I was a kid!!

It was also up hill both ways and I had to do that while pulling a boulder behind me and wild dogs chewed at my legs!!!

[RoccoR5955]

23. what the heck

is a bolder? You are using it as a noun, when it is an adjective, so it makes it difficult to understand.

[Javaman]

27. I love when people, such as yourself, do that.

you are so funny. you know how spell check works.

fixed, feel better now?

Cheers!

[CANDO]

51. What are you smoking?

The guy is 6th all time hits leader. He's going to be probably a unanimous first ballot HOF'er.

[Dreamer Tatum]

57. It IS a big deal. Jeter isn't responsible for the kids on your lawn.

Nor is he responsible for Yankee Stadium.

And downthread you suddenly require him to be, in addition to one of the all-time great baseball players, a civil rights leader.

To which I say, what exactly was Malcolm X's career OPS? Also, since you seem so enamored with Ruth, can you remind me of his
accomplishments in the civil rights and social justice arena?

Jeter is a first-ballot HOFer with no doubt, because in addition to his stats, he brought intangibles. For someone proud to
invoke Ruth, you should have some appreciate for a player bringing a larger-that-life aura to the game.

He was a decent-hitting shortstop, at best a mediocre fielder, but he was also (a) clutch, (b) absolutely consistent, and (c) he had one of the highest-ever baseball IQs.

Is it a crime that a better producer and more versatile player (Biggio) gets less play, and will take longer to enter the HOF? Yes. That'd life.

[Unknown Beatle]

15. Keith Olbermann speaks for me on Derek Jeter.

Derek Jeter Isn't The Greatest Player Ever

Jeter's Overhyped Farewell Part Two

[RoccoR5955]

18. Thanks for that

Very telling about what baseball has become over the last 20 or so years. It's not a sport of the people any more. It's a sport of millionaires now. As long as a team can make money on a mediocre player, they will.

[FSogol]

31. Classic! Thanks for posting. n/t

[LiberalFighter]

43. Loved it!

Not a baseball fan but like it when it is put into perspective as KO did. Too many people make stuff something great when it is not.

[adirondacker]

46. Ouch! That's gonna hurt some folk's pride. nt

[Fearless]

54. Agreed! And he should have retired two years ago.

[Dreamer Tatum]

58. Fuck KO on this. nt

[Blue_Tires]

24. meh...

If I can't post sports in LBN, then why is this allowed??

[Renew Deal]

35. Because the Yankees are the greatest team in all of sports

[Blue_Tires]

60. They don't even play real baseball, with that rec-league DH silliness

[bigwillq]

50. Just a bitter Mets fan I see.

I kid, I kid.

Did you alert? I would try that.

[alcibiades_mystery]

25. Derek Jeter is a first ballot Hall of Famer, and the haters and grumblers are second rate nobodies

It drives them crazy, but that's how it is.

Of course, I'm sure the whole world is wrong and the haters are right...

[rurallib]

30. Wonder what his legend would be if he played in Kansas City

or Denver or Seattle? The Yankees are so over hyped by media while teams in smaller markets can't even get a mention.
One of the big reasons I pretty much quit watching baseball. How many times this season were the Yankees or Red Sox the game of the week on ESPN or Fox when neither were really in the race?

Just wanted to throw in my two cents. May the Yankees do well in the playoffs.

[FSogol]

33. LOL: "May the Yankees do well in the playoffs"

Not going to be any Yankees in the playoffs since that would require epic collapses by KC, Oakland, Seattle, and Cleveland.

[rurallib]

34. and about 15 more games on the schedule

[Tommy_Carcetti]

56. It's too late.

O's eliminated them the day before.

The Jeter game is the postseason for Yankee fans this year.

[FSogol]

59. I was quoting another poster. Did Jeter ascend into Heaven to sit at the right hand of God yet?

[RoccoR5955]

63. I think that happens after the season ends.

I am sure that his devotees will attend to see his ascension.

[Renew Deal]

36. The Yankees won 4 World Series in 5 years

And 3 in a row. Winning that much gets attention. Just look at the Bulls or Lakers

[FSogol]

38. So? Despite having the highest payroll, they've only won 1 World Series in the last 10 years.

Yankee greatness is a thing of the past.

[Renew Deal]

45. That's what they said in the 80's

[RoccoR5955]

61. When was the last time the Yankees won WS? n/t

[KatyMan]

41. Agree with this.

The Astros had the number one draft pick the year Jeter was in it, and chose Phil Nevin. Even if he played exactly the same for the Astros for the past 20+ seasons, he wouldn't be doing this victory lap. Look at Craig Biggio...
And I agree also on the Yankees/Red Sox on ESPN etc. I'm not a hater of either team, but jeez, there ARE other teams in the league. Better ones too.
two more cents thrown in.

[BeyondGeography]

42. Gee, I don't know...does anybody know who George Brett is?

[malthaussen]

44. Hey, Ted Williams homered in his last at-bat.

Not that anyone thinks Jeter compares to Williams... I hope.

John Updyke wrote a piece in the New Yorker about it: http://www.baseball-almanac.com/articles/hub_fans_bid_kid_adieu_article.shtml

-- Mal

[progressoid]

47. Who's Derek Jeter?

[bigwillq]

48. An amazing moment. An amazing night.