When it comes to seizing a moment, it’s hard to beat Derek Jeter.
Criticism was swirling, calls mounting for him to be moved to eighth in the order in the midst of the chase for a historic milestone. But Saturday, Jeter did what he does best, captivate once again.
It wasn’t so much about the game, a July afternoon contest between AL East foes pretty commonplace. This was Derek Jeter’s day.
Booming chants of "DE-REK JE-TER," a Yankee Stadium crowd as frenzied as one come mid-October. A 3-2 count, facing off with All-Star David Price, one of the game’s best young pitchers. Wouldn’t you know that Jeter, the guy who ‘doesn’t hit home runs,’ clubs one into left field for hit No. 3,000. You could not do it in more dramatic fashion. Jeter makes Yankee Stadium or whatever field he’s on his own personal Broadway when all eyes are on him. And it wasn’t just a one-act play Saturday.
Jeter proceeded to finish 5-for-5, a triple away from the cycle. That’s the first five-hit game for any player at the new Yankee Stadium. Oh yeah, he also drove in the game winning run with his fifth and final hit of the day. A pretty good day out at the ballpark for the Yankee captain.
But if you’ve watched Jeter and the Yankees all these years, you shouldn’t be surprised. A flair for the dramatic is par for the course for #2. Oakland fans still have to shudder at the sight of Jeter, remembering him coming out of nowhere to flip the ball to Jorge Posada and get Jeremy Giambi out at home plate, keep the Yankees up 1-0, backs against the wall down 2-0 in the 2001 AL Division Series.
Though he hadn’t hit a home run in the Bronx in nearly a year (an inside-the-park one against the Royals), some of Jeter’s most memorable moments are homers. The 10th inning shot off Byung-Yun Kim in the 2001 World Series that earned him the Mr. November moniker. His leadoff homer in game three of the Subway Series World Series of 2000. And even further back, one that shouldn’t have been, the infamous ball that the reach of 12-year-old Jeffrey Maier made a round-tripper against the Orioles in the ’96 ALCS.
Yes, Jeter’s batting average and OPS are below average this season, especially for a team’s leadoff hitter. That can be forgotten for at least one day. The Yankees won, Mariano Rivera saved it in typical fashion but this game was all Derek Jeter’s. He seized the spotlight and shined. It was history that was inevitable but Jeter made unforgettable.
An unparalleled performance in a game where a player got his 3,000th hit, an unparalleled feat for a Yankee. At 37, he’s no longer the best shortstop in the game but he is a legend and you can mark down July 9th as one of the legendary days on the laundry list of incredible for Derek Jeter.
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