Derek Jeter

Derek Sanderson Jeter (pronounced /ˈʤitɚ/, born June 26, 1974 in Pequannock Township, New Jersey) is an American Major League Baseball player. Jeter is a nine-time All-Star shortstop, and he is currently the captain of the New York Yankees.

Jeter has spent his entire career with the Yankees, beginning in 1995 when he was 20 years old. He has won the American League Rookie of the Year Award, a Silver Slugger Award, and three Gold Glove Awards. In 2000, he became the only player to win both the All-Star Game MVP Award and the World Series MVP Award in the same year. His .317 career batting average through the 2007 season ranks him with the 5th-highest lifetime batting average of all active baseball players. He has been in the top seven in the American League in both hits and runs scored for nine of the past ten years. During the 2000s he ranks second in the major leagues in hits (1,504), fourth in runs (857), and tied for seventh in batting average (.317) (stats accurate as of July 28, 2007).[1]

Early life
Jeter was born in Pequannock Township, New Jersey, at Chilton Hospital, to an African-American father, Dr. Sanderson Charles Jeter; his mother Dorothy is of Irish/German descent. The family lived in North Arlington, New Jersey, before moving to Kalamazoo, Michigan, when he was 4. He also has a sister named Sharlee. As a child his grandmother made him a passionate fan of his future team, the New York Yankees
The captain of the Yankees (2003–present)
In 2003, Jeter started the season by dislocating his left shoulder on opening day at the SkyDome in Toronto. With Jeter on first base and Jason Giambi at bat, Toronto used an extreme shift that left third base uncovered. Giambi hit a soft grounder to the pitcher, Roy Halladay, who threw to first baseman Carlos Delgado for an out. Jeter, seeing Toronto out of position, rounded second and ran to third. Toronto catcher Ken Huckaby ran up the line to cover third and fielded Delgado's throw. Jeter dived headfirst into the bag, while Huckaby attempted to catch the baseball and block Jeter from reaching third. In doing so, Huckaby fell onto Jeter, his shin guard driving into his shoulder.[10]

Jeter's shoulder popped out the front of the socket, and Yankee trainers and Blue Jay doctors tried to pop it back. After unsuccessfully attempting to reset his shoulder in the socket, Jeter was taken to the Yankees' clubhouse, where his shoulder was put back in place. Jeter, who had never played fewer than 148 games in the prior seven full seasons, was subsequently on the disabled list for six weeks, missing 36 games.[11] However, he still led the major leagues in batting average on balls in play that year (.380).[12]

Reaction of Yankee players, including Jeter, were highly critical of Huckaby's play, believing that Huckaby, a marginal player, had foolishly jeopardized the All-star shortstop's season. Willie Randolph, who was the Yankees' third-base coach, called Huckaby's play "unnecessary," while Enrique Wilson described it as a "dirty play."[13] Jeter was unsupportive of Huckaby, demurring when asked whether the play was dirty by ambiguously saying, "I don't know, it's tough." Jeter's perception of Huckaby's play became clear when Huckaby reported that Jeter was unresponsive to his apology. "He stonefaced me," Huckaby said. "He just stared at me. He didn't say one word."[14] On June 3 in Cincinnati, Jeter was named the 10th Captain in Yankees history
The New York Yankees named Jeter the 11th recognized captain in Yankees history on June 3, 2003, after 8 years without one (Dispute over the true count was noted in a lengthy article in the New York Times on March 25, 2007, by Vincent M. Mallozzi).[16] Jeter became the first official captain of the team since Don Mattingly retired in 1995. His contract, which has a total value of $189,000,000 is the 3rd largest contract in baseball history, behind two contracts of Alex Rodriguez.

The beginning of the 2004 season saw Jeter mired in a slump; on May 25, he was hitting only .189. This included a personal career record 0-for-32 skid in April. In June, however, Jeter broke out of his slump. He hit nearly .400 for the month and set a personal best with 9 home runs. He finished the season with a .292 average and 23 home runs, the 2nd most of his career, as well as 44 doubles.[5]

During a July 1, 2004, game against the rival Boston Red Sox, Jeter made a play which has helped perpetuate the perception of him as a clutch player. In the top of the 12th inning, with the score tied at 3, the Red Sox had runners on second and third with 2 outs and right fielder Trot Nixon up at bat. Nixon hit a pop fly down the left field line. Jeter ran from his position at shortshop and made an over-the-shoulder catch. In dramatic fashion he launched himself over the third base side railing, landing three rows into the left field seats, and lacerating his chin and bruising his face in the process. Jeter was later taken out of the game. This catch ended the inning and later the Yankees went on to win the game in the bottom of the 13th inning.[17] The "Dive" was awarded Play Of The Year in the This Year In Baseball awards competition, as voted on by fans at MLB.com. The play is also currently seen during the introduction of Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN.

The question surrounding this play is whether the ball would have landed in fair territory. If the ball was fair and not caught, Nixon would have driven in two runs to put the Red Sox up 5-3. If the ball had landed foul, it simply would have been a strike. Either way, the play ended the inning, and helped the Yankees win. The third base umpire, Fieldin Culbreth, called it a fair ball.


The captain of the Yankees (2003–present)
In 2003, Jeter started the season by dislocating his left shoulder on opening day at the SkyDome in Toronto. With Jeter on first base and Jason Giambi at bat, Toronto used an extreme shift that left third base uncovered. Giambi hit a soft grounder to the pitcher, Roy Halladay, who threw to first baseman Carlos Delgado for an out. Jeter, seeing Toronto out of position, rounded second and ran to third. Toronto catcher Ken Huckaby ran up the line to cover third and fielded Delgado's throw. Jeter dived headfirst into the bag, while Huckaby attempted to catch the baseball and block Jeter from reaching third. In doing so, Huckaby fell onto Jeter, his shin guard driving into his shoulder.[10]

Jeter's shoulder popped out the front of the socket, and Yankee trainers and Blue Jay doctors tried to pop it back. After unsuccessfully attempting to reset his shoulder in the socket, Jeter was taken to the Yankees' clubhouse, where his shoulder was put back in place. Jeter, who had never played fewer than 148 games in the prior seven full seasons, was subsequently on the disabled list for six weeks, missing 36 games.[11] However, he still led the major leagues in batting average on balls in play that year (.380).[12]

Reaction of Yankee players, including Jeter, were highly critical of Huckaby's play, believing that Huckaby, a marginal player, had foolishly jeopardized the All-star shortstop's season. Willie Randolph, who was the Yankees' third-base coach, called Huckaby's play "unnecessary," while Enrique Wilson described it as a "dirty play."[13] Jeter was unsupportive of Huckaby, demurring when asked whether the play was dirty by ambiguously saying, "I don't know, it's tough." Jeter's perception of Huckaby's play became clear when Huckaby reported that Jeter was unresponsive to his apology. "He stonefaced me," Huckaby said. "He just stared at me. He didn't say one word."[14] On June 3 in Cincinnati, Jeter was named the 10th Captain in Yankees history
The New York Yankees named Jeter the 11th recognized captain in Yankees history on June 3, 2003, after 8 years without one (Dispute over the true count was noted in a lengthy article in the New York Times on March 25, 2007, by Vincent M. Mallozzi).[16] Jeter became the first official captain of the team since Don Mattingly retired in 1995. His contract, which has a total value of $189,000,000 is the 3rd largest contract in baseball history, behind two contracts of Alex Rodriguez.

The beginning of the 2004 season saw Jeter mired in a slump; on May 25, he was hitting only .189. This included a personal career record 0-for-32 skid in April. In June, however, Jeter broke out of his slump. He hit nearly .400 for the month and set a personal best with 9 home runs. He finished the season with a .292 average and 23 home runs, the 2nd most of his career, as well as 44 doubles.[5]

During a July 1, 2004, game against the rival Boston Red Sox, Jeter made a play which has helped perpetuate the perception of him as a clutch player. In the top of the 12th inning, with the score tied at 3, the Red Sox had runners on second and third with 2 outs and right fielder Trot Nixon up at bat. Nixon hit a pop fly down the left field line. Jeter ran from his position at shortshop and made an over-the-shoulder catch. In dramatic fashion he launched himself over the third base side railing, landing three rows into the left field seats, and lacerating his chin and bruising his face in the process. Jeter was later taken out of the game. This catch ended the inning and later the Yankees went on to win the game in the bottom of the 13th inning.[17] The "Dive" was awarded Play Of The Year in the This Year In Baseball awards competition, as voted on by fans at MLB.com. The play is also currently seen during the introduction of Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN.

The question surrounding this play is whether the ball would have landed in fair territory. If the ball was fair and not caught, Nixon would have driven in two runs to put the Red Sox up 5-3. If the ball had landed foul, it simply would have been a strike. Either way, the play ended the inning, and helped the Yankees win. The third base umpire, Fieldin Culbreth, called it a fair ball.

In 2005 he was 2nd in the AL in runs (122) and batting average on balls in play (.394),[18] and 3rd in the league in at bats (654) and hits (202).

In 2006 Jeter led the major leagues in highest groundball/flyball ratio (3.23; 313/97) and batting average on balls in play (.394),[19] and tied for the American League lead in steals of third base (12). He was 2nd in the league in batting average (.343) and runs scored (118), 3rd in hits (214), SB success % (87.2), and batting average with runners in scoring position (.381), and 5th in infield hits (26).[20] He finished 2nd in American League MVP voting to Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins (320 points to 306 points). Jeter has finished in the top 10 in the MVP balloting 6 times in his 11 full seasons through 2006 (including also a 3rd place finish in 1998).

As of August 25, 2007, Derek was named the Face of the Yankees by staff and fan voters on ESPN.com. One day before the Yankees completed what was thought of as an improbable comeback by winning a playoff spot on September 26, Jeter reached 200 hits for the 6th season, and the third consecutive, tying former Yankee great Lou Gehrig.

In 2007, Jeter was 3rd in the AL in hits (203), 4th in at bats (639) and plate appearances (714), 6th in times on base (276), 7th in hit by pitch (14), and 9th in batting average (.322).[5] He also was involved in a career-high 104 double plays, and his 4.02 range factor was the lowest of all AL shortstops, and his .765 zone rating was the lowest among all major league shortstops.

2008 was a sub-par offensive year for Jeter. His slugging percentage was .410, his lowest since 1997. Some theorized that one possible cause for the slump was a May 20 game that saw Jeter get hit by a pitch on his wrist.[21] Before the injury, Jeter was hitting .324 with a .774 OPS. After the injury, his batting average dipped as low as .269 by the end of the month.

His offense took an upward turn after May as he hit .322 with a .824 OPS after June 1. Jeter was elected to his ninth All-Star game as the starting shortstop, batting in the 2-hole and going 1-for-3.

Derek tied the "Iron Horse" Lou Gehrig for the most hits at Yankee Stadium (1,269) with a home run off Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price on September 14, 2008. On September 16 he went on to break the record off of the Chicago White Sox pitcher Gavin Floyd.

Awards
9-time AL All-Star (1998-2002, 2004, 2006-2008)
4-time NY Yankees Player of the Year (1998-2000, 2006)
3-time AL Gold Glove Award (SS) (2004-06)
2-time Baseball America 1st-Team Major League All-Star (SS) (1999, 2004)
3-time AL Silver Slugger (SS) (2006-08)
South Atlantic League All-Star (SS) (1993)
Florida State League All-Star (SS) (1994)
Baseball America 1st Team Minor League All-Star (SS) (1994)
Minor League Player of the Year (1994)
NY Yankees Minor League Player of the Year (1994)
Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year (1994)
Florida State League Most Valuable Player (1994)
International League All-Star (SS) (1995)
AL Rookie of the Year (1996)
Babe Ruth Award (2000)
All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (2000)
World Series Most Valuable Player (2000)
TSN Award (SS) (2006)
Hank Aaron Award (2006)
This Year In Baseball Awards Top Hitter (2006)