Sporting News Conversation: Derek Jeter
Article By sgreenberg.tsn on 6th April, 2010
Steve Greenberg
The future Hall of Fame shortstop knows only one team (the Yankees) and only one thing (winning). With a run at a sixth World Series ring under way, he won't be distracted by talk of anything else.
He could've played for the Pirates. Or Royals or Cubs or -- imagine it -- the Red Sox. He still would've been Derek Jeter. But what would Derek Jeter have become?
Jeter's opinion, in a nutshell: Dumb question. Impossible to answer. And he's probably right; it's a half-baked hypothetical one could ponder about any ballplayer. But then, is there anyone else in the game -- or all of sports, for that matter -- who would look so profoundly out of place in another team's uniform?
If you believe in destiny, then surely you feel the 35-year-old Jeter was born to play shortstop for the Yankees, the team he rooted for as a boy. He was the A.L. rookie of the year in 1996 and the catalyst that season for the team's first World Series title since 1978 -- the longest drought in Yankees history. A 10-time All-Star, he now owns five championship rings as well as the career records for most hits by a Yankee and most hits by a major league shortstop.
A leader in the realm of Joe Montana, Michael Jordan and Mark Messier, he is arguably the most beloved Yankee since Mickey Mantle and the city's No. 1 celebrity athlete since Joe DiMaggio. (Jeter's opinion on his famous love life, in a nutshell: Don't ask me about it because I'm not answering.)
His contract expires after this season, but that topic is a nonstarter, too. Why? You know, destiny. Once a Yankee and always a Yankee, Jeter spoke at the team's spring training facility in Tampa with Sporting News' Steve Greenberg.
Jeter's happy to discuss his profession but is intensely private. SN: Reggie Jackson said last spring, "Derek leads the press into an alley that they can't get out of, with no...
Read Complete Article at Latest Sporting News Articles for MLB
He could've played for the Pirates. Or Royals or Cubs or -- imagine it -- the Red Sox. He still would've been Derek Jeter. But what would Derek Jeter have become?
Jeter's opinion, in a nutshell: Dumb question. Impossible to answer. And he's probably right; it's a half-baked hypothetical one could ponder about any ballplayer. But then, is there anyone else in the game -- or all of sports, for that matter -- who would look so profoundly out of place in another team's uniform?
If you believe in destiny, then surely you feel the 35-year-old Jeter was born to play shortstop for the Yankees, the team he rooted for as a boy. He was the A.L. rookie of the year in 1996 and the catalyst that season for the team's first World Series title since 1978 -- the longest drought in Yankees history. A 10-time All-Star, he now owns five championship rings as well as the career records for most hits by a Yankee and most hits by a major league shortstop.
A leader in the realm of Joe Montana, Michael Jordan and Mark Messier, he is arguably the most beloved Yankee since Mickey Mantle and the city's No. 1 celebrity athlete since Joe DiMaggio. (Jeter's opinion on his famous love life, in a nutshell: Don't ask me about it because I'm not answering.)
His contract expires after this season, but that topic is a nonstarter, too. Why? You know, destiny. Once a Yankee and always a Yankee, Jeter spoke at the team's spring training facility in Tampa with Sporting News' Steve Greenberg.
Jeter's happy to discuss his profession but is intensely private. SN: Reggie Jackson said last spring, "Derek leads the press into an alley that they can't get out of, with no...
Read Complete Article at Latest Sporting News Articles for MLB
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