Derek Jeter Hits Game Winner in Final Home Game for Yankees & is 100% Sure He Won't Return to Baseball

 

Derek Jeter Hits Game Winner in Final Home Game for Yankees & is 100% Sure He Won't Return to Baseball

Derek Jeter is enjoying the first week of his retirement and told the "Today" Show that he is confident in his decision. 

"You know, it's funny, because someone had mentioned to me I went from an old man in baseball to a young man in life," Derek shared. "And I liked how that sounded. So I consider myself young again."

Here is what he said on keeping his composure during his final game at Yankees Stadium last week.

"When we got into about the eighth inning and you know, the fans started chanting, 'Thank you' - that's when I almost lost it on the field. And to be honest with you, if the game would have finished 5-2, like we all thought it was going to finish, then I - there's no telling what would have happened," Derek said. "But my emotions just immediately changed, because they tied the game and then now it's, "You got to go and hit." And I'm (like), 'Aw, I can't believe I got to go out and try to do this again.' So, everything changed from being sad to being excited. And you know, once I was excited, then I kept it together."

The 40-year-old star played his final home game for the New York Yankees last night against the Baltimore Orioles and it ended in storybook fashion. 

After a sub-par season by the Yankee captain, he will forever be remembered on a high note after stepping up in the 9th inning and hitting a walk off single to give the Yankees the win. Jeter broke a 5-5 tie and it was such a fitting way for the legendary player to go out. 

Jeter just finished his 20th and final season in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees. A five-time World Series champion, Jeter is regarded as a central figure of the Yankees' success of the late 1990s and early 2000s for his hitting, baserunning, fielding, and leadership. He is the Yankees' all-time career leader in hits (3,461), games played (2,744), stolen bases (358), and at bats (11,186).

His accolades include 14 All-Star selections, five Gold Glove Awards, five Silver Slugger Awards, two Hank Aaron Awards, and a Roberto Clemente Award. Jeter is the all-time MLB leader in hits by a shortstop, and the 28th player to reach 3,000 hits.

Jeter finished third in voting for the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in 1998, recorded multiple career-high numbers in 1999, and won both the All-Star Game MVP and World Series MVP Awards in 2000. He has consistently placed among the AL leaders in hits and runs scored for most of his career, and since 2003 has served as the Yankees' team captain. Throughout his career, Jeter has contributed reliably to the Yankees' franchise successes. He holds many postseason records, and has a .351 batting average in the World Series. Jeter has earned the nicknames of "Captain Clutch" and "Mr. November" due to his postseason heroics.

 

 

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