Tag: Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter’s Jersey Number to Be Retired by Yankees: Latest Details, Reaction

New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter will have his famed No. 2 jersey retired by the storied organization before the team’s game against the Houston Astros on May 14, 2017. 

The Yankees made the announcement official Tuesday morning:

New York selected Jeter with the sixth overall pick in the 1992 draft and, following a rise through the minors, he proceeded to play his entire 20-year professional career in Yankee pinstripes.

The New Jersey native earned 14 All-Star Game selections and helped the team capture five World Series titles during a career that will land him in the Hall of Fame once eligible in 2020. He also won five Gold Gloves, five Silver Sluggers and finished in the top 10 in MVP voting eight times.

The May ceremony will give Yankee fans another chance to show their appreciation for a player who proved himself worthy of being the face of one of the world’s most famous sports franchises for the better part of two decades.

Fan support is something he talked about in the Players’ Tribune after he retired in 2014:

In some ways the major change this year was that it felt like I played a majority of home games. As always, the New York fans were amazing; their response was overwhelming, but not surprising. Yankees fans have been great to me. It’s the reception outside of New York that really was the biggest difference this year. I’ll never forget how the baseball fans across the country have treated me. Ballparks I used to view as enemy territory were transformed with cheers, handshakes and hat tips. If I thought baseball was part of my family before this season, I know now that it’s truly the case. And I am grateful for that.

Of course, it’s also an opportunity to bring the “Core Four” back together. Jeter along with Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada were the stalwarts during the Yankees’ run of success from the mid-1990s until their most recent title in 2009.

Jeter also holds a special place in hearts of Yankees fans because he was a top-flight player who spent his entire career with the organization, a rare accomplishment in a world with free agency. He and the Atlanta Braves‘ Chipper Jones could be among the last of a fading breed.

That’s why the team is giving the longtime shortstop his rightful place alongside a star-studded group of retired numbers that includes the likes of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle as well as all of his buddies from the Core Four.

                                                      

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Derek Jeter, Hannah Davis Reportedly Married in Napa Valley

Derek Jeter and Hannah Davis were reportedly married during a ceremony Saturday in St. Helena, California, per People‘s Lindsay Kimble

The New York Daily News confirmed the event: 

According to Kimble, the couple dated for three years before becoming engaged last November.

During his playing career with the New York Yankees, Jeter earned a reputation for his dating habits. ESPN’s Darren Rovell shared the famous SportsNation graphic that built an entire defensive nine made up of his reported girlfriends:

In a March interview with Maxim (via EOnline.com’s Kendall Fisher), Davis explained what drew her to the 14-time All-Star.

“Trying to impress you with material things? I think that’s lame,” she said. “I wanted someone whose family is a big, important part of their life.”

Davis, a model who has been in Sports Illustrated, also explained how she and Jeter wanted to keep their relationship out of the public eye as much as possible: “I feel like I have to share every other part of my life. It’s that one part that’s a little bit of a mystery to people, but that’s the way we want it. The only way to protect it is not to talk about it.”

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Derek Jeter (Maybe) Makes Hole-in-One at Celebrity Golf Tournament

Derek Jeter is a multitalented man.

On the links at his annual celebrity golf invitational in Las Vegas, the retired New York Yankees legend appears to have hit a hole-in-one. His sister, Sharlee Jeter, president of his Turn 2 Foundation, posted the footage to Instagram.

The video doesn’t supply foolproof evidence of the feat, but ace or no ace, folks sure are having fun out there.

[Instagram]

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Derek Jeter, Girlfriend Hannah Davis Reportedly Engaged

One year after ending his remarkable 20-year baseball career, former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter is taking another big step, as he and girlfriend Hannah Davis are reportedly engaged.

According to the New York Daily News, the 41-year-old future Hall of Famer and his 25-year-old supermodel significant other recently agreed to tie the knot.

While an official wedding date has yet to be released, a source reportedly revealed to the New York Daily News that The Captain has already presented Davis with an engagement ring.

No. 2 was well-known for his dating exploits over the course of his baseball career, as he was linked to the likes of Jordana Brewster, Adriana Lima, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Minka Kelly and Mariah Carey, among others, per Brendan Kuty of NJ.com.

Now that Jeter is acclimating to life after baseball, however, it looks as though he is ready to put an end to his bachelor lifestyle as well.

Jeter hinted at the change shortly before retiring last year when he expressed a desire to start a family in an interview with NBC’s Brian Williams, according to Bill Price of the New York Daily News:

I have the utmost respect for these guys that are able to do it — you know, missing their kids’ birthdays and not being able to see them play Tee ball or summer ball and missing a lot of time. So it’s another reason why I feel as though now’s the time. I mean, I want to have a family. Who knows when it’s gonna be? But I look forward to it.

Fatherhood may not yet be on the horizon for the five-time World Series champion, but getting married is likely a huge step toward his ultimate goal.

It often seemed as though the 14-time All-Star was destined to play the field for the rest of his life both in baseball and dating terms; however, even Jeter can’t resist the desire to settle down for good.

 

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

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Derek Jeter Attends Michigan Game, Gets Personalized Jersey from Jim Harbaugh

Derek Jeter was out in full support of the Wolverines on Saturday.

The New York Yankees legend, who grew up in Michigan, received a personalized jersey from head coach Jim Harbaugh before the team took on BYU:

With The Captain behind them, the Wolverines will look to upset the No. 22 team in the nation.

[Twitter]

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Derek Jeter Told by Yankees GM Brian Cashman He Favored Troy Tulowitzki in 2010

Future Hall of Fame shortstop Derek Jeter is one of the greatest New York Yankees of all time and a seemingly bulletproof figure in the Bronx, but that didn’t stop Yankees general manager Brian Cashman from being brutally honest with the Captain in 2010.

According to Ryan Hatch of NJ.com, a profile piece on Cashman by Sports Illustrated‘s S.L. Price revealed that the GM was very frank with No. 2 during 2010 contract negotiations, as he told him he would rather have then-Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki when prodded by Jeter.

Cashman also proclaimed: “We’re not paying extra money for popularity. We’re paying for performance.” The two sides ultimately reached terms on a three-year deal.

While Jeter went on to play four more seasons for the Bronx Bombers, including three All-Star campaigns, Cashman wasn’t exactly off-base in terms of anointing Tulowitzki. The current Toronto Blue Jays star was just 26 years old at the time of the conversation, and he went on to have a career year in 2011 to the tune of a .302 batting average, 30 home runs and 105 RBI.

Tulowitzki is still one of the best shortstops in the game to this day, while Jeter retired at the conclusion of the 2014 season.

Cashman’s bluntness is somewhat understandable in hindsight since he was trying to get the upper hand in negotiations, but his brutal honesty very well could have rubbed Jeter the wrong way, and it may do the same to Jeter-worshiping fans who are catching wind of the story five years later.

Despite the fact that Cashman and Jeter had an up-and-down relationship at times, per Price (h/t Hatch), the GM called the Captain “the greatest player I will have ever had.”

Jeter is a five-time World Series champion, a former World Series MVP and a 14-time All-Star, which cements his status as one of the best to ever put on a pair of cleats.

Cashman’s comments regarding Tulowitzki speak to the fact that baseball can be a cutthroat business, but it doesn’t detract from what Jeter accomplished during his 20-year career and how much he has always meant to the Yankees organization.

 

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter. 

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Didi Gregorius Ready for Challenge of Reaching Potential, Taking on N.Y.

After Derek Jeter’s retirement, one of the biggest questions heading into Major League Baseball’s offseason was how the New York Yankees would replace The Captain at shortstop.

Based on previous years, the assumption was that the Yankees would sign an aging free agent such as Hanley Ramirez. However, general manager Brian Cashman decided to take a different route, acquiring Didi Gregorius from the Arizona Diamondbacks in early December as part of a three-team deal.

“I was a little surprised about the trade, I’m not going to lie,” Gregorius recently told Bleacher Report. “Because, you know, it’s the Yankees.”

To be pursued by the Bronx Bombers clearly meant something to the 25-year-old. Meanwhile, that the Yankees traded for Gregorius, of all people, was particularly appropriate.

When the Diamondbacks acquired Gregorius prior to the 2013 season, Kevin Towers, the team’s general manager at the time, said the shortstop reminded him of a young Derek Jeter.

Now, Gregorius is poised to play the same position in the same park occupied by Jeter for the better part of the last 20 years. It goes without saying that he has big shoes to fill, and it’s almost a guarantee that expectations will be unreasonably lofty.

As Jeter’s successor, Gregorius is fully aware he’s in a special and unique situation.

“I don’t look at it as being a long-term replacement, because I’m not really replacing him,” said Gregorius with a chuckle. “It’s not like he’s moving to second or third base.

“But it’s amazing to be playing shortstop for the Yankees after Jeter. I’m pretty sure he’s coming out here [spring training] to talk to the team, and I’m sure he’ll have advice for me, and I’ll be asking him questions.”

I broke down Gregorius’ chances of being the Yankees’ long-term fix at shortstop back in December:

Gregorius has always drawn rave reviews for his defense at shortstop, which is more or less the reason he’s now been included in two separate three-team trades in the last three years.

Gregorius has impressive range in all directions as well as natural fluidity at the position, and the defensive metrics support his reputation as a strong defender at shortstop.

Specifically, FanGraphs’ overall defensive rating (3.9 Def, min. 1,000 innings) for Gregorius over the last two seasons places him ahead of guys like Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez, Adeiny Hechavarria and—wait for it—Derek Jeter.

While Gregorius has already received high praise for his slick glove, the Yankees are hopeful his bat eventually will catch up.

There’s something to be said for Gregorius’ ability to consistently post an extra-base hit rate above 50 percent (he posted a 51 percent clip in 2013 and followed it with 58 percent last season). But with 13 career home runs in 724 plate appearances, Gregorius is unlikely to offer much over-the-fence power in his career.

Yet as a left-handed hitter who hits a lot of fly balls, it’s possible that Gregorius might enjoy a slight power spike playing at Yankee Stadium, which, coincidentally, was the scene of his first MLB home run on April 18, 2013.

“I’m looking forward to hitting at Yankee Stadium,” said Gregorius. “Everybody talks about the short porch in right field, but I’m not going to become a dead-pull hitter. Maybe I’ll hit a line-drive home run, you never know; but I’m planning on using the entire field.”

One area of focus for Gregorius moving forward will be improving against same-sided pitching, as he enters the 2015 season with a .184 batting average, zero home runs and 25 percent strikeout rate in 180 career plate appearances against southpaws.

“I focused on that this offseason because I’ve really never seen a lot of left-handed pitching, and you can’t get comfortable against them if you’re not seeing them,” stated Gregorius.

“I worked with Giants hitting coach Henry Meulens, and he helped me learn to stay closed against lefties, and I’ve already been talking about it with the hitting coaches here, too. So we’re making improvements.”

The Yankees’ decision to gamble on Gregorius’ age and upside was a healthy risk, as he’s a guy with five years of team control who can offer modest power from the left side of the plate to go along solid baserunning and defense.

From Joel Sherman of the New York Post:

A person familiar with the way the Yankees rate players say they add points to a player’s offensive ability based on how much he helps on defense, and that is why they had such interest in Gregorius. Plus, the Yankees feel it is hard to find offense in this market, particularly at shortstop. A team can improve by scoring more or giving up less. The Yankees believe Gregorius will help them give up less while still having the chance to grow into a competent hitter.

Gregorius knows the unavoidable comparisons to Jeter are likely to follow him through his first season in New York, and he’s eager to distinguish himself on the field from the future Hall of Famer. However, he also has a realistic grasp of the situation.

“I’m not going to put pressure on myself,” he said. “I’m just going to relax and play the game right and be the best I can be whenever I go out there. Don’t worry about anything else; just go game by game.”

For Gregorius, succeeding Jeter at shortstop for the Yankees is an afterthought to proving he’s an everyday player.

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People in Sports Who Had the Best and Worst Year Ever

In life, and in sports, nearly everyone experiences prolonged periods of both success and failure. Of course, the 2014 sports year was far from different, as fans were treated to some truly memorable performances, of both the good and bad sort.

Madison Bumgarner, for example, had a downright iconic year, establishing himself as one of baseball’s all-time greats with the type of postseason pitching we’d never seen before.

In a similar vein, Russell Wilson led his Seahawks to the mountaintop and, in so doing, catapulted himself into the upper echelon of NFL quarterbacks.

In contrast, however, Tiger Woods battled injury all year long and lost his spot atop golf’s world rankings, while Robert Griffin did the same and lost his stranglehold on the starting quarterback spot in Washington.

So, with these guys and others in mind, we’ve done our best to highlight 10 People/Teams in Sports who had the best/worst year ever.

We should note, we’ve dodged the heavier side of sports in 2014, excluding from our list major violators like Donald Sterling, Jameis Winston, Adrian Peterson, Ray Rice and Roger Goodell.

Instead, then, we’ve explored those who struggled for non-legal reasons, and exalted the athletes who had a dream 2014.

Begin Slideshow


Time for Yankees Universe to Give Up on Troy Tulowitzki Replacing Jeter

In many ways, for many reasons, the New York Yankees trading for Troy Tulowitzki makes sense. After all, they’re the major-market, deep-pocketed, All-Star-obtaining Yankees, and in 2015, they’ll be embarking on their first season sans shortstop, captain and future Hall of Famer Derek Jeter.

How to fill a hole that has been occupied by the face of Major League Baseball and hasn’t needed filling in 20 years? If you’re the Yankees, it’s simple, really: Get the best available player to replace Jeter, of course.

Because make no mistake, for as many concerns and risks that come with Tulowitzki—and we’ll get to those—the Colorado Rockies star is undoubtedly the best shortstop in baseball, which is why this idea keeps popping up in rumor mills and on message boards.

Except doing just that not only isn’t simple, it’s rather complicated, perhaps in even more ways, and for even more reasons, than acquiring Tulowitzki would be.

The go-get-Tulo sentiment that has swelled among Yankees fans has only been bolstered by the recent news that the Rockies might actually entertain the idea of trading Tulowitzki, per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.

That’s an about-face from years past, when owner Dick Monfort had repeatedly held firm in his stance that Tulowitzki was too valuable to the franchise to be moved.

Really, these Tulowitzki rumors started back in July when he visited Yankee Stadium to catch Jeter, his baseball idol growing up, in action one final time before the Yankees captain hung ’em up. Relax: Tulowitzki already was in the area for a second opinion on—what else?—an injury.

“It’s a short drive from (my doctor in) Philly,” he told The Denver Post at the time (via Peter Botte and Stephen Lorenzo of the New York Daily News). “I wanted to see Jeter play one more time.”

Still, that was only a couple weeks after Tulowitzki had made it clear that he was open to the idea of moving on from Colorado if the team doesn’t turn things around soon, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman. The club just finished its fourth consecutive losing season.

So if Tulowitzki is open to the idea and the Rockies seem to be, too, why is it such a bad one for the Yankees to consider?

For starters, there’s the money. After making $16 million in 2014, Tulowitzki’s salary jumps to $20 million per over the next five years through 2019—the highest per-year amount he’s owed over the life of the contract. The price settles back down to $14 million in 2020 and $15 million in 2021 (with a $4 million buyout that final year).

Tack on a $2 million bonus if he changes teams, and the total cost is at least $120 million through 2020. And here’s a little-known—and entirely terrifying—fact about Tulowitzki’s contract: He may only be traded one time without his permission.

Other factors, like age, performance, injury history and, primarily, salary, would make it nigh impossible to swap Tulowitzki if something goes south. But if the Rockies trade him, the next team actually is stuck with him. Like, contractually.

The money—$20 million a year—actually isn’t outrageous for a player like Tulowitzki. After all, there were reports earlier in the offseason that the Yankees might be interested in Elvis Andrus, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. By comparison, the 26-year-old Texas Rangers shortstop—a much less impactful player than Tulowitzki—is owed $15 million a season on his eight-year, $120 million extension that begins in 2015.

Plus, it’s not like the Yankees couldn’t afford to pay Tulowitzki’s contract.

Where it becomes a problem, however, is a combination of Tulowitzki’s age and injury history, two things that have plagued the Yankees in recent years, as the roster has been loaded with aging, injury-prone, overpriced former stars (read: Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia, etc.).

Tulowitzki, who turned 30 in October, would just add to the pile.

Speaking of that injury history, here’s a rundown of the various ailments that have put Tulowitzki on the disabled list in his career and how many games he missed with each:

Add it all up, and Tulowitzki has averaged just 117 games a season starting with his 2007 rookie campaign. He has played more than 126 games exactly three times in those nine years.

His latest injury, the one that ended a 2014 campaign that was shaping up to be his best yet, was a torn labrum in his left hip—a rather concerning issue given his position. He had surgery in August and is on track to be ready for the start of 2015, if you believe new Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich.

The last reason why Tulowitzki-to-the-Yankees doesn’t make sense? What does New York have to trade to obtain him?

The Rockies continue to insist there is no discount for injury because he’s a premium, in-his-prime player at an up-the-middle position. So they want a full return for Tulowitzki, per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick, even though his trade value went from its peak to the pits with his latest season-ending surgery.

Bridich indicated his top priority is to acquire starting pitching—which is more or less a “no duh” when it comes to Colorado—but the Yankees don’t have much to give the Rockies to actually entice them.

The best options might be young right-hander Shane Greene, former top prospect Manny Banuelos and current top prospect Luis Severino. Is that enough to get a deal done? Probably not, from the Rockies’ point of view.

The bottom line is there’s no reason for the Yankees to take a huge risk by trading for Tulowitzki before he proves he’s healthy, and the Rockies have no motivation to move him until he plays, produces and pumps up his value first.

And even then, the risk would be almost all on the Yankees’ side. And it would be huge, considering the massive amount of money he’s owed, and constant concerns over if (when?) he gets hurt again (and again).

The reward could be huge also, but only if everything goes just right for the first few seasons of what’s left of Tulowitzki’s contract. Given New York’s other onerous deals, tacking on another just isn’t a smart approach.

General manager Brian Cashman appears to get this, having reinforced the likelihood, via Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News, that the Yankees won’t be targeting any big-money players this offseason, whether in free agency or trade.

For those Yankees fans who want Tulowitzki in pinstripes, that sounds like bad news. Really, though, it’s just the opposite.

 

Statistics are accurate through the 2014 season and courtesy of MLB.com, Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted. Contract information courtesy of Spotrac.

To talk baseball or fantasy baseball, check in with me on Twitter: @JayCat11.

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Derek Jeter Receives Standing Ovation Before 1st At-Bat in Boston’s Fenway Park

New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter‘s final career games will wrap up in Boston’s Fenway Park, and so far Red Sox Nation has shown nothing but class toward the Captain. 

In his second-to-last game, the Boston crowd gave Jeter a standing ovation on his way to the plate for his first at-bat. 

[MLB]

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