Growing up in the ’90s, I have never known baseball without Derek Jeter. I was raised by man who has adored the New York Yankees since he was 10 years old and who got to see Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris play an exhibition game against the Denver Bears. At 60 years old, that same man visited Yankee Stadium for the first time in his life and witnessed Derek Jeter play baseball in his final season.
Although I always loved baseball, my first memory of the sport came when I was 10 years old and the Yankees visited Coors Field. It was my dad’s birthday, and my entire family went to watch his favorite team and favorite player, Jeter, play against our hometown Rockies.
No surprise: Jeter was the first player to come greet the fans and give autographs. My sisters and I asked the greatest player in baseball to sign a ball for my dad because it was his birthday and, with a smile, Jeter returned a ball signed, “Happy Birthday, Derek Jeter.” I had never seen my dad cry, but that day his eyes glistened and he was as giddy as that 10-year-old boy who trekked to the ballpark to watch his idol, Mickey Mantle, play America’s pastime.
Thirteen years later, my dad and I watched together as Jeter ended his career at Yankee Stadium in the most fitting fashion: with a walk-off single to the opposite field. In the moments that Jeter and his Yankee teammates celebrated his heroic efforts, our household was silent as we reflected on the last 20 years of New York Yankees baseball. Once again, my dad’s eyes glistened, and he smiled just like that 10-year-old boy.
So I have to ask: What is baseball without Derek Jeter? Frankly, many of us Millennials don’t have an answer to that. For 20 years, baseball and Derek Jeter have come hand-in-hand in the minds of many. In a time when scandal has rocked most major league sports, Jeter has been the constant light and a role model for aspiring athletes everywhere.
We are talking about a man who has been in the public eye for 20 years and has never once been in the center of drama. We are talking about a man who has played for the Yankees — everyone’s favorite team to hate — and yet is the most respected man in all of sports. This is the man who received retirement gifts from every opposing major league team. This is the man who was the first captain of the Yankees since Thurman Munson. This is the man who, under any other circumstance, would have been walked in his last at-bat Thursday night against the Baltimore Orioles, but was pitched to out of respect for all that he stands for.
We are talking about the little boy who had a dream to be the shortstop for the Yankees, and not only achieved that dream but also lived it for 20 years.
So I must ask again: What is baseball without Derek Jeter?
Once the silence wore off in my living room that night, the excellence of what we had just witnessed began to sink in. My dad muttered, “Dreams really do come true,” as we watched Derek Jeter in interviews and at his press conference. I am not ready to find out what baseball is without Derek Jeter, but that time has come.
Last week, Derek Jeter repeatedly thanked the fans for all of their support, but really he deserves all of the thanks in the world. Thank you, Derek, for being the biggest role model in my life. Thank you for continuously putting a smile on my dad’s face. Thank you for being baseball for the last 20 years.
Karlin McGinness is a recent graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder and works for the digital advertising agency IMM.
