One of the greatest to ever put on the
pinstripes, the end of an era has arrived. As I begin writing this piece, God
Bless America is being sung during the seventh inning stretch of the final home
game at Yankee Stadium for a living legend. My six-year-old daughter watched
the early part of the game with me cheering along. A newspaper in her hand of
Derek Jeter’s 3,000 hit record. It was in 1996 we first saw the glimmer of
greatest when a skinny kid from Kalamazoo was yanked out of the minor leagues
made his Yankee debut despite 56 errors to his credit. His childhood dream had been to one day be the shortstop
for the New York Yankees. By the end of that season he was voted Rookie of the
Year and the rest is history.
It is strange
watching the end of a career of someone that you cheered for over so many
years. There is both a satisfaction and emptiness knowing that the time is up.
Life goes by. Maybe the feelings are a migrant nostalgia or something more
poignant like one’s own mortality and the realization that time actually goes
by and great things come to an end.
Derek
Jeter is a winner and America has always loved a winner. Five championships
under his belt, longest ever Yankee captain and a fan favorite like no other. As
Jeter waited to bat he stood and joked with a couple of fans. It was classic
Jeter.
It
was the top of 9th inning Yankees up 5-2, David Robertson in trying
to get the save. Gives up two homeruns, one of them a two run shot and the game
is then tied 5-5 going into the bottom of the inning. Everybody knows now that will
Jeter definitely get up again. Pinella up at bat, gets a ground ball single.
Crowd is going wild. They bring in a pinch runner. The guy is a rocket. Had
never been caught stealing a base yet in the majors. Brett Gardner gets up to
the plate. Gardner sacrifice bunts the runner to second. If there were people
who hadn’t yet gotten to their feet they were on their feet as Jeter steps up
to the plate. For fifty miles the roar can be heard like a 100 F-22s. Jeter has
a slight smile as he looked out into the outfield from home plate. He carries
with him an aura of calm. He lives for moments like these. The electricity in
the air is quixotic. The place is humming. It feels like a game seven of the
greatest World Series that had ever been played. The expectations are so high.
The nostalgia is already collecting in the pit of every Yankee fan lucky enough
to watch the career of this Hall of Famer since 1996. The crowd is on its feet.
His old Yankee buddies are looking on. Fingernails are being chewed bloody.
Some people momentarily have their eyes covered. Pulses are racing. This is
what baseball is all about. This is where the great ones are born, their names
etched into the immortality of history. The pitch, Jeter connects on a ground
ball to the opposite field. The right fielder makes a clean play on the ball
and throws it home but the run scores and the Yankees win. There couldn’t have
been a more sensational finale to a legendary career. My dad and I were on the
phone as the events unfolded and we are going crazy. Yankees win! Yankees win!
Derek Jeter jumped on his magic carpet and flew off into the stars, the stadium
thundering below him. His teammates swarm out of the dugout as he returns to
the field and the celebration begins. Always a man of class and respect he
stood there near the first base line and thanked the fans for all their support
over the years. “You, the fans are what made it really special,” he said
choking down the tears. The consummate winner and cordial gentleman, he will be
missed.
It
is 10:58 pm and I am incapable of sleep. The hit replaying itself over in my mind, the roar of the crowd, the buzz from the Guinness wearing off, the cigar
extinguished and for a few brief moments we were all able to share in the glory, as
Yankee fans love to do, and got so used to doing behind the bat of the great Derek
Jeter. Let the good times roll!
No comments:
Post a Comment