Derek Jeter
A leader on and off the field
Biographical Information
Derek Sanderson Jeter was born on June 26, 1974 in Pequannock, New Jersey. His father charles is a substance abuse analyst and his mother Dorothy is an accountant. He also has a younger sister, Sharlee. The family moved from New Jersey to Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was here he became greatly inspired to pursue a career in baseball.
Achievements
- He was honored with Baseball America’s ‘Minor League Player of the Year’, in 1994
- He won the ‘World Series Most Valuable Player’ Award, in 2000
- He was named New York Yankees ‘Player of the Year’ in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2006 and 2009
- He won the distinguished Golden Glove Award in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2010
- He won the Silver Slugger Award in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2012
- He was inducted in the Kalamazoo Central High School Athletic Hall of Fame, in 2007Jeter led the league in runs scored and batted .324 with 19 home runs, 84 RBI’s and 30 stolen bases
- was awarded the MVP and selected to his first All star game
- Beat San Diego Padres to secure Jeter's second World Series Title
- Won the World Series in 1999, 2000 and 2009 as well
- Jeter finished in the top 10 of All American MVP
- Jeter had .409 hitting, 2 homerooms and 6 runs scored, winning the World series MVP in 2000
- In 2001 Jeter signed a ten year contract $189 million, the second richest salary in history
- In 2003 Jeter was named captain, becoming one of the only 11 players to officially hold that honor
- 2004 Jeter received his first All American League Gold glove and again in 2006, 2009, 2010
- 2008 Yankees failed to make the playoffs for the first time in Jeter's career
""There may be people that have more talent than you, but there's no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do."" -Derek Jeter
Turn 2 Foundation
3,000 Hit
After winning the 2009 world series championship, Jeter became the franchise all-time leader in career hits, passing Lou Gehrig. He was named one of the top ten best active players by the sporting News. Most importantly he was named the Sportsman of the year, the first Yankee ever granted this honor. unfortunately shortly after, Jeter had hit his career lows and his contract seemed like a poor investment. Settling with $51 million for three years. Going into the 2011 season Jeter was two hits away from his 3,000th hit. He had not doubt that it was going to be nothing but the best, a deep home run, at Yankee Stadium. (Jeter 5)
Derek Jeter's "Re2pect" Farewell
The Jeter farewell took place during the Yankees 2014 season. Nike presented re2pect (respect including Jeter’s number). At every game that year the opposing team and fans took the opportunity to celebrate Jeter’s career with ceremonies and gifts, as well as donations to Jeter’s foundation. Jeter’s performance on the field that season made it noticeable that his age was affecting his play. His final challenge was saying goodbye to his fans. “ The last inning I almost lost it” said Jete, “I don’t know how many times in my career I’ve said, don’t hit it to me, but that’s what was going on in my mind. I really thought I was going to break down.” Tied in the ninth, Jeter was up to bat, he drilled his final Yankee Stadium hit, a single to right field to win the game. It was the perfect ending to his career.
Works Cited
“Derek Jeter Biography.” Biography.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 20 Nov. 2015. <http://www.biography.com/people/derek-jeter-189311>.
“Derek Jeter Gives Kids Someone to Turn 2.” mlb. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 Nov. 2015. <http://derekjeter.mlb.com/players/jeter_derek/news/>.
Garcia, Julian. Want to make a real change, Derek Jeter? Get real! Daily News. N.p., 4 Oct. 2014. Web. 20 Nov. 2015. <http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/score-real-change-derek-jeter-real-article-1.1963668>.