Derek Jeter

Derek Sanderson Jeter (born June 26, 1974 in Pequannock Township, New Jersey) is an American Major League Baseball player. Jeter is an eight-time All-Star shortstop and currently the captain of the New York Yankees.

Jeter has spent his entire career with the New York Yankees, starting in 1995 when he was 20 years old. He has won the American League Rookie of the Year Award, the All-Star Game MVP Award, the World Series MVP Award, a Silver Slugger Award and three Gold Glove Awards. His .318 career batting average through the 2006 season ranks him with the 6th highest lifetime batting average of all active baseball players. He has been in the top seven in the American League in both hits and runs scored for nine of the past ten years. During the 2000s he ranks second in the major leagues in hits (1483), fourth in runs (857), and tied for seventh in batting average (.317) (stats accurate as of July 28, 2007 games).

Early life
Derek Jeter was born in Pequannock, New Jersey, to an African-American father, Charles Jeter, and an Irish-American mother, Dorothy. The family lived in North Arlington, New Jersey, before moving to Kalamazoo, Michigan, when he was 4. [1]

High school
In high school, Jeter was a star baseball player at Kalamazoo Central High School, where he also played basketball, earning an All-State honorable mention. After batting .557 as a sophomore, Jeter hit .508 (30-59) with 4 HR, 23 RBIs, 21 BB, and only 1 strikeout his junior year. He got on base 63.7 percent of the time.

Jeter collected many awards at season's end, including the Kalamazoo Area B'nai B'rith Award for Scholar Athlete, the 1992 High School Player of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association, the 1992 Gatorade High School Player of the year award, and USA Today's High School Player of the Year.

Draft
Although Jeter received a baseball scholarship to attend the University of Michigan, he was drafted by the New York Yankees with the 6th overall pick of the 1992 amateur draft and chose to go pro. Jeter has said, however, that he will eventually go back to college and earn a degree.

Minor league career
Jeter spent 4 years in the minor leagues, beginning in the Rookie League before advancing to Class A. He spent 2 years there, collecting various awards, including Most Outstanding Major League Prospect of the South Atlantic League in 1993[2] and Best Defensive BUGG Shortstop.


In 1994 he was named the Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America, The Sporting News, USA Today Baseball Weekly, and Topps/NAPBL after hitting .344 with 5 HR, 68 RBIs and 50 stolen bases combined at Triple-A Columbus, Double-A Albany, and Class-A Tampa. He was also named the MVP of the Florida State League.

Major league career
Jeter has played a key role in the Yankees' success since 1996. Jeter is one of three current veterans (the others are Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera) who came up through the Yankees organization, and has played his entire professional career with the Yankees.

On May 29, 1995, Jeter made his debut in the Major Leagues against the Seattle Mariners in the Kingdome. He got his first major league hit the following day off of veteran pitcher Tim Belcher, and started 13 games before being sent back down to the minors.

He returned on Opening Day of the 1996 season as the starting shortstop and hit his first major-league home run on that day. He played his way to a successful rookie season, hitting for a .314 batting average, 10 home runs, and 78 runs batted in and subsequently earning Rookie of the Year honors.

In 1999 Jeter led the AL in hits (219), and was 2nd in the league in batting average (.349) and runs (134).

In 2000, Jeter became the first player ever to win the All-Star Game MVP award and the World Series MVP Award in the same year.

At the 2001 World Series, Jeter hit the MLB's first November home run.

In 2003, Jeter started the season by dislocating his left shoulder on opening day, March 31, at the SkyDome in Toronto. He ended up missing the next 36 games. However, he still led the major leagues in batting average on balls in play that year (.380).[1]

The beginning of the 2004 season saw Jeter mired in a slump; on May 25, he was hitting only .189. This included a personal career record 0-for-32 skid in April. In June, however, Jeter broke out of his slump. He hit nearly .400 for the month and set a personal best with 9 home runs. He finished the season with a .292 average and 23 home runs, the 2nd most of his career.In 2005 he was 2nd in the AL in runs (122) and batting average on balls in play (.394),[2] and 3rd in the league in at bats (654) and hits (202).

In 2006 Jeter led the major leagues in highest groundball/flyball ratio (3.23; 313/97) and batting average on balls in play (.394),[3] and tied for the American League lead in steals of third base (12). He was 2nd in the league in batting average (.343) and runs scored (118), 3rd in hits (214), SB success % (87.2), and batting average with runners in scoring position (.381), and 5th in infield hits (26).[4] He finished 2nd in American League MVP voting to Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins (320 points to 306 points).

In 2007, through June 9th Jeter was 2nd in the AL in infield hits (16), 3rd in hits (79), 8th in HBP (6), 9th in batting average (.332), and 10th in OBP (.407) and runs (41).

Postseason
As of 2006, Jeter has a career .314 postseason batting average with 17 home runs and 48 RBIs as well as reaching base in 105 of 119 postseason games. He has a Major League Baseball record 150 career postseason hits, and also holds records for most postseason singles (108), at-bats (478), runs scored (85) and strikeouts (92).

Clutch play
Jeter is often considered to be one of the most clutch players ever to play in Major League Baseball, especially during the post-season.[3][4][5]; As of April 2007, he has a .314 career regular season batting average, but a .370 career American League Division Series batting average in 46 games, and 150 overall career postseason hits, along with 85 career postseason runs scored.

On October 3, 2006, Jeter became the 6th player in Major League history to have 5 hits in a playoff game, leading the Yankees to an 8-4 ALDS Game 1 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Jeter hit two doubles and a homerun, and scored three runs.

The Flip
Jeter has made a series of spectacular plays both in the field and at the bat, especially in the 2001 postseason. Perhaps the most memorable took place in Game 3 of the 2001 American League Division Series vs. the Oakland Athletics. With Jeremy Giambi on first base, Oakland right fielder Terrence Long hit a double off of Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina into the right-field corner. As Giambi rounded third and headed for home, Yankees right fielder Shane Spencer retrieved the ball and made a wild throw intended for Yankees catcher Jorge Posada. Instead, the errant throw missed cutoff man Tino Martinez and dribbled up the first base line. Jeter came out of nowhere to grab the ball and flip it to Posada. Jeremy Giambi was called out. Facing elimination, the Yankees went on to win the game 1-0, as well as the series.

Here is FOX announcer Thom Brennaman's famous call:

"That is fair, down the right field line. Giambi on his way to third, and they're gonna wave him around! The throw misses the cutoff man--shovel to the plate! Out at the plate! Derek Jeter with one of the most unbelievable plays you will ever see by a shortstop![6]

The play was later voted # 7 in Baseball Weekly's 10 Most Amazing Plays of all time.[7]

Later in that same postseason, after hitting a game-ending home run off of Byung-Hyun Kim in Game 4 of the 2001 World Series, the first Major League Baseball game ever played in November, Jeter was given by many the nickname "Mr. November," a reference to Reggie Jackson's nickname, "Mr. October."

The Dive
Another highly touted play was made by Jeter during a July 1, 2004, game against the rival Boston Red Sox. In the top of the 12th inning, with the score tied at 3, the Red Sox had runners on second and third with 2 outs and right fielder Trot Nixon up at bat[5]. Nixon hit a pop fly down the left field line, and it looked like a play would not be made. Jeter, however, sprinted from his shortstop position and made a backhanded over-the-shoulder catch. Still running at full speed and unable to stop himself, he dove over the 3rd base side railing, landing 3 rows into the left field seats, lacerating his chin and bruising his face in the process. This catch ended the inning and later the Yankees went on to win the game in the bottom of the 13th inning on the strength of a ground-rule double from backup catcher John Flaherty, and complete a 3-game sweep of the Red Sox. This was awarded Play Of The Year in the This Year In Baseball awards competition, as voted on by fans at MLB.com.

The controversy involving this play is whether the ball would have landed fair or foul. If the ball was fair and not caught, Trot Nixon would have driven in two go-ahead runs to put the Red Sox up 5-3. However, had the ball landed foul, it simply would have been a strike. Either way, the play ended the inning, and helped the Yankees win. The third base umpire, Fieldin Culbreth, called it a fair ball.

Yankee captain
The New York Yankees named Jeter the 11th recognized captain in Yankees history on June 3, 2003, after 8 years without one. (Dispute over the true count was noted in a lengthy article in the New York Times on March 25, 2007, by Vincent M. Mallozzi[8].) Jeter became the first official captain of the team since Don Mattingly retired in 1995. He is in the 7th year of a 10-year contract and made $20.6 million for the 2007 season. This contract is the 2nd largest contract in baseball history.

Awards
1993 South Atlantic League All-Star (SS)
1994 Florida State League All-Star (SS)
1994 Baseball America 1st Team Minor League All-Star (SS)
1994 Minor League Player of the Year
1994 NY Yankees Minor League Player of the Year
1994 Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year
1994 Florida State League Most Valuable Player
1995 International League All-Star (SS)
1996 AL Rookie of the Year
1998 NY Yankees Player of the Year
1999 NY Yankees Player of the Year
1999 Baseball America 1st-Team Major League All-Star (SS)
2000 All-Star Game Most Valuable Player
2000 New York Yankees Player of the Year
2000 World Series Most Valuable Player
2004 AL Gold Glove Award (SS)
2004 Baseball America 1st-Team Major League All-Star (SS)
2005 AL Gold Glove Award (SS)
2006 TSN Award (SS)
2006 AL Gold Glove Award (SS)
2006 Hank Aaron Award
2006 This Year In Baseball Awards Top Hitter
2006 NY Yankees Player of the Year
2006 AL Silver Slugger (SS)