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Jim McIsaac/Getty Images many awards virtually certain to clog his A l

Scott Brosius #18, celebrates with B trophy shelf. e l l

Derek Jeter after Game 5 of the o / The 6-foot-3 righthanded batter led 2000 A l l s the league with 127 runs scored in 1998, p o r 219 hits in 1999, and a .395 average t against lefthanded pitching in 2000, the year of his double-MVP performance. Neither honor was surprising: Jeter won the first award in Atlanta, where he twice helped the Yankees beat the Braves in the World Series, and the sec - ond in October, where he’s always done his best work. The pressure was turned up a notch in 2000, when the cross-town Mets represented the National League after reaching the post - season as a wildcard entry. Before the 2007 campaign, the artic - ulate infielder had career averages of .370 in the AL Division Series, .262 in the AL Championship Series, and .302 in the World Series. He also had 17 postseason homers, including a first- pitch homer in Game 4 of the , a game-tying homer in the decisive fifth game, and the first .349 mark. He was fifth in 2000 at .339 out. He keeps his hands in so well. If you November in baseball history but joined Don Mattingly and Lou Gehrig ask pitchers, they’ll tell you he’s difficult (after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, as the only Yankees with three straight to pitch to. He drives the ball well to 2001 delayed the season a week) . 200-hit seasons. right-center and can battle that inside An earlier Jeter homer, a three-run, With a .317 career mark, Jeter ranks pitch. He’s almost always able to put the Game 4 shot in the ALCS against Seattle, fifth on the Yankee list behind Ruth, ball into play.” had broken up a scoreless duel between Gehrig, Earle Combs, and DiMaggio. Jeter is improving with experience; his and Paul Abbott. More importantly, from the team per - career on-base percentage has risen to “He’s a sleeker and leaner model of spective, is Jeter’s run production. .388, thanks to a .417 mark that ranked Cal Ripken, Jr.,” said Ozzie Smith, a Although he’s excelled from each of the fourth in the league last year. shortstop-turned-broadcaster. “He’s tall top three spots in the lineup, he usually By many standards, the 2006 sea - and rangy, has a great arm, covers lots hits second, serving as one of the son was Jeter’s best. He placed second of ground, and is a great offensive play - league’s top table-setters. With former in the AL in batting (.343), runs (118), er. He’s got power and hits for average.” rivals Johnny Damon ahead of him and average with men in scoring position Jeter was far from a sure thing when behind him, Jeter has (.381), and batting against lefthanded he first reported to Yankee spring train - protection par excellence. pitchers (.390). His .354 home batting ing camp. In 1996 spring training, new The first man to score 100 runs in each average ranked third and he tied for manager wasn’t sure Jeter of his first five seasons since Johnny third in hits (214). could pass muster in the field. But the Pesky did it for six straight from 1942-50 Before he did it last year, only four rookie, who once made 56 errors in a (with wartime interruption), Jeter is also players in the past 75 seasons have hit minor-league season, silenced the skep - the first to reach triple digits in tandem at least .340, driven in 90+ runs, and tics right away. with a teammate five years in a row stolen 30+ bases in the same season: The sure-handed shortstop not only since Cincinnati’s Joe Morgan and Pete Larry Walker, Ellis Burks, Willie Mays, reduced his error total every year, he Rose did it five straight times from 1972- and Jackie Robinson. even led AL shortstops in assists as a 76. The only other teammates to turn The runner-up to Minnesota’s Justin sophomore in 1997. that trick were Ruth, Gehrig, and Combs, Morneau in the voting for AL Most No matter what he does, however, who did it for the Yankees seven con - Valuable Player, Jeter has now scored A

Jeter will always be judged by his bat. secutive seasons from 1926-32. at least 100 runs in all but one of his 11 P P h

The second-youngest Yankee (behind “Derek has always had a beautiful full seasons with the Yankees. He leads o t o / Mickey Mantle) to reach 1,000 career inside-out swing,” said two-time AL bat - the majors with 1955 hits over the last E l i s e

hits, he staged a year-long battle with ting champ Nomar Garciaparra, now with 10 years and ranks second with 1168 A m

the Los Angeles Dodgers. “He’s got a e Garciaparra for the 1999 AL batting title, runs scored. n d o l finally finishing second with a career-best good eye for the ball and he’s a tough The guy is just a run-making machine. a

8 LEGENDS SPORTS G

A good listener who’s polite to a fault, his eyes. You don’t teach that.” hats are close cousins). The product of a e t t y I he’s a very coachable player — even to Like his manager, Jeter never gets mixed marriage that produced two chil - m a g the point of admitting a rare mistake. too high or too low. He wears the dren (he has a sister named Sharlee), e During his rookie year, the shortstop same gameface whether he’s hitting a first made his mark as a high s unwisely tried to steal with two outs. game-winning home run or talking to school senior at Kalamazoo Central: he He didn’t make it. When he returned to the media from a clubhouse stool after hit .508 with four homers, 23 RBI, 21 the dugout, he squeezed between man - the Yankees became the first team to walks, and 12 steals in 23 games. ager Joe Torre and bench coach Don blow a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven He struck out only once. Zimmer, knowing they weren’t pleased postseason series. Only 20 when he first reached the with his performance. Even George Steinbrenner, too often majors, Jeter has been a jolter ever since. “He was there to take his lumps and quick to criticize but slow to praise, is He’s played exclusively for the get it out of the way,” Torre remembered. impressed with his shortstop. Yankees and played all of his home “I looked at him, slapped him on the back “The name Derek Jeter is made for games at . Though that of the head, and said, ‘Get out of here.’ stardom,” he said. “He’s got an infec - is about to change, with a new Bronx He knew. He didn’t have to be scolded. I tious smile, and he’s so handsome and ballpark due to open in 2009, Derek thought that was extraordinary. well-behaved. He’s just a fine young man Jeter will just go with the flow. “I was pretty sure before that he was who does everything right. He’s like Jack “We just want to win,” he said, something special. What he did that Armstrong and Frank Merriwell, guys I expressing the prevailing feeling of the night reinforced it.” grew up rooting for. Some guys come Yankee clubhouse. “A lot of people may Derek Jeter’s growing legion of admir - along who just measure up.” become content with one championship ers couldn’t agree more. To Steinbrenner, who has owned the or a little bit of success. We don’t really “I’ve told him I’ll trade my past for his Yankees since 1973, Jeter is the anti- reflect on what we’ve done in the past. future,” once said. Jackson, a career Yankee who conforms We focus on the present.” “I told him early on to avoid the pit - to club policies, never embarrasses him - For Derek Jeter, both present and falls that plagued me,” said Darryl self or his teammates, leads the team on future look bright. Strawberry. “New York is a place that and off the field, and contends for major can swallow you up if you’re not able postseason honors. Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of to handle the pressure of success — His friends, family, and teammates see Fair Lawn, NJ is baseball editor of Legends and of failure. He handles it with class him differently — as a man who likes Sports Magazine and managing editor of BallTalk , a syndicated radio talk show. He is and dignity.” chicken parmigiana, chocolate-chip cook - also the author of 33 books, including “The tougher the situation,” said Joe ies, Angela Bassett, and the color blue Baseball Gold: Mining Nuggets From Our Torre of Jeter, “the more fire he gets in (the Yankees’ pinstripes and navy blue National Pastime [www.triumphbooks.com]. E z r a S h a w / G e t t y I m a g e s

Jeter dives safely into third base

10 LEGENDS SPORTS LEGENDS SPORTS 11