NEW YORK — Standing on the field with a microphone, the end of his baseball career likely three weeks away, Derek Jeter remained as cool and collected as his play at shortstop over the past two decades.
The New York Yankees honored their retiring captain Sunday with a 45-minute pregame ceremony that included surprise appearances by NBA great Michael Jordan and baseball ironman Cal Ripken Jr. Reserved as always and with no hints of tears, Jeter thanked people a dozen times as he spoke to a capacity crowd of 48,110 at Yankee Stadium for about 3 minutes before New York played Kansas City on a sunny afternoon.
“It’s kind of hard to believe that 20 seasons has gone by so quickly,” the 40-year-old said following a 1 1/2-minute ovation. “You guys have all watched me grow up over the last 20 years. I’ve watched you, too. Some of you guys getting old, too. But I want to thank you for helping me feel like a kid for the last 20 years.”
A 14-time All-Star who is sixth on the career hits list, Jeter sparked a Yankees renaissance that began with a World Series title in 1996 as he won the AL Rookie of the Year award. He led the team to three consecutive championships from 1998-2000, was named captain in 2003 and then won a fifth Series in 2009 that raised the team’s record total to 27.
He missed most of 2013 after breaking his ankle during the playoffs the previous October, made his retirement announcement just before spring training in February and has followed with a respectable but unspectacular final season, his speed, range and power diminished but a starting shortstop until the end.
He beat out a grounder to the shortstop hole for an infield single in the first inning, raising his batting average to .261 with three homers and 40 RBIs.
There were 34 white chairs lined up across the infield for the invited guests, which also included Jeter’s family and former teammates Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, Paul O’Neill, Tino Martinez, David Cone, Hideki Matsui, Tim Raines and Gerald Williams. Fellow Core Four member Andy Pettitte was absent because of a family obligation.
The ceremony was more modest than the send-off the Yankees gave Rivera last September, when they retired his No. 42 — already retired for all major league teams in honor of Jackie Robinson but grandfathered for the great reliever. Jeter was given five gifts from the team: a message machine, framed patches from All-Star appearances, a 10-day trip to Tuscany, an inscribed crystal with a “2” logo and a check for Jeter’s Turn 2 Foundation in the amount of $222,222.22.
New York is five years removed from its last title and hasn’t won a postseason game since the night Jeter collapsed on the field with a broken ankle.
“Is it sad he’s retiring? Yes, because it’s the end of an era,” O’Neill said. Jeter hopes to be back in baseball, but not as a coach, manager or broadcaster. “He says that he wants to own a team one day,” Rivera explained. “I trust him, and I believe him, and he will. One day he will own a baseball team.”
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