Derek Jeter’s Accomplishments, Respect for the Game Earns Praise in Red Sox Clubhouse
Then came reaction to the longtime, but incredibly respected, rival.
"If you like baseball, he's a lot of what's good in baseball," manager Terry Francona said. "He respects the game, plays the game right. He makes me proud the way he goes about his business."
Francona recalled seeing Jeter for the first time in the Arizona Fall League in 1994. Aside from some changes to his hair, Francona still sees the same overall package that drew rave reviews way back then.
In fact, Francona remembered thinking at the time that Jeter could be something really special.
"Yeah, you could. Yeah, you could," Francona said when asked if he could have predicted then that Jeter would be a sure-fire Hall of Famer now. "He was good."
In 2005, Boston's manager even made it a point to track down Jeter in a Fenway Park tunnel after the Yankees shortstop was not named to Francona's American League All-Star team that year. Francona told Jeter that "the fact that you're not on that team is upsetting me."
There are not many players in baseball that would elicit that sort of reaction from a rival manager, but Jeter has set himself apart.
Jason Varitek, who has been behind the plate for many of Jeter's 286 hits against the Red Sox, said he also saw something unique in Jeter early on.
"He's been at a superstar level pretty much from the start," Varitek said.
Jeter finished 5-for-5 on Saturday, punctuating the effort with a go-ahead RBI single in the bottom of the eighth. It was a game that had stat geeks going crazy, with Jeter filling up the box score on such a historic afternoon.
For Francona, it's so much more than that.
"That's an unbelievable accomplishment," he said of Jeter’s milestone. "The numbers speak for themselves. The other side is either as impressive or more, the way he conducts himself. The way he respects the game.
"When you're that talented, you're going to get hits. I appreciate the way he respects the game."
