04/19/24
February 12, 2014
Derek Jeter to Retire From Yankees After 2014 Season: Shortstop Derek Jeter, entering his 20th season with the Yankees, announced Wednesday on his official Facebook fan page that 2014 would be his final year playing professional baseball.
Yeah, I can't really begrudge a farewell season for a 13-time All-Star and the longest-serving captain of the most storied franchise in American professional sports.
Yankees suck, but Jeter's one of the all-time greats.
posted by Etrigan at 04:10 PM on February 12, 2014
Hate the Yankees, love Jeter. Its been a conundrum for years. I felt the same way about Joe Torre. The Yankees are going to need to find a new "classiest dude in baseball" so I can continue this internal struggle for another decade.
posted by Joey Michaels at 04:17 PM on February 12, 2014
I assume all the opposing teams will hold a little ceremony before his last game there. There will be speeches and honours bestowed upon him, and then at least one woman he slept with in that city will give HIM a gift basket.
posted by grum@work at 04:25 PM on February 12, 2014
I'm working on a joke where Greg Maddux is The Joker to Derek Jetter's Batman but it might take a while.
posted by Joey Michaels at 05:47 AM on February 13, 2014
Yeah, I can't really begrudge a farewell season
Me neither. I'm just happy to know it's coming to an end: even though he's not the player he used to be, he could be 78 and I'd still fear his ability to inside-out a ball into right field in the 9th inning of a close game. He and Rivera, it pains me a little bit to say it, but I'm happy to have gotten to see them play.
posted by yerfatma at 08:47 AM on February 13, 2014
A couple of things I thought about when I heard this news:
The Statue of Liberty will no longer be the least mobile figure in New York.
The Yankees will try to take some credit for increasing attendance in the parks they visit as Jeter makes his final appearances there.
OK, end of snark. I can echo yerfatma's words, above, about Jeter. He played the game to the best of his ability, which until the past few years was considerable. He brought no disgrace upon himself, his team, or baseball in general, and served the game well with his ability and his actions.
posted by Howard_T at 04:30 PM on February 13, 2014
He's a year too late. There will be no baseball played anywhere on the en-tire friggin' east coast this spring due to current weather conditions.
Daddy said if I lived long enough, I'd get to see 'em trying to maintain the outfield grass with a Zamboni.
posted by beaverboard at 07:22 PM on February 13, 2014
I have a feeling we'll be getting about 7 months of this sort of thing...
Hall of Fame should bend their rules for Derek Jeter
posted by grum@work at 08:04 AM on February 14, 2014
Hall of Fame should bend their rules for Derek Jeter
What a braindead argument. Lou Gherig was dying. Joe was elected just as they were introducing these rules. There are a ton of romantic storylines in baseball just as worthy as this one, particularly if you're not a Yankee homer.
If this writer really want this, they should petition BBWAA writers to not vote Rivera in the first time so they can elect him with Jeter. Both guys are effectively getting a full year of send-offs, which is appropriate, and they'll both be first-ballot hall-of-famers, so I'm not sure they need THAT MUCH more pomp and circumstance to celebrate illustrious careers.
posted by dfleming at 09:43 AM on February 14, 2014
Comment from a thread about that article:
What other concessions should we make to Jeter's glory?
Let's put the ball on a tee when he bats, so he has a better chance at getting 4,000 hits before the season ends.
Let's just give the Yankees a bye all the way through the playoffs, so Jeter can get another ring.
Let's give the Yankees 162 home games this year so Yankees fans have more opportunities to say farewell.
Let's rename it Jeter Stadium. Hell, let's rename all the stadia.
Let's award him the MVP, Cy Young, Nobel prizes for peace, economics, and chemistry, the Peabody award, the Medal of Honor, a Caldecott medal, and the pole position at Daytona.
Let's put him on a box of Wheaties, Corn Flakes, Cap'n Crunch, Honey Smacks, Kashi, Honey Bunches of Oats, and Jeter-O's, a new cereal made with little bits of Jeter so you know it's good.
My suggestion was:
The MVP award will be called the Derek Jeter award, and no one will ever be deemed worthy enough to win it.
posted by grum@work at 09:47 AM on February 14, 2014
What other concessions should we make to Jeter's glory?
We'll still play out the playoffs, but the only way to win the World Series is to have a guy jump into the stands for a foul ball and come up with it. The MVP of each series will be Derek Jeter and the player who caught the ball will be forced to retire for copycatting Jeter.
Each 7th inning stretch will feature Minka Kelly being forced to cry on the pitcher's mound while the crowd sings "if you like it, you shoulda put a ring on it" before pelting her with pretzels.
posted by dfleming at 09:56 AM on February 14, 2014
but the only way to win the World Series is to have a guy jump into the stands for a foul ball and come up with it.
You mean, catch a foul ball and THEN jump into the stands.
posted by grum@work at 10:13 AM on February 14, 2014
Fair enough.
posted by grum@work at 10:33 AM on February 14, 2014
A testament to a career well done when you have to specify WHICH outstanding out-of-field catch you're talking about.
posted by dfleming at 10:40 AM on February 14, 2014
While I would say not-so-classy to announce and effectively ensure yourself a farewell tour, Mo Rivera did it, so no grounds on which to question the class of athletes who elect to do this.