In his final game in the Bronx, Derek Jeter gave New York Yankees fans one final moment they'll always remember.
With one out and a baserunner on second in the bottom of the ninth, Jeter took the first pitch he saw and lined a walk-off single to right field to give the Yankees a 6-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. The 14-time All-Star was mobbed by teammates after he rounded first base as a sellout crowd of 48,613 fans went into a frenzy.
"I want to thank everyone here. I've said it time and time again. Everybody is chanting 'Thank you, Derek.' And I'm thinking to myself, 'For what?' I'm just trying to do my job. Thank you guys," an uncharacteristically emotional Jeter said. "If I'm going to be honest with you, these last few weeks have gotten tougher and tougher. I've told you members of the media I didn't want to talk about it because I try not to think about it. But it was very, very difficult. But it was all worth while."
Jeter, whose name was chanted by the home crowd seemingly throughout the entire game, drove in two RBIs earlier as well. The 40-year-old put his team on the board when he launched a double to left field with his first at-bat of the game, then scored to tie it at 2-2. In the seventh frame, Jeter drove in two more runs (only one earned) after O's shortstop J.J. Hardy made a throwing error on a softly hit ground ball. Watch his double below:
Facing a 5-2 deficit in the ninth inning, the Orioles rallied back against Yankees closer David Robertson and tied the game thanks to a two-run homer from Adam Jones and then a solo shot from Steve Pearce. But the comeback just happened to set the table for The Captain.
Jeter told reporters after the game that he plans to play in the Yankees' final series of the season at Fenway Park, but also said his final home game was "probably" the last time he'll play shortstop too.
“Yeah I’ll play in some capacity. To be quite honest with you, I think this is probably my last game at shortstop. I want to remember that view I had right out there today,” Jeter said, via The Boston Globe. “Out of respect to the Boston fans and the rivalry I will play in some capacity.”
After hugging his current and former teammates, along with his former manager Joe Torre, Jeter walked toward the middle of the diamond to thank the Yankees fans one last time. Even the Orioles players stayed in the dugout and applauded him. Almost immediately after the dramatic and fitting finish, several players throughout Major League Baseball were quick to honor Jeter on Twitter.