A dark cloudy rainy day with a bit of chill was not enough keep throngs of fans from lining up to enter Yankee stadium Thursday. The reason: Derek Jeter's last day playing at Yankee stadium.
Nineteen years ago this young rookie took over the shortstop position and has made that his personal domain for the past 20 seasons.
In these past 19 seasons Jeter had developed into the foundation of the Yankee organization becoming the face of the franchise. As captain of the team he provided the players with a leadership that helped keep the team focused on what was happening on field, in the games and not on any outside issues that could of sidetracked the team. His leadership was seen during many periods, but one that stood out to me was when the Yankees signed Alex Rodríguez and the subsequent circus that followed A-Rod and the team during his tenure.
Jeter led by example and he was always the clutch guy for the key hit, great defensive play, first one out if the dugout congratulating a player, helping a rookie acclimate to their new team.
I personally also saw this Yankee star stop in his tracks on his way racing to the field from the dugout on many occasions to sign an autograph for a child waiting for a player to sign.
Derek Jeter has represented the Yankee organization in the same style that the Yankee organization would have wanted, as a top shelf professional.
Throughout his 20 years Derek gave the fans and Yankee organization nothing but the best he had to offer. That is why on this day when the Yankee's have been eliminated from any playoff contention and have been playing with an anemic offense the stadium looked line if the Yankees were playing in the World Series. Both, Fans and media wanted to record this last game of a stand up Yankee.
By the way, in the typical Jeter style, he gets the walk off hit in the bottom of the ninth to give the Yankees the victory 6-5 over the first place Baltimore Orioles. Derek Jeter has lived his childhood dream.
