Derek Jeter’s Jersey Number to Be Retired by Yankees: Latest Details, Reaction
December 6, 2016 · Tim Daniels · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter will have his famed No. 2 jersey retired by the storied organization before the team’s game against the Houston Astros on May 14, 2017.
The Yankees made the announcement official Tuesday morning:
New York selected Jeter with the sixth overall pick in the 1992 draft and, following a rise through the minors, he proceeded to play his entire 20-year professional career in Yankee pinstripes.
The New Jersey native earned 14 All-Star Game selections and helped the team capture five World Series titles during a career that will land him in the Hall of Fame once eligible in 2020. He also won five Gold Gloves, five Silver Sluggers and finished in the top 10 in MVP voting eight times.
The May ceremony will give Yankee fans another chance to show their appreciation for a player who proved himself worthy of being the face of one of the world’s most famous sports franchises for the better part of two decades.
Fan support is something he talked about in the Players’ Tribune after he retired in 2014:
In some ways the major change this year was that it felt like I played a majority of home games. As always, the New York fans were amazing; their response was overwhelming, but not surprising. Yankees fans have been great to me. It’s the reception outside of New York that really was the biggest difference this year. I’ll never forget how the baseball fans across the country have treated me. Ballparks I used to view as enemy territory were transformed with cheers, handshakes and hat tips. If I thought baseball was part of my family before this season, I know now that it’s truly the case. And I am grateful for that.
Of course, it’s also an opportunity to bring the “Core Four” back together. Jeter along with Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada were the stalwarts during the Yankees’ run of success from the mid-1990s until their most recent title in 2009.
Jeter also holds a special place in hearts of Yankees fans because he was a top-flight player who spent his entire career with the organization, a rare accomplishment in a world with free agency. He and the Atlanta Braves‘ Chipper Jones could be among the last of a fading breed.
That’s why the team is giving the longtime shortstop his rightful place alongside a star-studded group of retired numbers that includes the likes of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle as well as all of his buddies from the Core Four.
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