For an entire generation of Yankees fans, Derek Jeter will be the cross-generational link in the shared experience of Yankee greatness. For us middle aged New York baseball fans, we hear of Babe Ruth, Joe Dimaggio and Lou Gehrig but they are as distant and mythical as centaurs and unicorns. Derek Jeter is the last true Yankee and his exit from the great game of baseball will leave a tremendous void that no one else will ever be able to fill in quite the way he did.
Our fathers remember Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford and Yogi, but again, to the kids coming up today, they are as abstract as the surface of the moon. Derek Jeter’s span is uniquely linked to baseball. He is the icon that Baby Boomers got to watch achieve greatness alongside their children, who in turn, thanks to Jeter’s longevity in pinstripes, allowed Generation Xers to watch him alongside their children.
For example, in 2000 my Dad and I went to Game 1 of the Subway Series at Yankee Stadium. It was our only World Series game together. Derek Jeter was the starting shortstop that game, and every year for the next 14 years, until now. In this day and age of free agency, it is rare that multiple generations get to enjoy the shared experience of a single player at a single position any more, let alone in such a storied franchise with the success and class of Jeter, the last true Yankee.
In fact, if you forget about his on-field heroics, think back about the World Series Championships for a moment. Just the sheer fact that he was a fixture on his team for 20 years not only makes him the most iconic sports player in New York for the past 30 years, but he calls to mind a caliber of player and an overall game philosophy that simply no longer exists.
Derek Jeter is the last true Yankee, like the greats before him: Cal Ripken Jr, George Brett and Mike Schmidt, for example. These great players started out with humble beginnings, and were not afraid to make an entire career with a team, learn the ropes, then spend the rest of their playing days embedded in a single community. They were also not afraid to age along with their millions of fans. The new players coming up today seem as though they do not really care about baseball as their first priority. By all indications, it seems as though money and greed are what drive the majority of their career decisions. They have no sense of loyalty; no sense of pride in team unity.
Modern players reflect the growing trend today of young people today who do not understand the concept of “loyalty.” They simply want to make as much money as possible no matter who they have to step on to do so. Jeter is different . He was never a free agent who joined the Yankees for big bucks, nor was he a Yankee who ever left for another team. He started as a Yankee, and finished as a Yankee. For this reason and so many others, he is the last true Yankee.
