The Derek Jeter Legacy

As an Oriole fan I should really dislike the Captain of the Yankees. The Yankees were always our biggest rival and robbed the Orioles of their only legit WS shot of my lifetime. You see the best Orioles team of my lifetime was the 1996 team that lost to the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. Game 1 of that series was controversial after the Orioles lost on a freak play involving Jeter. You see Jeter hit a long fly ball to right field that would have been a routine play for Tony Tarasco, but a 12 year old named Jeffrey Maier reached over the railing and caught the ball that was still in play. The umpire, in an incredibly obnoxious move, ruled it a home run and the Orioles went on to lose the game and the series. Many Orioles fans, including me, went on to hate the kid and Jeter for a while. This image was our symbol over so many losing seasons.

However, as time went on, I grew to appreciate everything Jeter brought to the table. I even eventually started to like Derek Jeter. It seems that during this farewell tour more and more have gone on to appreciate Jeter the way I have. You see it wasn't Jeter's fault that the fan caught the ball, that the umpire called it a homer, or that the Orioles would blow the series. Jeter was just doing what he has done his entire career, he was playing his butt off. Derek Jeter played as hard as anybody I have every seen. He never shrunk in the big moment and never let an opportunity slip by. This guy just played baseball day in and day out and he did it the right way. If Jeter had been an Oriole, we would have said that he did it the Oriole Way.

This talk about Jeter having class comes down to one thing, integrity. Derek Jeter has integrity plain and simple. During this era of cheaters no one has ever or will ever accuse Jeter of cheating. In fact, if you asked any baseball fan who the least likely cheater in the game is, 85% of them would say Derek Jeter. He is clean. He is baseball. People love baseball because of guys like Derek Jeter. They trust that the game isn't a sham because of guys like Derek Jeter. Jeter obviously is not the only clean baseball player, but he is the face of the clean baseball player. Never once did this guy have off the field controversy, never once did he treat any employee with anything but class, and never once was he afraid of being an ambassador for the game of baseball. Baseball is better because of Derek Jeter.

Maybe this farewall tour is a bit overblown. I admit, I thought it was hogwash that he was being called the greatest Yankee ever by so many. It seems a big stretch to call him the best player in this generation as well. For me he ranks somewhere between 6-10 of the players I have seen, behind Griffey, Alomar, Henderson, Ripken, and Pudge Rodriguez for sure. However, there is no denying how great he was. No arguing how important he was for the game. No debate about him being in the conversation. No doubt that he made the game better. So when you think of the legacy of Derek Jeter, remember that. Remember that he did it his way and he did it the right way. Remember that he was clean without a shadow of a doubt. Remember that every fanbase in the country respected him. Remember that everyone in America liked him. Derek Jeter was probably the most likable athlete in the country. This guy was a class act. He is a class act still. And that is why we have given him so much Respect.
Farewell Captain.

-Noland