Derek Jeter is a baseball legend. Fittingly, he left the game in legendary style.
For 20 years, Derek Jeter played for the New York Yankees. Last weekend, Jeter retired from the game.
While not everyone roots for the Yankees, even his rivals agree that Derek Jeter is a one of the best players to ever play the game of baseball–and he’s also a nice guy. He’s well-liked and respected as a smart, sportsmanlike and even-tempered player.
Jeter is the Yankees’ all-time leader in hits, games played, stolen bases and at-bats. He has won many awards over his career.
In every ballpark the Yankees played this year, Jeter took his final bow. Fans held up signs that said “Re2pect,” honouring the shortstop, whose jersey number on the Yankees was 2.
Everyone was excited to see Jeter’s final game at Yankee Stadium; his hometown crowd would get to say goodbye to the legend.
What they might not have expected was the way it happened.
“I wouldn’t have believed it myself,” Jeter said after the game, according to The New Yorker magazine.
The Yankees were playing the Orioles at Yankee Stadium, in the final Yankees home game of the year.
With the game tied in the bottom of the ninth and one out, Jeter sliced a single through the right side of the infield to score Antoan Richardson from second. The run gave the Yankees the victory and ended the game in dramatic fashion. It was hit number 3,463 for Jeter–the sixth most in baseball history.
The game at Yankee stadium was so spectacular, Derek Jeter considered making it his last game, even with two more games to play–against the Boston Red Sox, at Fenway Park in Boston. Good thing he didn’t though, Jeter batted in yet another run in his final Major League Baseball at bat.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Jonathan Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
It’s hard to imagine a more perfect send-off then Jeter’s. What is the nicest goodbye you have ever had or given someone? What makes a goodbye a good one?
Reading Prompt: Demonstrating Understanding
One of the all-time greats, Lou Gehrig, gave a short speech to the thousands of Yankee fans who attended his final game. In his speech, he said,
Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.
Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn’t consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? Sure, I’m lucky.
How might these very same words be appropriate for Jeter’s farewell?
Primary
Demonstrate understanding of a variety of texts by identifying important ideas and some supporting details (OME, Reading: 1.4).
Junior
Demonstrate understanding of a variety of texts by summarizing important ideas and citing supporting details (OME, Reading: 1.4).
Intermediate
Demonstrate understanding of increasingly complex texts by summarizing important ideas and citing a variety of details that support the main idea (OME, Reading: 1.4).
Language Feature: Proper Nouns
Today’s article includes many proper nouns. A proper noun is the specific name of a person, place, or thing. Proper nouns are always capitalized.
Underline all of the proper nouns in todays article and sort them into 3 groups: person, place, & thing.
