MLB: Derek Jeter, The Face of MLB Is Retiring

Derek Jeter to retire in 2014. Photo credit MLB 

by Steve Painter 

Derek Jeter is everything a team, and a sport, could ever ask for. He will retire at the end of the 2014 season with his golden legacy and a certain trip to Cooperstown in store.

He is the face of Major League Baseball. You can love or hate the Yankees, but you can't deny the fact that Jeter was the captain, the leader, the class act, and he did it all with dignity.

The kid from Kalamazoo, Mich. was drafted in the amateur draft of 1992. He had committed to Michigan, but the Yankees drafted him and the rest is history. And what a history it's been: Five championships, the home run for his 3,000th hit, and he got 216 hits in 2012, two years after everybody thought he was done. The opening day homer in Cleveland as a rookie in '96, just weeks after manager Clyde King pleaded with owner George Steinbrenner to demote him to the minors. The Jeffrey Maier homer. The World Series destruction of the Mets in 2000. The epic flip play a year later, his signature moment. The 5-for-5 day he had against Tampa Bay to become the first Yankee to reach 3,000 hits.

All this from a guy who used to cry himself to sleep, thinking he would never reach the major leagues.

He is the personification of all that is right in sports. He did it the right way, without cheating.

He is arguably among the top 5 of all-time Yankee greats. Yes, he belongs in that conversation. With Mantle, the Babe, Gehrig, and DiMaggio. And for our generation, he is at or near the top of any legitimate list that covers the best ever.

Jeter will make his farewell tour this year, and it will be memorable. His last stop will be Boston, where those fans, who are wonderful knowledgeable fans, will stand and applaud a great career.

He wants to start a family, be more involved in the community, enjoy a summer vacation, and own a team himself.

As spectators, all we can do is watch and applaud one of the greatest to ever play the game. He is going out a champion, one for the ages. On his terms. He made the right decision.