Bomber Bites With Jumping Joe–Derek Jeter’s Career Ending With Whimper
By Joe Vitulli
Derek Jeter’s career has always been about winning; winning games, winning awards and winning championships. He has played only one game in his entire career when his team was eliminated from postseason contention. Unfortunately, in his final season, that number will increase. The Yankees are not going to make it to the postseason. The magic number for the Orioles to clinch the division is down to five. They are five games behind in the wild card standings. There are only 15 games left to play. Thus, the player most synonymous with the baseball playoffs for the past quarter century’s final playoff moment, will be the image of him being carried off the field. Carried off not in the joy of another championship, but after breaking his ankle in the 2012 ALDS against the Tigers.
Mandatory Credit: Chad R. MacDonald.
In a way, Jeter’s career really ended that night in the Bronx. Jeter had just finished a terrific bounce back season in which he had led the American League in hits and helped guide the Yankees back into the playoffs. He literally left it all on the field, leaving the game after a devastating injury that he would never really recover from. In the two seasons since the injury, Jeter has performed like a shell of his former self. The 2013 season was largely lost to injury, first the ankle, then re-breaking the ankle and then a hamstring injury. This season, Jeter has been a below-average shortstop, who made the All-Star Game as a nod to his legacy. Jeter may have passed some milestones this season, but unfortunately he has done nothing to add to his legacy.
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This season has been all about nostalgia for the Jeter of old. Unfortunately, the Jeter on the field has been just old. The veneration of Jeter this season has been over the top. However, the actual end of Number 2’s career will be anti-climactic. The Jeter Farewell Tour may have filled stadiums across the country this summer, but most fans know that they stopped watching the real Jeter in 2012.