The Jeter Watch

The Jeter Watch-Saturday, September 20, 2014

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 21- The focus of nearly every person in the sold-out Yankee Stadium crowd of 47,292 was on Derek Jeter. Whether in the field, at shortstop or at the plate with a bat in his hands, everyone was watching the Yankee captain. What did Jeter do during the ninth game before his retirement?

The fans rose to their feet and cheered as Jeter approached the plate in the first inning. That fan reaction was repeated before each of his four following at bats. The disappointment was noticeable as Jeter took a called third strike.

With two out in the third, he beat out an infield hit. The hit raised his consecutive

game hitting streak to four. He then scored his 1,920th career run on a double to left by Brian McCann. The run put him one ahead of teammate Alex Rodriguez for sole possession of ninth place in the record books. The run knotted the score at 1.

Jeter grounded out to second in the fifth. Two innings later, he flied to right.

In his last at bat, in the bottom of the ninth, Jeter doubled sharply to left, driving Brett Gardner, who was on first, across the plate for the final Yankee run. The run batted in was his 1,303rd, which gave him 100th place in career stats. The hit was his 141st of the year and 3,457th in career hits, 6th place in MLB history.

It was also his second hit of the contest. He had multi-hit games in all three of the home contests of the final homestand that have been played.

Speaking about the ninth inning run batted in, Yankee manager Joe Girardi commented, “You’re seeing it again. The guy never stops fighting and believing in himself.”

Gardner, who scored on Jeter’s double, reacted after the game, “Nothing he does surprises you anymore. Obviously, what he has accomplished in his career is pretty special and he’s definitely a guy you don’t ever count out.”

At short, Jeter made four assists and did not make an error.

In the eighth inning, an MLB tribute video was played on the centerfield videoboard that received another ovation from the crowd.

Jeter has five more games to play in the Bronx and three in Boston before his retirement takes effect.