OH CAPTAIN, NY CAPTAIN
Yankees retire Jeter’s No. 2; Bregman has own tribute
NEW YORK — There was a moment Sunday night when it felt as if Yankee Stadium had been transported 20 years to the past. There was Bernie Williams, smiling wide, and Mariano Rivera, trotting onto the field to “Enter Sandman.” Jorge Posada bantered with Tino Martinez, and Joe Torre addressed the media one more time to talk about his captain.
And when the captain took the diamond — wearing a blue suit instead of blue pinstripes — you half expected him to run out to shortstop. Sure, Derek Jeter is 42 years old, but certainly he must have one more flip in him. You know the play: range to his right, backhand the ball, jump and throw across his body; Martinez could make the pick at first.
But that’s how it goes when the Yankees honor their history, as they did Sunday when they retired the number of the final member of their Core Four. Everything old feels new again, and even Jeter, who’s been retired from baseball since 2014, was in midseason form. He didn’t get too emotional — other than a few exuberant moments in his career, he was never the type — and he kept his speech short. He spoke a lot about Yankee tradition, and tipped his hat to George Steinbrenner.
“I played here in New York for 20 years,” he said in front of the crowd. “I learned that time flies and memories fade, but family is forever, and I’ll be eternally grateful to be a part of the Yankee family.”
Albuquerque’s Alex Bregman paid tribute in his own way, hitting a grand slam for the Astros as Houston won the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader 10-7. The Yankees took the opener 11-6.
Bregman wears the No. 2 in honor of his childhood hero. The 430-foot homer was his first of the season.
Jeter’s number will be the final singledigit number to be retired by the Yankees, one through nine now all represented in Monument Park. Torre spoke of him as a first-ballot Hall of Famer, while Andy Pettitte and Rivera marveled at his nearmythic drive to win.
“He was just the complete package, and there were a whole lot more things he could bring to the table, not just in the
field of play,” Pettitte said. “If you ever needed a big hit in a situation and especially in the postseason … Derek was the absolute best at handling those at-bats like I’ve never seen anyone handle them before. He’s the greatest clutch hitter that I’ve ever seen.”
The 14-time All-Star and five-time Golden Glove winner has five World Series rings; his 3,465 hits are tops in team history, and he leads the franchise in several other categories, including at-bats and stolen bases. On Sunday, the Yankees gave him another ring — a “milestone” World Series-type ring with his No. 2 in diamonds. The Astros’ Carlos Beltran awarded him a new “Monument Park” blazer (then went out and passed him on the all-time doubles list). And then there was the plaque, engraved with the name “Derek Sanderson Jeter.” After it was unveiled, Jeter, along with his wife, Hannah, who is expecting the couple’s first child, began laughing.
“We were laughing because when Bernie had his, he had the big mole, and when Jorge had his, he had the big ears; Andy had the big nose,” Jeter said. “So I was happy with mine.”
Torre, Pettitte and Martinez seemed to agree that he was never the most breathtaking player on the field, and all three agreed that it didn’t much matter.
“He was a dream for a manager to manage,” Torre said. “He wasn’t the most talented player, but for some reason you wanted the ball hit to him or at the plate” in the most important moments.