Bregman’s number a tribute 2 Jeter

ALEX BREGMAN grew up trying to emulate Derek Jeter, practicing The Captain’s signature jump throw from shortstop in the Cul-desac of his house in New Mexico. Now, Bregman wears No. 2 in honor of his childhood idol as the highly-touted, 23-year-old third baseman for the contending Houston Astros. “I grew up loving Derek Jeter and loving the Yankees,” said Bregman, whose mom’s side of the family hails from Long Island. “So every time the Yankees were on TV I was watching and I always loved to watch him, just the way he went about his business. He was The Captain on the field and he came through in the clutch. He’s just a guy you want to have on your team and you want to go out there and battle with, and that’s why I wear No. 2.”

Bregman said he met Jeter one time at an LSU-Alabama football tailgate and saw him play at Chase Field in Arizona. But the No. 2 overall pick of Houston in the first round of the 2015 MLB draft said teammate Carlos Beltran plans to introduce him to Jeter prior to The Captain’s jersey retirement ceremony on Sunday night at Yankee Stadium. “I’m really excited for that,” said Bregman, who began wearing Jeter’s No. 2 in pro ball. “They asked me what number I wanted, and I said No. 2.”

Two Jeter moments he watched on TV particularly stand out for Bregman. “‘The Flip’ play (in the 2001 playoffs against Oakland) where he ran across the field and made just an unbelievable play, a baseball play, an instinctual play that most players wouldn’t make. That has to be No. 1,” Bregman said. “And then I remember I was in my college dorm room with 20 of my teammates at LSU watching his walk-off hit at Yankee Stadium to end his career. And that gave you the chills. That was pretty special. And then certainly all the homers he’s hit in the playoffs. He was Mr. Clutch.”

The way Jeter carried himself in the biggest situations impressed Bregman, who has had to move from shortstop to third because he’s playing on the same side of the diamond as superstar Carlos Correa.

“He embraced those moments, he wanted the pressure,” Bregman said. “He put pressure on himself when he practiced, so that way when the pressure situations came in the game he was ready for them. He was just calm, cool and collected, and that’s pretty special when you have a player like that.”

Bregman was a baseball wunderkind his whole life and was projected to be a first-round pick out of high school. But he suffered a hand injury as a senior, and fell to the 29th round of the 2012 draft, where he was taken by the Red Sox. Bregman passed on signing with Boston and decided to attend LSU, where he wore No. 30 to reflect all 30 teams deciding to pass on him in the first round. Three years later, however, he worked his way to a $5.9 million signing bonus. And after a slow start in 2017, Bregman has hit in 10 straight games and 16 of 17.

“I’m just trying to battle every day, not get too high, not get too low, just go about my business and be a good teammate,” Bregman said. “We’ve got a great team here where we’re just winning games, and that’s what’s most important. I’m just trying to focus on squaring up the baseball and good things will happen.”

Sounds like something Jeter might say.

“It’s crazy to be in the big leagues wearing the same number Derek Jeter wore,” Bregman said.