Jeter’s No. 2 is retired by Yanks

Derek Jeter held a microphone and spoke without notes to the crowd that filled soldout Yankee Stadium. His No. 2, the last of the single digit pinstripes, had been retired and a plaque in his honor dedicated that will be placed in Monument Park alongside tributes to Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Berra and the rest of the team’s greats.

“There isn’t a person or player I would trade places with that’s playing now or ever,” he told the fans.

Three years removed from a big league career that spanned 19952014, Jeter personally picked Mother’s Day for his tribute. His grandmother, parents, sister, nephew and pregnant wife joined him for the ceremony.

Now 42, Jeter captained the Yankees during his final 12 seasons, capping a career that included five World Series titles, a .310 batting average and a New York-record 3,465 hits. He is the 22nd player to have his number retired by the Yankees, by far the most among major league teams.

“I want to thank my family for their love, support, honesty and more importantly their presence at everything I did both on and off the field,” he said during a three-minute speech that ended the 40-minute ceremony. “And the fans — wow — I want to thank you guys for pushing me, for challenging me, making me accountable, more importantly for embracing me since day one.”

Golf

KIM WINS AT PLAYERS » Si Woo Kim made Sunday at The Players Championship look like child’s play.

From a tough lie behind the green, in a bunker with not much room between him and the pin, or even standing on the 17th tee and staring at an island, the 21-yearold South Korean never flinched and never made worse than par.

Kim kept a clean card to the end for a 3-under 69 to become the youngest champion in the 44year history of the biggest tournament this side of the majors.

“I feel like I’m still dreaming that I won this championship,” Kim said after his three-stroke victory.

On a windy afternoon at the TPC Sawgrass, where anything can go wrong without notice, Kim was the only player to go bogey-free in the final round that derailed everyone else in a hopeless pursuit of him.

His last hurdle was getting by the final two holes where not even his two-shot lead was safe — the island green at the par-3 17th and a closing hole with water all the way down the left side.

“I wasn’t nervous at all because I was leading,” he said. “I just focused on the middle of the green.”

He landed safely and two-putted from 45 feet, and then he smashed another drive down the middle of the 18th fairway.

The only drama at the end came from Ian Poulter, who was happy just to be here.

Two weeks ago, Poulter thought he had lost his PGA Tour card until officials realized a clerical oversight that restored his status and even gave him a spot in The Players Championship.

NHL

DUCKS TIE SERIES » Nick Ritchie scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period, and the Anaheim Ducks roared back from an early twogoal deficit to even the Western Conference finals with a 5-3 victory over the Nashville Predators in Game 2 on May 14..

Jakob Silfverberg, Sami Vatanen and Ondrej Kase also scored while the Ducks cracked imposing goalie Pekka Rinne with a thrilling surge of four goals in less than 19 minutes.

The Predators hadn’t allowed four goals in any game during their excellent Stanley Cup playoff run before Anaheim finally got rolling for its sellout crowd.