If you were tasked with writing an ending to a movie that starred Derek Jeter in his final game at Yankee Stadium, it probably would end with him delivering the walk-off victory, but likely not in the manner it transpired on Thursday night.
The longtime Yankees' shortstop already compiled enough stats in his final home game to have the victory be remembered as one of his best moments. Jeter had an RBI double in the first inning and batted in what looked like the game-winning run in the seventh inning. With the bases loaded and the game tied, he hit a weak ground ball to Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy, who charged it and tried to turn the double play, but his throw went into right field and two runs scored. Jeter was credited with an RBI.
Brian McCann added a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 5-2. The Yanks just needed to get through the eighth and ninth innings to call the night a success. But when Joe Girardi summoned David Robertson to the mound to close out the game, things began to look shaky when he walked the leadoff hitter, Nick Markakis. With one out, Adam Jones came to the plate and Robertson pitched him to a full count, but Jones took his high and inside fastball into the left field stands. The Orioles trailed 5-4.
Then the MLB leader in home runs, Nelson Cruz, stepped into the batter's box and there was stillness in the air. Will Roberston blow it and send Jeter off with a loss in the final home game of his career? Roberston has been lights out all season, why is this happening now?
Yankee Stadium let out a collective sigh of relief when Robertson struck out Cruz handily, but the closer still had to face Steve Pearce with two outs. The Orioles first baseman took Robertson deep to left center field and tied the game at five, leaving Yankee Stadium in shock. Fortunately for New York, Robertson got J.J. Hardy to fly out to center field. The Yankees entered the bottom of the ninth with Jose Pirela, Brett Gardner and Derek Jeter due up.
Buck Showalter called in reliever Evan Meek to pitch the ninth inning. Everyone in the stadium was on their feet waiting for Jeter to get to the plate and deliver the perfect ending to an illustrious career. Pirela starting things off with a single to left field and Girardi put in Antoan Richardson as a pinch runner. Gardner then added a sacrifice bunt to put the speedy Richardson in scoring position. The television cameras quickly focused on Derek Jeter, who took a deep breath in the on-deck circle, quickly crouched down to gather his thoughts, took the weight off his bat, and headed to the batter's box.
The stadium erupted and started chanting "De-rek Je-ter!" over and over. Jeter dug into the batter's box and raised his right hand behind him to let the ump know he needed a few seconds to gather himself. When he lowered his right arm to indicate he no longer needed time to prepare for the at-bat, the crowd went silent. Every eye, cell phone, camera - you name it - was on Jeter. The shortstop looked out at Meek, and after a few moments, the right-hander wound up and hurled his first pitch.
After what felt like hours of silence, the 20-year veteran swung at the fastball and delivered a customary Derek Jeter opposite field line drive. Markakis charged in from right field and cleanly snagged the ball as quickly as he could, sending an accurate throw on the run to home plate, but Richardson had gotten too big of a jump for Markakis' great throw to beat him. Richardson slid headfirst and swiped home plate before Orioles' catcher Caleb Joseph could turn in time to apply the tag.
In one last fleeting moment, Derek Jeter reminded all Yankee fans -- and all baseball fans for that matter -- what defined him throughout his decorated career. After 20 years as a professional baseball player, everyone was still able to see the kid in Jeter and truly understand what the game means to him.
He was jumping up and down in celebration after his hit, hugging all of his teammates, and thanking all of the fans in his postgame interview. He truly believed the outcome of the game was a team effort, which is just the kind of guy Jeter is, and why so many others have such great things to say about him.
Jeter was in an 0-for-28 slump this month and even struck out with two outs in the bottom of the ninth on Tuesday night to further squander the Yankees' playoff hopes. But Jeter kept on playing just like how he would encourage any of his other teammates to, and he rebounded and was able to bestow a lasting memory upon everyone who was involved. And although Jeter likely wanted to experience such an ending for himself to complete his final game at Yankee Stadium, he genuinely wanted to share the moment with everyone else, which is the main reason baseball teams across the MLB conducted a farewell tour - to commemorate his (various) contributions to the game and his overall astute character.
"I want to thank everyone here," he said on the YES broadcast, via this ESPN article. "I've said it time and time again. Everybody is chanting, 'Thank you, Derek.' I'm thinking to myself, 'For what?' I just want to thank you guys. Everything [I will miss], but most importantly, I'm going to miss the fans. They are what made this special."
