jetermain2

Baserunning & Defense
Jeter is not only a fast baserunner, but also a savvy navigator who runs hard. He can leg out infield hits and stretch gappers into doubles. He is capable of stealing 30 bases per season, but the team and the state of the game don't demand it. Defensively, Jeter can improve. He is a solid shortstop, although there are better fielders at the position in both leagues. His arm is strong and he can make plays on the run, both in the hole and up the middle.

Stats G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS OBP SLG OPS AVG

2001 72 300 49 87 13 2 6 38 36 47 14 1 .371 .407 .777 .290

Name: Derek Sanderson Jeter
Date of Birth: June 26, 1974
Birthplace: Pequannock, NJ
Resides in: Tampa, FL
Weight: 195
Height: 6'3"
Parents: Charles Jeter and Dorothy Connor
Sister: Sharlee Jeter

Position: Shortstop
Throws and Bats: Right
Number: 2
Fav Player to play against: Cal Ripken Jr.
Fav Singers: Mariah Carey & Toni Braxton
Fav Movie: Seven
Fav TV Show: Martin
Fav Food: Chicken Parmesan
Best Friend: Alexander Rodriguez (SS for Seattle Mariners)
Fav Ice Cream flavor: Chocolate
Biggest Fear: Dislikes Cats and is afraid of Dogs
High School: Kalamazoo Central High School
Fav Away Game City: Toronto Ontario Canada (Blue Jays)
Endorsements: Fila, Discover Card, and Pepsi
Ideal Women: "Must know something about Baseball"

Acclaim: Derek, how old were you when you first started playing baseball?

Derek Jeter: As long as I can remember. Maybe five, six. Pony League, Little League...Little League, tee ball...tee ball.

A: Who was an inspiration for you growing up, on a personal level and as well as a sports idol?

DJ: Well, my dad played baseball at Fisk University so when I was younger I wanted to be like him. And than, baseball-wise, besides Zimmer of course, Dave Winfield. I was a big Winfield fan.

A: What are some of your individual goals as a player, aside from the team goals, as coming up for the season?

DJ: Well, I think personal accolades, I mean they're great and everything but, we tend to focus more on the team. Well, I've been spoiled. We won two out of three years, so anytime you go through that all you want to do is win.

A: How do you prepare yourself in the off-season?

DJ: I live down here in Tampa and I work out at the minor league complex with the coaches, strength coaches and we pretty much do everything. There's almost no off-season.

A: Especially when you go into October winning.

DJ: Yeah.

A: Talk about your involvement writing the scouting reports for the All-Star Baseball video game.

DJ: Well I tried to be a little biased toward our pitching staff, so I think our team might dominate this game. You know, it was fun. I got to go through and look at the different pitchers, and in my opinion put how they pitch me, so...and everyone knows how to get me out.

A: Okay, give us a little more detail. Who taught you how to play the game, was that someone that came from your family or was that just coaches in the area growing up?

DJ: My dad taught me a lot. He says even now he couldn't hit too good but he says, so he's a better defensive player so he's always out there. My mom, my dad, we all used to go out there. Mom used to throw me Wiffle balls in the back yard, so it was like a family project.

A: What players in the league do you admire for their skills?

A: You've been asked this question a lot I'm sure in the last week, but what was your initial reaction to the David Wells/Roger Clemens trade?

DJ: I was sort of shocked because I hadn't been reading the papers but I hadn't heard any trade rumors before it happened and it was a last second thing. They went to the field and they told me that they traded for him, so, it was kind of a shock at first.

A: Obviously you've been through this twice, but going back to the first time and even the second time, what's the overall feeling of winning a world championship?

DJ: I don't know if you could sit here and describe it. I think...every kids dream, when they dream of playing baseball is playing in a World Series and I've been spoiled two out of three years, so I don't know if I could sit here and exactly in words and describe it; but I think it's very gratifying- I think even more so last year. My first year things happened so fast and before I knew it we won, and last year was a great thrill for us.

A: Obviously the Yankees have recieved a lot of attention in the off-season. People are expecting them to win. Is it fair to say that anything less than a world championship would be acceptable for the team as a whole?

DJ: I think it's very fair. I think you play 162 games, you play thirty in the spring and you play another fifteen in the post-season. You don't get a ring if you don't win. So our goal is to win the World Series and that's the bottom line. If you don't win than the season is not a success.

A: What kind of music do you listen to and who is your favorite performer or rock band?

DJ: That's funny, uh...

(Laughter)

A: Presently.

DJ: I like R&B and hip-hop. I don't really have one particular group or artist or anything, it's just the whole hip-hop, R&B...

A: Okay. What advise to have to give to aspiring Little Leaguers and ball players?

DJ: Well, I would say, you don't necessarily have to want to be an athlete. I think whatever you want to do your dream can come true if you work hard because not too many people get a chance to play professional sports but a lot of people tell them they can't. I know when I was growing up everyone said that you can't do it and they laughed at me, but I think if you work hard than anything can happen.

A: Okay. Give us your overall response to having the opportunity to appear in a television commercial for a video game for kids.

DJ: Well, it's fun. I think it's a lot of fun. Hopefully the commercial comes out well. A lot depends on how Zim acts at the end because a lot's riding on him.

A: Okay. Obviously from the commercial, All-Star Baseball has helped you prepare for the season coming up. What advise would you give to those kids who are considering adding All-Star Baseball 2000 to their list of games?

DJ: Well I think it'll be a great game. Like I said, I sat down and went through the scouting reports so hopefully I got the reports right. So I think it's going to be as close as to the real thing as you can get.

Exclusive interview with Derek Jeter, Shortstop for the New York Yankees
by Mike Jerchower of acclaim.com

DJ: Well, there's a lot of players..., Alex Rodriguez of course, Garciapara...and I'm just looking at shortstops...Ordonez. There's a lot of young players coming up that I think play great and they have a respect for the game, so I think that's good for the fans.

Hitting
Jeter learned to turn on inside pitches, nearly matching his previous career total with 19 homers. He did so without sacrificing any batting average. He still strikes out too much for a No. 2 hitter,but has become better at laying off high fastballs and sliders that break down and away from him. Jeter takes a lot of pitches to the opposite field with his inside-out swing and isn't afraid to bunt for a hit. He's a potential No. 3 hitter, though he wouldn't be considered for that role until Paul O'Neill retires.

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Derek Jeter, who was 1-for-15 to start the World Series, came to the plate just seconds after the clock struck midnight and made history.

NEW YORK -- After Derek Jeter put on his own personal highlight show in the Division Series, Reggie Jackson reminded everyone that he had trademarked the name "Mr. October," noting that the Yankee shortstop would have to find himself a new nickname.

No problem. Say hello to Mr. November.

Jeter, who was 1-for-15 to start the World Series, came to the plate with two outs in the 10th inning, just seconds after the clock struck midnight. For the first time, the World Series had stretched into November, meaning someone would have the opportunity to become baseball's first-ever November hero.

Jeter became that somebody, hitting a 3-2 slider off Diamondbacks closer Byung-Hyun Kim over the right-field wall, giving the Yankees a 4-3 win, and tying the World Series at two games apiece in the process.

"When I first hit it, I had no idea whether it was going to go out, but once it goes out, it's a pretty special feeling," Jeter said. "I've never hit a walk-off home run before so it was a special experience."

Jeter, whose 14-game World Series hitting streak came to an end with two hitless games in Arizona, had been struggling at the plate throughout this series. Wednesday was no different, even after manager Joe Torre moved his shortstop into the leadoff spot. In his first four at-bats, Jeter didn't get the ball out of the infield, showing signs of frustration with each swing.

That all changed with one swing of the bat.

''The beauty of the postseason is it really makes
no difference what you've done up to a certain
point because every time you are at the plate or
every time you are on the field, you have an
opportunity to do something special,'' Jeter said.

"The thing with our team, who cares what the scoreboard says your stats are if you come up big in big situations."

In this series, there may have been no bigger situation. Tino Martinez gave New York life in the ninth with his two-run game-tying shot off Kim in the ninth, but it was Jeter's shot that put the Yankees over the edge, shifting the momentum in the Yankees' favor as the series became a best-of-three.

"We've been battling, we have not been swinging the bats as well as we'd like or getting the number of hits we'd like to," Jeter said. "But this is a huge moment because it was a big game for us, and hopefully we continue to play well. We have confidence every time someone steps up to the plate that they are going to do something big, so hopefully this will carry over."

Paul O'Neill may have had the best view of Jeter's game-winner, standing in the on-deck circle. O'Neill, who was on base for Martinez's ninth-inning shot, said this game was one of the most exciting he has been a part of.

"I was on-deck, and as soon as he hit it I threw my bat up because I knew that was it," O'Neill said. "Then, I thought it was going to hit the wall and I went looking for my bat, telling myself I better drive him in."

But the ball did clear the wall, sending the Yankee Stadium crowd into a frenzy. After dropping the first two games in Arizona, New York had held serve and taken a pair at Yankee Stadium to even the series.

"These are the days that you play through your mind when you're five- and six-years-old, swinging the bat in the backyard," O'Neill said. "Usually you're the one hitting the home run, but this will do. When it's all said and done, a few games are sure to stick out. I'm sure this one will be right up there."

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Torre's Yankees have won in almost every possible way: they battled back from 0-2 against the Atlanta Braves in 1996, swept a pair of World Series in 1998 and 1999, and beat the Mets in 2000's Subway Series. This year, one out away from being down 3-1 to Arizona, Martinez and Jeter came through with dramatics fit for a Broadway theatre.

"This is a big lift," Torre said. "You win a game like this, when you're on the threshold of going down 3-1, it's huge. It's huge for our confidence."

"A World Series game that comes down to a couple of home runs at home," O'Neill said. "It's a neat, neat night. To see a hit like that, to see the fans enjoy something like that, it's great. It's a shame it's so late and that the kids didn't get to enjoy this."

Despite the win and the apparent shift in momentum, the Yankees know that there is still work to be done. All they have done is tie the series, which now is a race to two wins.

"This win means absolutely nothing unless we come out ready tomorrow and we play well," Jeter said. "It's a huge win for us. Everyone talks about momentum, but momentum is only as strong as your next day's starting pitcher and we have a lot of confidence in Mike Mussina."

Jeter and the Yankees will have another shot to make history in November, but for now, he's the biggest baseball star the month has ever seen.

"For today, Jeter is Mr. November," said Mike Stanton. "Only by a few minutes, not that he has a lot of competition for that title."

Derek Jeter
c/o New York Yankees
Yankee Stadium
161st Street and River Avenue
Bronx, NY 10451

Contact Derek Jeter

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