‘Derek Jeter’. You’ve probably come across that arrangement of letters at some stage in the past couple weeks. What’s a Jeter, you ask? Some kind of jet-propelled engine? A subatomic particle of some nature? Is it a renewable energy source perhaps? Yes, all that and more.

Ok, no. Not any of that. Jeter’s actually a baseball player, and a damn fine one. In fact, he just retired after nearly two decades at the top of the game. He’s the kind of enigmatic athlete that never seemed to feel pressure, that always brought the best out in others, that inspired works of great poetic value…

Just how good was he though? Let us investigate.

Top 10 all time in hits, at bats and runs. That’s actually pretty incredible given the long and storied history of Major League Baseball. You get a tale there of not only the longevity of the man but also the consistency over that period.

He won 5 World Series titles, was a 14 time All Star, a former Rookie of the Year (1996) and a 5 time Golden Glove winner. He was never the best player on the planet at any given moment, though he was always there or thereabouts. His 3000th hit was a national event.

When injury forced Jeter to miss almost all of the 2013 season, following a resurgent 2012, some questioned whether he would ever return. He did. And even if he wasn’t the same player any longer as he neared the age of 40, he still managed to play in 145 games this year. Jeter announced eight months ago that he’d retire at the end of the 2014 season and in a way, with the Yankees eventually missing the playoffs for incredibly just the third time since he debuted, it was a bit of a victory lap for the long-time Yankees captain.

Every city he visited brought about more adulation. See, Jeter was more than just a baseballer. He was a superstar, a marketable icon and a nice guy all rolled into one. It’s the trifecta of fame. People respect him, adore him and like him. In this day and age, not many sportsmen can last two decades almost without at least one of those factors being tarnished. He played pure through the steroid era (he was never a power hitter anyway). He had plenty of rumoured celebrity flings, but zero messy divorces or scandals. I guess he personified that idealistic view of baseball as being completely wholesome and honest. The Great American Pastime.

Here was his 3465th and final major league hit:

Captain Clutch

You don’t get a nickname like that for nothing. Derek Jeter hit at an average of .310 over his career, with 260 homers, 1311 runners batted in and 1923 runs. That’s pretty damn good. But his greatest moments mostly came in the playoffs.

This is a man who played in 38 World Series games and hit for better numbers there than he did in the regular stuff. For the postseason as a whole he had a career average of .309, in the World Series that ramps up to .321.

And while he had more opportunities than most, his playoff numbers still baffle the mind. Here’s a list of all time MLB postseason records that he holds:

• 158 games played
• 734 plate appearances
• 650 at-bats
• 200 hits
• 143 singles
• 32 doubles
• 5 triples
• 111 runs scored
• 302 total bases
• 135 strikeouts

Plus he’s third in home runs (20), fourth for RBI (61), fifth in walks (66) and sixth in stolen bases (18). That’s not only an entire extra season of baseball, but it’s a season that would be in the question come MVP ballot time. In the very least that ought to make him an All Star.

It would be remiss not to post this either. ‘The Flip’, one of the great defensive plays in baseball postseason history. Jeter throughout his career was at times an underrated, overrated and all points in between defender. Fair to say he was good, but not great. This crucial play, however, was on a whole other level. Facing elimination in the ALDS against the Oakland Athletics, Terrence Long drives a deep double into right field. Jeremy Giambi, the tying run, was on first and was odds on to score as Shane Spencer’s throw went wild and missed the cut-off man. But across comes Jeter, sprinting from short all the way to the first base line to grab the ball and flick it backhanded to Jorge Posada who tagged the runner with about an inch to spare. Amazing. Jeter had no right to be where he was and there was no way they got the out without him. The Yankees went on to win the series.

The Stats

Tributes