On the TunneySide of SportsAfter further review… Watching the New York Yankees play the Boston Red Sox recently in Fenway Park, the third baseman for the Sox came to bat – Jeter Downs. He normally plays shortstop, but Sox manager Alex Cora moved Downs to third in his MLB debut.
“Jeter?” I thought to myself – shouldn’t he be playing for that other team? Jeter did well in his first MLB game and received a nice Tweet from the player he was named after – Derek Jeter — or as one of my favorite announcers, Bob Sheppard at Yankees Stadium, would say, “Now batting number two Jeta, number two.” And yes, his mom gave Downs, who is now 23, the name of Jeter.
And why not? “Everything he does has such grace about it,” said A’s General Manager Billy Beane about Derek Jeter. “Every sunrise is a fresh shot at victory – every day an invitation to compete with that same smile and delight of that little boy in the mirror that looks back at you.”
There have been many other great Yankee players that I admired and used to hear their names as I was growing up and listening to on our radio – Red Ruffing, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig along with DiMaggio, Ford, Mantle, Maris, etc. But as I watched Derek Jeter play, what struck me first and foremost was his positive attitude. He looked like he was having fun playing baseball, treating every game, every day, like he was happy to be there.
One of his coaches said about Derek Jeter. “Players gravitate toward him. He is well-liked, has a great disposition, a good sense of humor, and of course that smile, but when it comes to working out that grin melts into a serious look. Do you think that Jeter Downs is capable of adopting that? The name is one thing, the behavior is still to come. Or how about any young ballplayer? The original can be copied.
Certainly, credit must go to Derek Jeter’s mother (Dorothy) and father (Charles) for instilling and nurturing Jeter in the values of integrity, humility, and respect for others. Dorothy and Charles have been in the Yankee clubhouse and were reluctant to go again saying, “This is where you work.” Proud, you bet! But respectful of him and his place of work. What Jeter dislikes most is an attitude of “not caring.” He believed that you must care about winning. That’s an attitude that every player must have!
Will you practice the Derek Jeter values in everything you do?
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