Yankees great Derek Jeter wanted everyone’s approval every day that he played, so, yes, it does bother him a little that he missed being elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame unanimously by one vote.
At the start of his 17-minute induction speech on Wednesday in Cooperstown, N.Y., which was largely one big thank you to everyone that helped him reach baseball immortality, Jeter added a little comedy by saying, “Thank you to the baseball writers, all but one of you who voted for me!”
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Jeter covered all the bases during his 20-year playing career, all of them as a Yankee, and he did so when entering the Hall as a 2020 electee whose induction was delayed a year due to the pandemic.
Legions of Yankees fans showed up to Cooperstown on a weekday with school in session to pay tribute to the leader of the Yankees’ last dynasty, including two Jeter pals who are Basketball Hall of Famers, Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing.
Hearing the roar of the crowd and a few rounds of “Der-ek Je-ter chants that were nightly occurrences in the Bronx for two decades, Jeter said, “I forgot how good that feels.”
Jeter told stories that forever impacted him of seated next to Rachel Robinson, widow of Jackie, at New York BBWAA banquet early in his career and being told before the 1999 All-Star Game in Boston that Hank Aaron wanted to meet him.
“You might wonder why I bring these moments up,” Jeter said. “It’s because these two moments in particular are when I realized it’s more than a game in just a sense. The greatest people and players in this game, the Hall of Fame family … they’re watching, so I wanted their approval. During my career, I wanted to make Mrs. Robinson proud. I wanted to make Hank Aaron proud. I wanted to make all you (Hall of Famers) behind me proud, not of statistics, proud of how I played the game, how I carried myself and I respected the game and those before and after me.”
Jeter, who was born in New Jersey and raised in Kalamazoo, Mich., also saluted his roots.
“I fell in love with the Yankees watching games in summer with my grandmother Dorothy Connors who is here today from West Milford, N.J. I played whiffle ball in her yard in full Yankee pinstripes pretending to be Dave Winfield. When I’d break a window occasionally, she’s be all right with it. At the same time, I learned the importance of going to work every day and enjoy your job no matter what from my grandfather William “Sonny” Connors.”
Jeter talked about his childhood dream of wanting to be a Yankees shortstop. Once that played out, he wanted to do what other Yankees greats did a lot of during their Hall of Fame careers.
“The only thing that mattered was winning,” Jeter said. “I had one goal during my career, and that was to win more than anyone else. And we did.”
A five-time World Series champ, Jeter closed his speech with a message to current players, some of whom he is boss to as a part-owner of the Miami Marlins, and kids who are growing up dreaming of being a big leaguer.
“This is a game that requires sacrifice and dedication and discipline and focus,” Jeter said. “It’s a game of failure. It teaches you teamwork. It teaches you humility. The one common thread with all of us (Hall of Famers) on stage is we understand that there is no one individual bigger than the game. The game goes on, and it goes on because of the great fans that we have. So take care of it, protect it, respect it, don’t take the time that you have for granted.”
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Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com.
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