Shortstop, New York Yankees
Age: 22 (June 26)
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’3” Weight: 195
Prior to 1996:
A New Jersey
native, Jeter moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan with his family. He starred in
basketball, as well as baseball, at Kalamazoo Central High School, batting over
.500 in his junior and senior seasons. A top shortstop prospect with an
outstanding throwing arm, Jeter was selected by the Yankees as the sixth
overall pick in the 1992 amateur draft and he signed for $800,000, passing up
on a scholarship offer from the Univ. of Michigan. Initially assigned to the
Rookie-level Gulf Coast League, he struggled at bat and in the field, hitting
.202 in 47 games but leading the team with 10 doubles, 3 home runs, and 25 RBIs.
He finished the year by playing 11 games with Greensboro of the South Atlantic
League where he hit .243. Still with Greensboro in 1993, Jeter batted .295 with
14 doubles, 11 triples, 5 home runs, and 71 RBIs. He was chosen to the league’s
All-Star team. In 1994 he advanced from Class A to AA and AAA, batting a
combined .344 with 27 doubles, 11 triples, 5 home runs, 68 RBIs, and 50 stolen
bases. He was named Minor League Player of the Year by The Sporting News.
Jeter started the 1995 season with the Columbus Clippers of the Class AAA
International League (where he had finished in 1994). Called up to the Yankees
in May due to injuries, Jeter appeared in 13 games before being returned to
Columbus. For the year in Class AAA he batted .317. In 15 appearances with the
Yankees (he was recalled in September and played in just two games) he hit
.250. Despite any concerns about his readiness, Jeter opened the 1996 season at
shortstop for the Yankees.
1996 Season Summary
Appeared in 157
games
SS – 157
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 654
At Bats – 582 [20,
tied with Dean Palmer]
Runs – 104 [19,
tied with Mark McGwire]
Hits – 183 [13]
Doubles – 25
Triples – 6
[11, tied with Rusty Greer, Joey Cora & B.J. Surhoff]
Home Runs – 10
RBI – 78
Bases on Balls
– 48
Int. BB – 1
Strikeouts – 102
Stolen Bases – 14
Caught Stealing
– 7 [20, tied with Fernando Vina, Dave Martinez & Randy Velarde]
Average - .314
[14, tied with Juan Gonzalez]
OBP - .370
Slugging Pct. -
.430
Total Bases – 250
GDP – 13
Hit by Pitches
– 9 [10, tied with five others]
Sac Hits – 6
Sac Flies – 9
[8, tied with six others]
Midseason
snapshot:#B – 3, HR – 4, RBI – 38, AVG – .277., OBP – .355
---
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 4 AB) vs. Boston 7/2, (in 5 AB) at Kansas City 8/5
Longest hitting
streak – 17 games
Most HR, game –
1 on ten occasions
HR at home – 3
HR on road – 7
Multi-HR games
– 0
Most RBIs, game
– 4 at California 8/31
Pinch-hitting –
No appearances
Fielding
Chances – 710
Put Outs – 244
Assists – 444
Errors – 22
DP - 83
Pct. - .969
Postseason
Batting: 15 G (ALDS vs. Texas – 4 G; ALCS vs. Baltimore – 5 G; World Series vs.
Atlanta – 6 G)
PA – 67, AB – 61,
R – 12, H – 22, 2B – 3,3B – 0, HR – 1, RBI – 3, BB – 4, IBB – 0, SO – 13, SB – 3,
CS – 0, AVG - .361, OBP - .409, SLG -.459, TB – 28, GDP – 1, HBP – 1, SH – 1,
SF – 0
Awards & Honors:
AL Rookie of
the Year: BBWAA
AL ROY Voting (Top
5):
Derek Jeter,
NYY: 140 pts. – 28 of 28 first place votes, 100% share
James Baldwin,
ChiWS.: 64 pts. – 46% share
Tony Clark,
Det.: 30 pts. – 21% share
Rocky
Coppinger, Balt.: 6 pts. – 4% share
Jose Rosado, KCR:
6 pts. – 4% share
---
Yankees went
92-70 to finish first in the AL Eastern Division by 4 games over the Baltimore
Orioles. The Yankees took control of the AL East with a four-game sweep of the
Orioles right after the All-Star break. Won ALDS over the Texas Rangers, 3
games to 1. Won ALCS over the Baltimore Orioles, 4 games to 1. Won World Series
over the Atlanta Braves, 4 games to 2.
Aftermath of ‘96:
Jeter followed
up with another solid season in 1997, batting .291 with 31 doubles, 7 triples,
10 home runs, 70 RBIs, and a .370 OBP. The Yankees put together an outstanding
114-48 record in 1998 and Jeter had his first All-Star season as he contributed
a league-leading 127 runs to go along with 203 hits, 25 doubles, 8 triples, 19
home runs, 84 RBIs, a .324 batting average, and .384 OBP. He placed third in AL
MVP voting. He hit .353 in the four-game World Series sweep of the Padres. Having
established himself as a team leader, Jeter contributed to another title in
1999 by batting .349 with a league-leading 219 hits to go along with 134 runs
scored, 37 doubles, 9 triples, 24 home runs, 102 RBIs, and a .438 on-base
percentage. He finished sixth in MVP balloting and again hit well in the
postseason, batting .353 in another World Series sweep. The winning continued
in 2000 as Jeter batted .339 with 201 hits, 119 runs scored, 31 doubles, 15
home runs, 73 RBIs, and a .416 OBP. He was MVP of the World Series victory over
the crosstown Mets, hitting .409 and highlighted by a Game 4 performance in
which Jeter homered and tripled to propel the Yankees to a key win. The Yanks
won another pennant in 2001 and Jeter batted .311 with 35 doubles, 21 home
runs, 110 runs scored, 74 RBIs, and 27 stolen bases in 30 attempts. His
offensive and defensive heroics continued in the postseason which ended with
defeat in the World Series. By this point Jeter was a New York celebrity as
well as one of baseball’s top players. Jeter’s average dipped to .297 in 2002,
accompanied by 124 runs scored, 191 hits, 26 doubles, 18 home runs, 75 RBIs,
and 32 stolen bases in 35 tries. In 2003, a dislocated shoulder suffered in the
opening game cost Jeter 36 games but he still ended up hitting .324 with 25
doubles, 10 home runs, and 52 RBIs while scoring 87 runs. The Yankees returned
to the World Series after a year’s absence and the team captain hit .346 in a
losing cause. Getting off to a poor start in 2004, Jeter rebounded as the
season continued to hit .292 with 111 runs scored, 44 doubles, 23 home runs, 78
RBIs, and 23 stolen bases in 27 attempts. Not always highly esteemed for his
defense, he also received his first Gold Glove for his play at shortstop. The
failure to win championships since 2000 became an issue for Jeter and the
Yankees, although he continued to be an All-Star and received MVP votes from
2005 to ’08. He remained a .300 hitter and all-around strong performer. In 2009
the Yankees returned to the top and Jeter batted .334 with 212 hits, 107 runs
scored, 27 doubles, 18 home runs, 66 RBIs, and 30 stolen bases in 35 attempts.
He hit .407 in the World Series triumph over the Phillies, placed third in AL
MVP voting, and was named Sportsperson of the Year by Sports Illustrated.
In 2010 his batting average dropped to .270, but he still scored 111 runs with
30 doubles, 10 home runs, and 67 RBIs. In 2011 Jeter reached 3000 career hits
in a year in which he batted .297 with 24 doubles, 4 triples, 6 home runs, 61
RBIs, and 84 runs scored, while missing time due to injuries. Jeter had one
last big year in 2012 in which he led the AL with 216 hits while batting .316
with 32 doubles, 15 home runs, 58 RBIs, and 99 runs scored. He placed seventh
in league MVP voting, the last time he received MVP votes. A broken ankle
suffered in the postseason effectively curtailed his long career. Jeter was
limited to 17 games in 2013 and announced that 2014 would be his final season.
He appeared in 145 games and hit .256 to finish a major league career spent
entirely with the Yankees. For his career he batted .310 with 3465 hits that
included 544 doubles, 66 triples, and 260 home runs. He also scored 1923 runs
and compiled 1311 RBIs as well as 358 stolen bases and a .377 OBP. Appearing in
158 postseason games he hit .308 with 20 home runs, 111 runs scored, and 61
RBIs. A 14-time All-Star, the Yankees retired his #2 and he was elected to the
Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020. A five-time Gold Glove winner, he finished in
the top 10 in AL MVP voting seven times. In 2017 he became part of the
ownership group that purchased the Miami Marlins, and was named CEO.
--
Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were recipients of
the Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America
(1947 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from
its inception through 1948 and from 1949 on to one recipient from each major
league.
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