Text from Derek Jeter’s Speech on Derek Jeter Day

Hey all and Happy Tuesday afternoon. In case you missed it over the weekend, and shame on you if you did while turning in your Yankees fandom cards at the door, the New York Yankees retired their final single digit number in their franchise’s storied history when Derek Jeter saw his #2 retired inside Monument Park. Jeter was never a huge talker during his playing career and he hasn’t been much for words since heading into retirement aside from the occasional blog post on the Players Tribune but he did address the Yankees crowd before Sunday’s second game of a double-header with the Houston Astros. Here is what Jeter had to say in his own words.

“First of all, I just want to say happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there, especially my mom, my grandmother, my sister and my wife, who is very soon going to be a mother. So happy Mother's Day.

What do you say on a day like this? You know, I'll start with thank you to George Steinbrenner and the Steinbrenner family for giving me the opportunity to play my entire career for the only team I ever wanted to play for.

I want to thank my managers, coaches, teammates, support staff, those of you that are here today and those of you who aren't for being with me along that the entire journey.

I want to thank my family for their love, support, honesty and more importantly their presence at everything I did both on and off the field.

And the fans — wow — I want to thank you guys for pushing me, challenging me, for making me accountable, more importantly for embracing me since day one.

You know, I was asked recently by someone, they said if you could trade places with one person, who would it be? And I say this very humbly, there isn't a person or player I would trade places with that's playing now or ever. And the reason why I say that is because I got a chance to play for a first-class organization and in front of the greatest fans in the history of sports.

You know, you play here in New York for 20 years, you know I learned that time flies, memories fade, but family is forever, and I'll be eternally grateful to be a part of the Yankees' family. So I can't thank you guys enough. Thank you very much.”

Rico Noel the Latest Yankee Blogger

Derek Jeter started the Players Tribune shortly after retiring after the 2014 season with the goal of giving athletes a chance to put their thoughts, beliefs and feelings onto paper without the middle man. The Players Tribune has done just that in its year of existence and the latest New York Yankees player to grace the pages of the Tribune is Rico Noel. The name of the post was "The Wait" and it can be seen HERE.



Being a base-stealer is about being a realist.


When you’re trying to steal, there has to be a balance. You have to find that middle ground. There’s a sixth sense to it, an instinctive math.

If you try to steal while counting on the best-case scenario — the perfect jump, a bad throw — then you leave yourself exposed: the right throw, in the right location, and you’re toast.

If you try to steal while fearing for the worst-case scenario — a bad jump, the perfect throw — then you leave yourself exposed as well: each at-bat contains a limited number of pitches; missing just one good chance to take the base can be as bad as making an out.

And math, in the end, is really what it comes down to. Strip away the scouting, the timing and everything in between: It’s your speed minus their throw.


When the numbers say stay, you stay. And when numbers say go, you go.


My brother Orlandus is an optimist.

He’s a goofball, but in the best sense. He’s the life of the party. He’s always looking out for everyone, checking in to see if a room is too tense. And if it is, then you can count on Orlandus: He will find a way to break the tension.

Is your cookout feeling a little uptight? Not for long, if Orlandus is there. He’ll just start … dancing. Yes, alone. No, it doesn’t matter what music is on. Orlandus’ll go — and go, and go. And then, before you know it, everyone’s having fun. It’s like magic.

Orlandus is just That Guy: The one who seemingly can create positive energy from thin air. The one who manages to see the optimist’s angle, everywhere he looks. And the one who plays his hand with a smile — no matter what cards he’s been dealt.

This past year, Orlandus was dealt some really tough cards.

In November, he started coughing a lot. He had smoked cigarettes previously, so that was our explanation for it: smoker’s cough. Nobody thought much of it.

But then he started to get some chest pains. We thought, “Okay, let’s check this out.” The doctors ran some tests.

The pains wouldn’t subside.

For the next several months, Orlandus was in and out of the hospital — test, after test, after test. The symptoms got stranger: shortness of breath … feeling like he was about to pass out … and more and more pain.

Until, finally, there was a diagnosis: Congestive heart failure.

It was worse than we could have possibly imagined.

My brother needed a new heart.


I was in Buffalo when the Yankees told me I was being called up to the big leagues.

Immediately, I called my mom. She was so happy for me. She knew what a dream it had been for me to reach the majors — and how hard I worked for it. In many ways, I think she understood it more clearly than I did. Moms always know, you know? They always remember.


It was worse than we could have possibly imagined. My brother needed a new heart.

And hearing her process those memories was when it really sunk in for me. Because she was right: I had worked hard — so, so hard. For it to all pay off, in one moment of news, was an incredible feeling.

To read the rest of the post and to support Jeter and the Players Tribune click the link, again SEEN HERE, and check it out. Thank you. 

Dwight Gooden: Letter to my Younger Self

Courtesy of Derek Jeter's site The Player's Tribune and former New York Yankees player Dwight Gooden. Gooden writes a letter to his younger self and parts of it were kind of bone chilling to me. I really enjoyed this and wanted you all to see it as well if you haven't already. Enjoy.

Dear Doc,

I’m writing you this letter from the future — many, many fastballs and curveballs from where you’re standing now. It may seem farfetched now, but in the coming years you will achieve your greatest dreams and be forced to confront a lot of pain and darkness. I can’t shield you from all the mistakes and errors — these are the things that will shape the man you ultimately become — but here’s some guidance about the journey you’re going to embark on.

When you’re a 13-year-old in Tampa Bay, a man will tell you that one day you’re going to play for the New York Yankees. His name is George Steinbrenner and you should listen to him.

If Mr. Steinbrenner offers you a small stake in the Yankees several decades later, maybe think twice before turning him down out of respect for your friendship.

On that note, your agent will approach you about becoming an early investor in a fast food chain called Checkers. At the time you might assume that it won’t be able to compete with Burger King. Maybe reconsider that decision as well.

$2,400 a month is not a good deal for an unfurnished, windowless basement apartment in Port Washington in 1984. Find a place closer to the stadium — you can afford windows, man.

I can’t believe I have to tell you this, but the reason fans are following you to the grocery store is because you decided to put a strip that says Mr. Dwight on the windshield of your Z20 Camaro. You’ll remember this car as the one with the bunny rabbits painted on both sides. Oh, and the big fuzzy dice. Try to practice a little discretion. The jheri curl, large medallion and gold teeth you’re rocking won’t do much to help you blend in either. Your teammates won’t say anything to your face, but you better believe they’re talking about you.

Take a moment to thank the Lord that social media will not exist during your playing career. The entire ‘86 Mets team probably would have been locked up.

You’re too stubborn to listen to me on this, but your arm isn’t indestructible. The damage you do to your body off the field will eventually catch up to your performance on the mound. Trust me when I say that those 150 pitch shut-outs will add up quickly, so try to take care of yourself.

There is one pitch that will forever haunt you. It will happen during the 1988 NLCS with your team up 4-2. In the 9th inning, you’ll walk John Shelby on four pitches, and then face Mike Scioscia. The guy is not a home run hitter but you should respect him as a veteran with a lot of experience. Everyone in the stadium, including Scioscia, knows that you’re going to throw a fastball. With your first pitch, your instinct will be to try to throw it over the middle to get ahead on the count with a quick strike. What you should do is throw it low and away.

Read that last line again. Throw it low and away.

Everything will come much easier if you always remember that the media is not the sole judge of your successes and failures. If you think you pitched a good game, that’s all that matters.

I should tell you that the biggest challenges you’ll face in your lifetime will not relate to baseball. Baseball is something that will always come naturally to you. You’ll struggle with the things that don’t come as naturally.

Someday your father will pass away, and when he does, going to the ballpark will start feeling like a job for the first time in your career. At that point, take some time away from the game to reevaluate what’s really important in life. If you don’t allow yourself time to emotionally recover, the wins won’t bring joy and the losses won’t bring disappointment. That’s when you know it’s time to retire.

Eighty percent of your drive will come from your desire to make dad proud, while the other 20 percent will be for you. Do your best to flip those numbers around, otherwise his absence will cause you to spiral. There are steps you can take to stop this decline, but you’ll have to discover them the hard way.

Your yearning to be liked should not define you as a person. Not everyone has your best interests in mind.

Drugs and alcohol are only a false sense of security. Neither thing will fill the void you feel. Unfortunately it might take you a few missed Christmas Days with your family to learn this.

You will want to try to fix your issues on your own. This is how you think a man handles his problems. It isn’t. Being a man is about reaching out for help when you need it. If your curveball isn’t working, you’ll know how to fix that. If the control on your pitches is off, you’ll know how to fix that. But you will face a lot of hardship because of your inability to realize that you can’t fix yourself.

Finally, please know this: I love you. It’s going to take you a long time and a lot of pain to realize this, but accepting it will go a long way towards healing. The journey will be trying, but it ends in a good place.

Keep getting those Ks,

Dwight ‘Doc’ Gooden

Derek Jeter Should Sign Alex Rodriguez

This post was written by my very good friend Mr. Robert Casey over at BleedingYankeeBlue. If you want to read the entire post you will have to click over on the link HERE and read it so he gets his well deserved clicks and views but I will share an excerpt here with you guys. Derek Jeter is a leader and will ultimately change the sports world in my opinion and I feel the same about Mr. Casey (he hates it when I call him that but I have THAT much respect for him that I can't not do it) and the blogging world. Check it out and check out BYB who put out great content on a daily basis. Thanks guys.

You want to truly forgive? You want to truly have an open dialog about loss and mistakes and how to better ones self and express it player to fan? Derek Jeter should think about this one; Sign Alex Rodriguez to Players' Tribune.

Have Alex speak to the fans directly. Have Alex tell them that whatever mistakes he made are now passed him, and that he's ready to turn the page. But most importantly, tell the fans, the young kids like my son that the mistakes he made should be life lessons for those children and their own future.  If Derek Jeter could do that, I believe his leadership role will become even stronger, and more memorable than many amazing role models in sports history.

We already love Derek Jeter, but can you imagine if he opens his house to someone like Alex? Can you imagine if Alex opens up to the fans and suggests that he regrets what he did? I mean, shouldn't the punishment be over? Shouldn't the time be now? After all, this isn't about friendship, I don't know if Derek and Alex are close at all. I only read what the media puts out. What I do believe in though is human interaction, respect, forgiveness, second chances, pride and professionalism.  This would be a business move, yes, but it would also help a guy like Alex and for Derek, well, I believe it would show true heart for a fellow Yankee who had a few missteps.  It's true leadership. It also fits in perfectly with what Derek wants to accomplish with the Players' Tribune.  We're waiting for a new writer, just look at this portion of their homepage:

It's not a challenge I'm sending Derek Jeter's way, it's a suggestion.  The idea that people on the Internet literally hate ARod, and in association, spew hate toward ARod fans, is ridiculous.  I wrote I DON'T CARE IF YOU HATE AROD. IT'S JUST BASEBALL. I got a lot of heat for it... I don't even know why. Maybe it was because I was calling out the haters... but truth be told, I don't hate anyone. I was merely making a point. ARod fans can root for whomever they want to. It's called fan choice ladies and gentlemen, and that goes for ARod haters as well.  Just stop being nasty human beings toward each other because that player screwed up.  We get it, he blew his career and is an embarrassment to the Yankees.  You don't think the Yankees know that?