Derek Jeter

[Rory]

Derek Jeter hits a walk off single on his final at bat in Yankee Stadium. Simply awesome

[John]

Let's get a little video on this amazing, historic, storybook moment, shall we?

[Alleghenies]

Derek Jeter hits a walk off single on his final at bat in Yankee Stadium. Simply awesome

Yeah it is bittersweet to see moments like this but they are nice to recall in the future. I can vividly remember watching Ozzie Smith do his final backflip on the field when he played his last game. I don't remember anything else about the game other than me making a negative comment(being a very young Cubs fan) and my mom scolded me for saying bad things about my brothers favorite team.

Moments like these make baseball special.

[Lions]

I remember meeting him when I was in high school back in 1994 or 1995 (probably the '95-96 offseason) at a baseball card show where he was signing autographs. It was after he had finished signing, and I knew enough to not ask him for one at that point, so I just shook his hand and wished him success for the coming season. I remember not really knowing much about how good he might be, and thinking that he was really tall.

My wife will forever remember me saying, "Stupid Jeter!" every time he failed to deliver in a key moment these past several years. I've really become a lousy baseball fan and even worse Yankee fan who doesn't watch many games, but this was really cool. Love him or hate him, Jeter's had some special moments in his career and when I saw this I just shook my head and thought, "Of course, he'd do something like this." The "stupid Jeter" comment was a reflection of how many times he had delivered, and my frustration when the law of averages won out. Eventually, it became more of a joke than anything else.

I won't miss the Jeter appreciation tour that has made me want to puke this year. I really have no problem with home fans and teams sending off their stars in such style, but the idea that every other team should fete these guys, too, is a bit ridiculous.

[Evas]

What a fantastic way to go out. Storybook stuff there.

I do not have strong feelings about Jeter one way or another. He is a good representative for the sport, but the going away worship tour over the past year was absurd.

He is so worshiped I wonder if he might be the first to be voted in to the HoF unanimously.

[Coqui]

He is so worshiped I wonder if he might be the first to be voted in to the HoF unanimously.

In a word. . . no. For three reasons:

1) The BBWAA is a curmudgeonly bunch that prides itself on being the guardians of baseball history and lore. There will be at least one (and all it takes is one) writer that will think "If Nolan Ryan/Tom Seaver/George Brett/Stan Musial/ad infinitum didn't get in unanimously, that whippersnapper Derek Jeter wo't get in unanimously, either." and vote accordingly.

2) Sabermetricians won't be taking over the BBWAA any time soon, but there are enough of them that at least one will think "If non-steroid era Lou Whitaker/Bill Dahlen/Bobby Grich/Alan Trammel/Tim Raines/Kenny Lofton/Graig Nettles/Larry Walker and their comparable or better WAR aren't getting in, then Jeter and his 71.7 bWAR sholdn't get in unanimously."

3) Anti-Yankee bias.

Don't get me wrong; he will get in, and on the first ballot. And he should. I'm a card-carrying member of the small Hall and sabermetric unions, and Jeter is a no doubt first ballot Hall of Famer. But he won't get in unanimously, nor should he. He's no more beloved than a Stan Musial or a Roberto Clemente or a Carl Yastrzemski or a Cal Ripken, and he's not the balllplayer that any of them was.

[John]

Don't get me wrong; he will get in, and on the first ballot. And he should. I'm a card-carrying member of the small Hall and sabermetric unions, and Jeter is a no doubt first ballot Hall of Famer. But he won't get in unanimously, nor should he. He's no more beloved than a Stan Musial or a Roberto Clemente or a Carl Yastrzemski or a Cal Ripken, and he's not the balllplayer that any of them was.

I buy this analysis.

[Evas]

Don't get me wrong; he will get in, and on the first ballot. And he should. I'm a card-carrying member of the small Hall and sabermetric unions, and Jeter is a no doubt first ballot Hall of Famer. But he won't get in unanimously, nor should he. He's no more beloved than a Stan Musial or a Roberto Clemente or a Carl Yastrzemski or a Cal Ripken, and he's not the balllplayer that any of them was.

I buy this analysis.

I hope you're right. Definitely 1st ballot HoF, but let's not get carried away.

[Lions]

No one will ever be a unanimous selection under the current voting system.

[Apollos]

It's funny that, as I've aged, I've grown to appreciate Jeter more and more. Maybe it's because of the way he carried himself off the field as much as for the player he was on the field, but as someone who can definitively say they're not a Yankee fan, I was happy to see Jeter go out at home like this.