Thursday, October 26, 2000
Derek Jeter
Life keeps getting better
NEW YORK - Life could be better for Derek Jeter. He could win the lottery. He could patch the ozone layer. He could come up with a cure for the common cold and an antidote for the common cable bill.
He might bring lasting peace to the Middle East or devise a means to make chocolate without the calories. He might discover how to play postseason baseball in two hours, commercials included.
Other than that, he's pretty much got it covered. The New York Yankees' shortstop has the looks to make the magazine covers, the charm to date Miss Universe and the talent to lead his team to three World Series championships in four seasons.
He is 26 years old, and if his whole life is ahead of him, he should probably be ashamed of himself. This year alone, Jeter was the Most Valuable Player in the All-Star Game, published a book on life lessons and reduced Michael Jordan to a straight man in Gatorade commercials.
And now this.
Wednesday night, destiny's child hit leadoff for the first time in the World Series and smashed Bobby Jones' first pitch of the game for a home run. He opened the third inning with a triple to right-center field, and subsequently scored another run. He helped stake the Yankees to a 3-0 lead that was narrowly enough for five pitchers to record a 3-2 victory over the New York Mets.
“Jeter may be leading off, but he's not a leadoff hitter,” said Yankee manager Joe Torre. “He makes things happen. He's a kid who's only been around five years, but he's got all of the qualities of a guy that takes charge.”
“Everyone seems to want to ask me if I changed my approach batting leadoff,” Jeter said. “Mr. Torre tells me not to change my approach, to be aggressive. I got a good pitch to hit and it carried well. Fortunately, it carried out.”
On a nail-biting night at Shea Stadium, every run was enormous. The Yankees scored single runs in each of the first three innings, Mets catcher Mike Piazza answered with a two-run homer in the bottom of the third, and the Yankees spent the rest of the night nursing their narrow lead.
“We're playing at Shea Stadium,” Jeter said. “You want to take the crowd out of the game. We wanted to give Neagle a little comfort zone. We got the three runs early, but the Mets battled back.”
Neagle pitched into the fifth inning, when David Cone was called on to face Piazza for the inning's final out. Jeff Nelson, Mike Stanton and Mariano Rivera pitched the final four innings to secure the Yankees' 3-1 lead in the series.
Tonight, the Yankees have the opportunity to wrap up the series before another confrontation between Roger Clemens and Piazza would be necessary. Jeter has an excellent opportunity to add a World Series Most Valuable Player award to his bulging trophy case.
Wednesday's efforts improved Jeter's numbers to eight hits in 18 at bats — a batting average of .444 — and extended his World Series hitting streak to 13 games. He has reached base 12 times in the four games while fielding flawlessly.
“You realize that this isn't something that you can take for granted,” Jeter said last week, “because it's very difficult to win. I've been fortunate to be at the right place at the right time and play for some great teams.
“I don't take it for granted at all. It is something that you have to enjoy while you're in that situation because you never know if you're going to have an opportunity to come back.”
E-mail: tsullivan@enquirer.com.
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SULLIVAN: Derek Jeter