Derek Is Stars' Star
3 hits & 2 RBI Leit MVP night
Daily News, July 12, 2000
By Thomas Hill
Derek Jeter has most of the things a 26-year-old major league shortstop ever would want: three World Series championships and a clear path to baseball immortality in New York. Even so, Jeter found a way last night to enhance his already eventful career.
Jeter started for the first time in an first All-Star Game, collected three hits against three different pitchers and drove home two runs that put the American League ahead to stay in a 6-3 victory over the National League at Turner Field. Jeter was named Most Valuable Player of the 71st All-Star Game, and became the first Yankees player to capture the award, first handed out in 1962.
"Right now I'm very happy, obviously, but I think in due time, when I sit down and get a chance to reflect on it, then you realize how special it is," Jeter said. "I wasn't aware that no other Yankee had won this award. It's kind of hard to believe."
Jeter's stellar performance in the AL's fourth consecutive victory restored some of the luster to an All-Star Game that had been diminished by the absence due to injury of stars such as Mark McGwire, Mike Piazza, Ken Griffey Jr. and Pedro Martinez. Jeter, along with Braves stars Andres Galarraga and Chipper Jones, combined to hold the attention of a vocal crowd of 51,323.
Galarraga drew the largest roars for his inspirational comeback from cancer surgery. Galarraga produced perhaps the loudest moment of the entire evening when he singled to center off Aaron Sele in the fourth inning.
"This day is one of the ... best days in my career," Galarraga said. "To get my first hit, that makes it more special, this day for me."
Al Leiter was tagged with the loss after giving up a bases-loaded single to Jeter in the fourth.
Like Jeter, Jones was 3-for-3. He hit a solo home run in the third off winning pitcher James Baldwin and became the 13th player to hit an All-Star Game homer in his home ballpark.
Jeter, though, ultimately owned the evening, offering Braves fans one more unpleasant reminder of the Yankees' dominance over Atlanta. Jeter recorded what proved to be the game-winning hit in the fourth inning off Mets lefthander Al Leiter, punctuating a week of significant confrontations between the Yankees and the Mets, who played an emotional four-game series over the weekend. Jeter came to bat with the bases loaded and one out and hit a first-pitch cut fastball up the middle for a two-run single, leaving Leiter as the losing pitcher.
"He does it every time I face him," Jeter said. "I try to lay off it. I didn't hit it well. I just hit it in the right place."
With his stellar evening, Jeter erased one of the few blemishes on his career. He had struck out in two career All-Star Game at-bats before last night, one in each of the last two seasons. Jeter doubled to left field in the first inning against Randy Johnson. He singled to center in the third off Kevin Brown.
By the time AL manager Joe Torre removed Jeter after the fourth and replaced him with Nomar Garciaparra, the Yankees shortstop was all but assured of winning the MVP award, provided his team held its lead. Of course, in Jeter's charmed life, that was no problem, particularly after the AL scored four insurance runs in the ninth.
"I think I'm very fortunate," said Jeter, who donated his black Louisville Slugger to the Hall of Fame. "I've been in the right place at the right time. I came up in an organization that had a lot of veterans my first year. We've been able to be very successful. But I never look at the past to see what I've done. I focus on the present and worry about the future."
Johnson, the NL starting pitcher, set the tone for an evening of strong pitching when he breezed through his only inning by allowing just a one-out double by Jeter and throwing seven of his eight pitches for strikes.
David Wells, the AL starter, was equally effective, but for two innings. He allowed a one-out single by Jones in the first and a two-out single by Jim Edmonds in the second. Wells threw just four balls among his 27 pitches.
Kevin Brown stumbled in the third, when he walked Carl Everett with the bases loaded. Jones tied the score 1-1 in the bottom half with his homer. After Jeter gave the AL its lead, the NL pulled within 3-2 in the fifth on an RBI single by Andruw Jones.
"It was a great atmosphere," Jeter said. "Even when guys came out of the game, they seemed to stick around. The All-Star Game is something you never take for granted because you never know when you're going to get an opportunity to come back."
Given his history, Jeter need not worry. For him, it should be same time, next year.