Derek In Kidsday
by Jonh DelGiudice and Nick Hanlon kidsday staff reporters
Sept. 26,1999

Q. What does being a Yankee mean to you?
A. There is a lot of history and a lot of tradition here in this ball club.

Q. How old were you when you first decided you wanted to be a professional ball player?
A. As long as I can remember. I think I was about 5 years old.

Q. To be the great ball player that you are, there must be a lot of pressure on you. How do you deal with this pressure when you are playing?
A. To be honest with you, when you are playing a game, you gotta have fun. I don't think you look at it as pressure. You just go out there and smile and have a good time and try to enjoy yourself.

Q. If you are in a hitting slump, how do you get out of it?
A. Just keep swinging, that is the only way to get out of it.

Q. Was there another team you wanted to play for besides the Yankees?
A. Nope. I was a big Yankee fan growing up, and that was it.

Q. Did you play baseball as a kid?
A. Oh yes. I always played baseball.

Q. You must have had obstacles growing up. How did you handle them?
A. Obstacles? I think you have people that always doubt you. I used to tell people as a kid that I wanted to play baseball and they would laugh. But you have to stay focused. That is what you have to do. If you work hard, anything can happen.

Q. Why did you coose # 2?
A. I didn't choose it, they gave it to me.

Q. Was shortstop the only position that you ever played?
A. I played second base on my dad's team, but I was wasn't too happy with it.

Q. What baseball players do you admire?
A. Dave Winfield, Cal Ripken.

Q. What do you do in the off-season?
A. I live in Florida near our minor league complex where we have spring training, so I practice baseball there a lot, trying to get better.

Q. What advice do you have for kids who want to play professional baseball?
A.You can do whatever you want to do and be whatever you want to be, as long as you work hard, and you don't let anyone tell you you can't.

Q. What sacrifices did you have to make to get where you are today?
A. I didn't look at them as sacrifices. You have your priorities, and if you want to do something you work as hard as you can at that and you don't let anything else get in the way.

Q. If you had a fantasy team, what player not on the Yankees would you want to be on that team?
A. I could get in trouble with this one. Alex Rodriguez (SS, Seattle Mariners) is a best friend, and of course, everyone wants a Ken Griffey, Jr on the team. But to be honest with you, I like our team the way it is.

Q. Did you play any other sport as a kid?
A. I played basketball, but there was too much running for me.

Q. How did you get involved in the Turn 2 Foundation?
A. It was something I spotted after my first year with the Yankees in 1996. My favorite ballplayer when I was younger was former Yankee Dave Winfield. He had a foundation when he played and as a kid I wanted to be like him. So that's how the foundation got started.

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