Jeter Comfortable as a Young Leader
Newsday, October 28, 1999
By Mark Herrmann
Derek Jeter hugged his mom as he posed for photos, the way any 25-year-old would do in a happy moment. But Jeter is way ahead of his peers and his time.
He was savvy enough to move gracefully amid the pandemonium. He was secure enough to dump champagne over George Steinbrenner's head.
Fact is, Jeter has been this way before, and there is nothing to suggest he won't pass this way again and again and again. Last night, he helped the Yankees win the World Series for the third time in his four full seasons in the big leagues.
"This is what everybody plays for. This is when you want to do your best," he said as he and about a dozen teammates escaped their cramped clubhouse and carried their celebration out to the field at Yankee Stadium.
He glided from television interview to television interview, smiling broadly with his cap on backward. He clearly was the most experienced hand. If Roger Clemens wanted to risk his health by gambling on the dugout roof, slapping high-fives with fans, let him. Jeter satisfied the fans by pumping his fists and smiling. Each pump brought a roar, the smiles brought chants of "Jee-ter! Jee-ter! Jee-ter!" What everyone realized is that Jeter knows how to hold his composure in a big spot. He hit a single in the third inning, tying Hank Bauer's record of having hit safely in 17 straight postseason games. Jeter also made a neat play at shortstop in the sixth, moving to his left and making a perfect peg to first, preventing a rally by the Atlanta Braves.
It hasn't been all that long since Jeter soiled his first playoff game in 1996 and worried his manager. Joe Torre wondered what he should say to the rookie, then Jeter poked his head into the manager's office and said, "Mr. Torre, we've got a big game tomorrow. You'd better get your rest." Torre said recently, "That's when I knew he was going to be OK." Now the Yankees expect to win every year. They expect a lot out of the player who isn't all that far removed from growing up in the home of Charles and Dorothy Jeter, the proud parents who were on the field last night. Dorothy carried a camera, as a Little League mom would.
Wherever he went after the game last night, he carried a huge bottle of Perrier-Jouet champagne, vintage 1995. That was the year he made his big-league debut, that was the last year the Yankees played a full season without him. It was the last year before their remarkable run.
Jeter did a network interview, then reached into his locker for a bottle that he dumped over Torre's head. "Why don't you use some warm champagne?" Torre said.
Then, before he headed back out to the field, Jeter dumped the contents of a bottle over Steinbrenner-something nobody else has the nerve to try. "Jeter's in big trouble," the owner said, then he gave into reality. "Ah, no, no, no."