{"id":565,"date":"2014-02-20T18:34:59","date_gmt":"2014-02-20T18:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/?p=565"},"modified":"2014-02-20T18:34:59","modified_gmt":"2014-02-20T18:34:59","slug":"the-play-by-play-derek-jeter-the-legend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/2014\/02\/20\/the-play-by-play-derek-jeter-the-legend\/","title":{"rendered":"The Play by Play: Derek Jeter, the Legend"},"content":{"rendered":"

By CJ Donald<\/strong> – Columnist<\/em><\/p>\n

In athletics, there is a notion that there are only two types of competitors. The first is the kind of player that many folks paint as boring.
\nHe or she believes in the sanctity of the sport. Any success is attributed to the love of family and support of friends. Boring players rarely have public failures. They are average performers in battle and only acquire notoriety on slow news days. Never quite matching up to the rest of the field is common of these players who typically lack luster. Boring players are praised for their character.
\nWhen discussing these players, commentators only speak of positive social values, philanthropic endeavors, and commitment to doing what is right.
\nThe second type of competitor is the player that most coaches love to lift up as models of athletic toughness, physical domination, and style. So-called \u201ctough players\u201d, we are told, do whatever it takes to win. Any success \u2014 and these types of players experience much of it \u2014 is accredited to the resilient player having enough strength to outwork the lesser opponent.
\nThese athletes make mistakes publicly and professionally, but the coaches do not really care. In battle, this type of player is willing to inflict physical pain on anyone in the way of his or her goal. Their notoriety is constant: hundreds of thousands of fans hang on their every word and are apologetic for the athlete\u2019s consistent behavioral blunders.
\nPlayers such as this are praised for their ability to hide all weaknesses and get the job done, no matter what. Commentators speak of these players as ambassadors for the purity of competition.
\nIf you ascribe to this theory of duality in sports \u2014 and I\u2019m not actually sure that I do \u2014 then it would seem that Derek Jeter, shortstop for the New York Yankees, has no place in the modern athletic world.
\nI am willing to argue that, in 220 days, when the New York Yankees face the Boston Red Sox in what will be Jeter\u2019s final regular season game, he will be leaving behind a proud legacy that will rest upon his capacity to fulfill both aspects of this dichotomy over the last 20 years.
\nBut, questions remain. Who is Derek Jeter? Why does he maintain a dual personality?
\nJeter is known as a family man. The oldest child of Sanderson and Dorothy Jeter, born in Pequannock Township, N.J., Jeter (better known to most as the modern day Mr. October) grew up watching former Yankees great Dave Winfield.
\nJeter is a franchise shortstop. He is the Yankee\u2019s all-time career leader in hits, games played, stolen bases, and at bats. He stands alone as the Major League Baseball (MLB) career hits leader at the shortstop position and is only the 28th player to attain 3,000 hits.
\nI believe it to be an irrefutable claim that, in this country, you would be hard-pressed to find a citizen (school age and above) that has never heard of MLB player Derek Jeter.
\nWhen folks speak of great athletes, no one hesitates to put Jeter\u2019s name in the same sentence as basketball great LeBron James, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, or football giant Tom Brady. I am willing to argue, though, that the median citizen would be hard-pressed to answer a simple inquiry: why is Derek Jeter so important?
\nThe answer is a simple one. We, as consumers, continually put athletes on a godly pedestal and are devastated when they show their humanness. Jeter is noteworthy because he has neither demanded a pedestal nor abused the public\u2019s trust. Beyond being named as the American League Rookie of the Year in 1996, winning the World Series five times, and earning a spot as an MLB All-Star 13 times in 15 years.
\nJeter is significant in the sports world because he did his job at a high level and then went home to his family. If there was ever an athlete worthy of our respect and admiration\u2014both on and off the field \u2014 Jeter fits that bill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By CJ Donald – Columnist In athletics, there is a notion that there are only two types of competitors. The first is the kind of player that many folks paint as boring. He or she believes in the sanctity of the sport. Any success is attributed to the love of family and support of friends. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}