Number 2

Last night something happened at Yankee Stadium that was both routine and historic. Derek Jeter won a baseball game for the New York Yankees, and we will never see that happen in that stadium again.

My mother was a huge Yankee fan, and if my mother liked the Yankees, I liked them too. I remember watching the 1960 World Series with her when I was seven years old. I shared her shock and disappointment when Bill Mazeroski hit a home run over Yogi Berra’s head in left field in the bottom of the ninth inning of the seventh game to win the thing for the Pirates. I also remember watching the Yankees beat the San Francisco Giants in the World Series two years later, and celebrating when the Yankee’s second baseman Bobby Richardson snagged a screaming line drive off the bat of Willie McCovey in the ninth inning of the seventh game to win that one for the Yankees.

Baseball was a really big thing in our neighborhood when I was growing up. Most of the people I knew hated the Yankees, and loved either the Dodgers or the Giants. Both were former New York teams that had conceded New York to the Yankees and moved to California. The Dodgers went to Los Angeles and the Giants to San Francisco. Of course, the reason Black people preferred those teams was because they were very welcoming to Black players. The Dodgers integrated the sport with Jackie Robinson, later adding all-time greats like Don Newcombe, Roy Campanella, Maury Wills, John Roseboro, Willie Davis, Tommy Davis, and Junior Gilliam. The Giants featured the great Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, and Juan Marichal. As for the Yankees, the only Black player they started was the magnificent catcher, Elston Howard. But, none of that mattered to me. The Yanks had Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Kubek and Richardson, and Yogi too. Besides, the Yankees seemed to always win.

My affection for the Yankees was strong until the Milwaukee Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966, and the Atlanta Braves became my home team. Birmingham is less than a two hour drive from Atlanta, so for the first time in my life I was able to watch major league baseball live.

It has never been easy to be a New York Yankee. It is a team larger than life designed for a city even larger. The expectation (ask any New Yorker) is for the Yankees to win the World Series EVERY year. The city elevates its winners to deity. It destroys and despises a loser. Its spotlight is blinding. Any mistakes are known within minutes by its millions of die-hard and casual fans. New York, New York… it’s a hell of a town.

Somehow, for the last twenty years, Derek Jeter has shown up at Yankee Stadium and performed better than most, especially when the chips were down. He has won five World Series, just like he was supposed to. He has been their Captain, and led them through the calm and the storms. Somehow, he has avoided controversy, and earned the respect and admiration of the most discriminating fans in the world. For twenty years.

 I have great respect and admiration for Derek Jeter. I don’t know anybody that doesn’t. I may no longer be a Yankee fan, but I always have been, and always will be, a Derek Jeter fan.

Last night, something historic happened at Yankee Stadium. The voice of the late, great Bob Shepherd announced it when we heard him say for the last time….

“Now batting…for the Yankees…Number 2…Derek Jeter…Number..2”.