On the day we celebrate “The Captain”
Derek Jeter…
It’s hard not to think about the day I actually got to see him play, up close and personal. On this day, I didn’t pay for a ticket to get into an Major League Baseball Stadium to watch #2…
I actually played in the same game. Yep, believe it or not, once upon a time, I had the chance to play in the same game as Derek Jeter.
I know, I know, it wasn’t Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park. It wasn’t a regular season big league game - but it was Major League Baseball Spring Training game, when I was playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and it was really him. Just a few days from Opening Day I watched him step into the batters box and hit a line drive base hit to right field, just like I had watched him do a thousand times on t.v.
I remember checking out the box score the next day in the paper and seeing my name across from his, and thinking…”One day when I’m a father, I’ll be able to tell my kids that I had the chance to play against Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees.
Well, that day has come. As we celebrate Derek Jeter’s Baseball Hall of Fame induction, I will sit on the couch later today and watch the highlights of his speech with my daughter Stella Rose and point at the t.v. and tell her that one day, a long ,long time ago, I got the chance to lace up my cleats and play against YangYang and Nano’s favorite baseball team and one of my all-time favorite baseball players!
And I’ll tell her that if she works really hard, and has the courage to chase her dreams, the she too will put herself in a position to be on the same field, same office or same stage as one of the greats!
One day, we will take a family trip up to Cooperstown and I’ll show her Jeter’s Hall of Fame plaque, and maybe she’ll smile and say “Daddy played against Derek Jeter!”
Congratulations Derek Jeter on a Hall of Fame career and giving me this moment with my daughter!