Derek Jeter’s baseball career has been truly fruitful, as he has managed, in just 15 years, to become one of the greatest baseball players alive. This is not the only article of its kind, as you can most likely find a biography of Derek Jeter on the internet, if you just type Derek Jeter into Google. However, I am going to talk a little about the key parts of his career so that you can see the evolution of Derek Jeter, both as a man and as a player.
Born on June 26, 1974, Derek Jeter, the son of Charles and Dorothy, quickly developed his innate ability for sports. Since his father worked as a drug and alcohol abuse counselor, Derek’s life was healthy, away from vice and unhealthy diets. In 1992 he entered the Minor Leagues and struggled for three years to advance until, in 1995, he took a breather and was given a spot in the Major Leagues. This is a special moment for Derek as he is now playing with the greats, training harder and better.
From 1995 to 1999, Derek had a winning streak as his batting average continued to rise and he helped his team through many difficulties and wins. However, in 2000, he won the Derek Jeter World Series Award, and later became one of the few players to hold both an All Star Game MVP Award and a World Series MVP Award for the same season. In 2004 he suffered a shoulder injury and his game started to decline easily as his recovery was quite slow. Even though Derek was injured, he kept playing and helped the New York Yankees rack up several points in the championships they played in and even clinched a few titles.
His reputation grew stronger and endorsement deals sprung up, as he even helped launch a baseball training machine: hitting coach Derek Jeter. The machine resembled his early training apparatus and was designed to help kids across the country improve their swing arm, while increasing both their batting average and strength.
Derek Jeter is, at the moment, considered one of the best players of his generation. He is the all-time hits leader at shortstop and his .317 career batting average for him, for the 2009 season, ranks him fifth-highest among active players. He has been among the American League (AL) leaders in hit count and runs scored for the last ten years. He is the Yankees’ all-time hits leader, surpassing Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig in 2009.