Derek Jeter: 'I played my last game at shortstop'
Derek Jeter will play this weekend, but he's played his final game at shortstop.
After Thursday night's dramatic walk-off single at Yankee Stadium, Jeter announced that he will continue to play through the Yankees' final three games this season, but he will be strictly a designated hitter during the final series at Fenway Park.
"I've played my last game at shortstop," Jeter said in the postgame press conference. "I wanted to take something special from Yankee Stadium and the view from shortstop here, tonight, is what I want to take from it.
"I tried to be calm, collected and cool with you (media) guys before the game. There were a couple of times I almost lost it. I was out there for the first time (in the ninth inning) saying, 'Please don't hit it to me.' I thought I was going to break down."
Last season, Mariano Rivera had a similarly emotional final game at Yankee Stadium. After crying on the mound following his final pitch at home, Rivera scrapped his initial plans to get one inning in center field during the season-ending road trip, preferring to let his moment at Yankee Stadium stand as his career send-off.
Several of Jeter's teammates said privately that they wouldn't have blamed him for making a similar decision following his game-winning single in the ninth inning, but Jeter thought differently.
"Out of respect for the Red Sox, their fans and the rivalry, I'm going to DH," Jeter said. "I don't know about (Friday night). I'm not sure. I will play (this weekend), but I hope that people can respect my decision on that."
Jeter said he made his decision on Thursday before the game. As of Wednesday, the Yankees were still in the playoff hunt, and Jeter suggested he would have stayed at shortstop had this weekend's games been meaningful.
Instead, he'll take some at-bats, but he's played his final innings in the field.
"I've only played shortstop for my entire career," Jeter said. "And the last time I want to play it is tonight."
Jeter has never played another position with the Yankees. He started 2,660 regular season games at short.
Jennings writes for the (Weschester County, N.Y.) Journal News, a Gannett property