Major League Baseball

Jeter's full speech text from Derek Jeter Day at Yankee Stadium

Published Sep. 7, 2014 2:48 p.m. ET

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Text of Derek Jeter's speech at Yankee Stadium on Sunday at Derek Jeter Day:

Thank you. It's kind of hard to believe that 20 seasons has gone by so quickly. They are so many people I want to thank, and I'll get that opportunity to do that over the next few weeks, both publicly and privately. I want to take a brief moment to thank the Steinbrenner family, Mr. George Steinbrenner, for giving me the opportunity to play my entire career for the only organization I've ever wanted to play for.

I want to thank my family and friends who are all over. Thanks for all the love and support throughout the years, through the good times and more importantly through the tough times. Thank you very much.

My managers, coaches, trainers, teammates, both current and former, I've been blessed to play with the best, and I wouldn't want to compete without any of you guys, so thank you very much.

And lastly, most importantly, I want to thank you the fans. Everyone that's here today, anyone's that at home watching, anyone that's ever been here over the course or watched during the last 20 seasons, thank you very much. You guys have all watched me grow up over the last 20 years. I've watched you, too. Some of you guys getting old, too. But I want to thank you for helping me feel like a kid for the last 20 years.

In my opinion, I've had the greatest job in the world. I got a chance to be the shortstop for the New York Yankees, and there's only one of those. And I always felt as though it was my job, was to try to provide joy and entertainment for you guys, but it can't compare to what you brought me. So for that, thank you very much.

I've loved what I've done. I love what I do. More importantly, I've loved doing it for you. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you very much.

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