Jeter, foe and friend, owns an uncommon place in Tampa Bay's memory
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Derek Jeter cried.
So much was uncertain then, when the future Hall of Famer played on the New York Yankees' Gulf Coast League team in 1992. He was homesick. He wondered if he had made the right decision to pack up his life to Tampa and pursue a dream in professional baseball. He thought, "What am I doing here?" He couldn't wait to leave.
Now here he was Monday evening, sitting in a large room deep at Tropicana Field before a group of reporters and onlookers, recounting those early tears as he began his curtain call in the region he has called home since 1994. Soon, the famed shortstop will retire in Tampa. Those tears are long dry. Those tears shaped him.
"Any time you go through struggles and life lessons, I think it helps you as a person," Jeter said Monday, before the Yankees began their final series against the Tampa Bay Rays this season. "So even though those weren't fond memories at the time, I look back at them now, and I appreciate all of them."
He appreciates them now, because Tampa Bay helped mold his memorable career.
He appreciates them now, because Tampa Bay remains home to him.
On this night Jeter sat with his arms folded on a table, his eyes gazing into the crowd under his black Yankees cap, those growing pains far away.
This is Jeter's time at Tropicana Field. From Monday to Wednesday, when the Rays and Yankees continue their September schedules without much meaning beyond reaching Game No. 162, the Captain's shadow will loom large for good reason.
He owns an uncommon place within Tampa Bay's consciousness. He's both foe and friend, someone distant and close. He represents a Rays' rival for all he accomplished in pinstripes after he was drafted sixth overall in 1992 out of Kalamazoo Central High School in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He's also someone who became a comfortable resident of the region, his 30,875-square-foot home on Davis Islands a symbol of his progress within an area that drew him to tears to begin.
Jeter's journey is a typical adult story. He moved to Tampa out of necessity two decades ago, to be near the Yankees' minor-league complex and show commitment to his career. He'll retire at age 40 a changed man.
It's easy to tell Jeter is eager to move into a new phase of his life. He says he'll miss baseball's daily grind the least. The lifestyle always has been a year-round concentration for him, part passion but part chore, and he's ready for something else. Perhaps ownership or a decision-making role within a team is in his future, though he refused to reveal if he would be interested in doing so with the Rays. But it's unlikely he'll pass his hours away from baseball as a fan in the stands. There will be some distance.
He's content with his transition to come.
"I'm not trying to make any plans," he said.
Considering Jeter's next chapter is why this week feels different. It's rare a single player on an opposing team becomes a pregame topic of conversation in the Rays clubhouse, unless it's David Ortiz for negative reasons. But Jeter, time after time, was praised within those walls Monday. His name was spoken with reverence as players young and old recalled his contributions to the game.
"I idolized him growing up," right-hander Jake Odorizzi said. "I played shortstop when I was younger. You wanted to strive to be Derek Jeter."
"He's just a role model," left-hander C.J. Riefenhauser said. "Half the people playing baseball, he's the reason why."
"He's a clutch player, a gamer, consistent as you can ask a guy to be over the course of a 20-year career," Rays infielder Ben Zobrist said. "Just a winner."
"The game is going to miss him," catcher Jose Molina said. "But he's going to miss the game, too."
As Jeter sat in the large room Monday, the moment's meaning had failed to hit him. Like all greats, he has become so consumed with short-term challenges that appreciation of the larger landscape is impossible to grasp until the work is done. He was asked if he has enjoyed his farewell tour this season. The answer was easy.
"No, I haven't," Jeter said, "because I've always looked forward to the next one."
What does professional success mean?
Does it mean breaking records? Does it mean winning multiple championships?
Does it mean accomplishing great individual feats, even if it's done while alienating so many along the way (Barry Bonds)? Does it mean achieving a balance between grinder and giver, with an eye toward continuing the empathy when the games are done (Mariano Rivera)?
Jeter has the numbers and championships. He has come a long way since those early tears in Tampa. He always has carried himself as more Rivera than Bonds, with his charitable efforts to continue throughout Florida's Bay Area. He insists none of it has been an act. Perhaps that's the true meaning of success.
"I'm not worried about any kind of image," he said. "I think you are who you are. I think if I was someone who was different than I am, I think especially playing in New York, people would have found out a long time ago. I don't try to act in a particular way."
Jeter has played in 2,735 games since making his debut with the Yankees in 1995. Consistency has marked his time on the field, though that's just part of his legacy.
"It could not have been handled any better than he's done it, obviously, both on and off the field as far as I can tell," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "Great player, clutch player - offensively, defensively."
Even with retirement near, an urge to produce burns.
Late in Jeter's remarks Monday, he was reminded of his current 0-for-24 hitting slump. The topic touched a nerve. The Captain is in his career's twilight, but he still approaches the game with the focus of that young man on the Gulf Coast League team determined to make his own way. The drive has never left.
"I didn't know that, thank you," Jeter said, annoyed. "I figured that somebody would say it, so thank you."
A reporter asked how important it is for Jeter to finish strong because there is no next year. The glimpses are growing short.
"I always want to play well," said Jeter, who's hitting .250 with three home runs and 40 RBI this season. "I'm not thinking about myself. I've been 0-for-more-than-I-am-right-now before in the past. ... I'm just trying to help us win."
Some things never change.
You can follow Andrew Astleford on Twitter @aastleford or email him at aastleford@gmail.com.
