ARLINGTON, Texas - Derek Jeter's farewell stop came to Arlington Monday as the New York Yankees made their lone trip to Globe Life Ballpark.
The Yankees' shortstop will be honored in a pregame ceremony before Wednesday's game at a park he's played in plenty of memorable games.
"We've had some battles here in the postseason," who followed up a standing ovation in his first at-bat Monday with a single to left. "There's been a few of them so those are things that stand out the most whether it's early in my career or a few years ago when we were playing in the playoffs. We played some tough Texas teams. On the way to the World Series we had to go through some Texas teams. There was a team in particular that stopped us in our quest to go."
That series happened in 2010 when the Rangers beat the Yankees to get to the World Series for the first time. Jeter, 40, also played for the New York team in 1996, 1998 and 1999 that ousted the Rangers in the division round.
While Jeter is regarded as a sure-fire first ballot Hall of Famer he still has an appreciation for other players. One of those is his shortstop counterpart in Texas in Elvis Andrus, who idolizes Jeter.
"I've enjoyed getting a chance to play against him," Jeter said. "It's fun to play against him, watch him play, see him develop, see him improve, get to know him a little bit, get to talk to him. That's one of the things I enjoy doing. You get to know people's personalities. I know they've enjoyed watching him play here in Texas and hopefully they get a chance to watch him play for a lot of years."
Jeter said he appreciates the farewell tour gifts and the reception he's received at the ballparks. He said it's hard to get too wrapped up in the festivities though because the Yankees are in the thick of the playoff race. New York came into Monday's game third in the American League East, four games behind leader Baltimore.
"It's hard for me to view anything any differently because we're in the midst of a season," Jeter said. "It's kind of odd that everybody keeps asking me about last time here, last time there. The bottom line is we still have a lot of games left. Even though it's my last time here after this we go to Boston. It's kind of unique situation."
