Derek Jeter Exits Final Game Following RBI Single
BOSTON (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Derek Jeter hit a run-scoring infield single in the final at-bat of his 20-year major league career, leaving to a standing ovation at Fenway Park.
The Yankees' captain hit a high chop that bounced off a hand of leaping Red Sox third baseman Garin Cecchini, and Jeter reached first without drawing a throw. After a few seconds, Brian McCann trotted from the dugout to pinch run.
LISTEN: Suzyn Waldman Interviews Derek Jeter
On his way off the field, Jeter pointed to the Boston dugout and embraced pitcher Clay Buchholz. As he approached the Yankees dugout, he waved his cap and was hugged on the warning tack by Mark Teixeira, Brett Gardner and other teammates. Red Sox players stood in their dugout and applauded.
In his first at-bat, Jeter lined out to shortstop Jemile Weeks.
The final hit, Jeter's 3,465th, raised his career batting average to .310. The finale came exactly 46 years after Mickey Mantle's last game.
Derek Jeter Exits Final Game Following RBI Single
Before the game, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he can't believe how quickly 20 years have gone.
"It's going to be really strange,'' Girardi said. "I feel fortunate to be a part of this, and I'm going to miss him."
No. 2 was in his usual No. 2 spot in the lineup as designated hitter against the Boston Red Sox in Sunday's season finale.
Fenway Park Pays Respects To Derek Jeter In Final Game
Girardi had hinted at the script for Jeter's exit.
"It's possible he could have an at-bat and get a hit and say that 'I want that to be it,' "Girardi said before the game. "So I'll ask him after each at-bat. 'Is it time? Do you want to come out?' And we'll go from there.''
A career spent with one team at one position that began in 1995 is now over.
"It's hard to believe," Girardi said. "Since (he was) a young man signing, really a teenager, it's really what he's known. It's what we've known him to be, the Yankees' shortstop, and it's hard to believe that it's coming to an end."
Jeter sat out Friday's series opener to recover from his emotionally draining final home game when his single in the ninth inning gave the Yankees a 6-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles and unleashed a wild celebration as teammates poured from the dugout to embrace him between first and second base.
The 14-time All-Star returned to the lineup as designated hitter on Saturday, striking out in the first inning and beating out a high chop over the head of pitcher Joe Kelly in the third for a single. In the fifth, Francisco Cervelli pinch-hit for him.
Ironically, a pregame ceremony honoring the future Hall of Famer was held in Fenway Park.
"Boston understands what Derek has meant to the Yankees playing him all these times," Girardi said.
Jeter was cheered when he took batting practice and when he ran into his dugout when it was over.
Bronx Bombers jerseys outnumbered Red Sox jerseys at the stadium, 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reported.
"Remember the first time that I saw him, and I was just a little guy," said a Yankees fan from Long Island who made the trip to Boston. "And now I'm 27 years old, and I'm about to see him take his last swing."
Jeter's photo was even on the cover of the game program, WCBS 880's Peter Haskell reported.
It was almost as if the world had turned upside down.
"I think it's about paying respect to a legend," said a man who was selling the programs. "First time we ever had an opposing player, a hated player, on the cover. But this is a matter of paying respect, and it's a great weekend for baseball."
"He was always good for the game," longtime Red Sox fan Bill Gerwin admitted to Schuck.
You May Also Be Interested In These Stories
(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
