Derek Jeter has been the face of Yankees baseball, and baseball in general, for  a staggering 20 years. For the last 20 years, every time you turned on a Yankees game, Derek Jeter was standing prominently at shortstop. Now, the home crowd in the Bronx has seen that spectacle for the final time. Derek Jeter has been playing for the Yankees for longer than I have been walking this planet; so for me and every other teenager in the world, seeing baseball without Derek Jeter is unknown territory. While players came and went and were replaced by other people on the field, one thing was certain; Derek Jeter would be out there. Unfortunately, that time has come and gone.

When Derek Jeter played his last home game, every single one of the more than 42,000 people in attendance were standing and cheering his name for all 9 innings. Everyone, including myself, was waiting for some kind of final lasting image to send off the greatest shortstop of all time, and our prayers were answered. In the bottom of the ninth inning, the stage was set for a storybook ending for number 2 and he delivered. He hit a walk-off single into right field that helped the Yankees win for the last time at home with Derek Jeter on the diamond. This moment was a legendary finale to a legendary career.

Derek Jeter has not just been another good baseball player, he has been a great one. On top of being a great baseball player, he has been symbolic of the last 20 years. He has been a symbol of the Yankees, a symbol of baseball, and a symbol of our generation. When people look back at the best athletes of our time, they will talk about many different people, and it will spark many debates, but one player that will almost always be in those conversations is Derek Jeter. That is why he is more than just a baseball player. He has become a representation of sports as a whole over the last two decades and he will continue to be looked at and talked about highly for even longer into the future. Possibly even more important than his performance and conduct on the field is his reputation off the field.

Derek Jeter has become a sports icon over his career and with that comes great responsibility. While many athletes become negative influences and bad role models for our nation’s youth, Derek Jeter has been the complete opposite. He has become a superior example of an athlete that has stayed out of trouble and most of all, stayed humble. He has never strayed from his original beliefs and behavior off the diamond. He has been the inspiration, motivation, and hero for countless young boys and girls throughout the world. Jeter himself said, “Your image isn’t your character. Character is what you are as a person.” This quotation perfectly sums up Jeter’s ultimate impact as not only a baseball player, but also a positive influence on young peoples’ lives.
When Derek Jeter stepped foot on the field for the first time in 1995, no one could have possibly imagined the career he would have. He has had a career permeated with many accolades;  14 All-Star games, 5 Gold Gloves, 5 World Series championships, and has climbed his way up numerous all-time statistical lists, culminating into to a sure-to-be Hall of Famer. Derek Jeter has been phenomenal since the first time he took his spot at shortstop for the Yankees and his greatness hasn’t ceased until the last time he was up at the plate. It was Derek Jeter’s childhood dream to be a shortstop for the Yankees and he not only fulfilled this dream, but he exceeded anyone’s wildest expectations for what he would accomplish. Derek Jeter is, and always will be, regarded as one of the greatest athletes and role models of the late 1990’s and 2000’s and that is his legacy.