Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Two retired numbers from now . . .

The next retired number for the Yankees will be 42 for Mariano Rivera. Although the number is retired throughout baseball for Jackie Robinson, it will be retired for pinstripes too because the greatest closer in baseball wore it.

After that will be the number 2 for Yankee captain Derek Jeter. His greatness is frequently derided or overlooked by number crunchers and sabremetricians, but he is much more than just The Toss or The Dive. Just ask Peter Gammons.

And Jeter embodied the class of the Yankees organization Sunday night when he gathered the Yankees at the pitchers' mound and addressed the crowd on the PA system.

It's a huge honor to put this uniform on every day and play. And every member of this organization past and present has been calling this place home for 85 years . . . We are the New York Yankees and that means pride and tradition, but most of all we have the greatest fans in the world. On behalf of the entire organization, we want to take this moment to salute you, the greatest fans in the world.

Class, pride, dignity, excellence, Jeter, Yankees.

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