8 Reasons Derek Jeter Is New York’s Most Iconic Sports Figure Of The Last 20 Years

October 1, 2014 - 3:56 pm by Terrence Watson

The post-season is upon us in Major League Baseball and for only the second time in his career — having missed the playoffs in only his first and last seasons — Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter won’t be playing in October. In 20 pinstriped seasons, Jeets made 14 All Star appearances, a World Series MVP, 5 Golden Gloves and brought 5 World Series titles to New York in a career that rewrote the definition of shortstop. No seriously, if you google shortstop position, Jeter’s picture is the first to pop up.

There’s several reasons why DJ is as revered as he is and largely considered the captain of not only the Yankees, but baseball itself. Outside of the memories, the consistency, the legendary status as New York star, No.2 goes down in the Hall of Fame of greats ever to put on a uniform in the Big Apple. But is he the most iconic sports figure to rep NYC in the past two decades? Click the arrows above to read why we say he is.

Girls, Girls, Girls... Girls Jeets Does Adore NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain famously suggested he slept with 20,000 women. Jeter’s never talked numbers, but his list of A-List level ladies is proof that quality>quantity at all times. Mariah Carey, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Gabrielle Union and Adriana Lima are just the highlights of Derek’s long career as a bachelor. That’s more levels of hot than most acquire in a lifetime, but Jeter’s lived the life of 10 men.

Kept Baseball Colorful 8.3 percent. That’s how many Major League Baseball players identified themselves as black by the start of the 2014 season. Nearly 20 years ago, the rate was closer to 20%. Why the sudden decrees? Less fields in the inner city, lower appeal to minorities? The sociological reasons behind the dwindling number of blacks in the MLB is a deep topic that no one’s seemed to figure out. If there was any player that should get some credit for not only representing African-Americans in baseball, but keeping them interested, it’s Jeter. Anytime the Yankees played in the postseason, it was national news. Jeter’s memorable playoff plays like the flip and the catch (and the dive for good measure) were the type of exciting instances usually reserved for basketball and football.

New York To The Core In the mid 90’s, just as the Yankees were on the verge of building their most recent dynasty, Andy Petitte, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter were making their Yankee debuts. In other terms, picture the Fab 5 of Michigan not only winning both national titles and all making it to the NBA together, but also being All Stars. And you still couldn’t quite equal to what the Yankees Core Four accomplished. As a group, they made the playoffs 15 out of 16 years and won 11 American League East titles. Jeter being the captain of the core puts him in a light brighter than even the other members.

Jeets The Type To Pray For It And Go Get It Growing up in Michigan, there was nothing more that Derek Jeter wanted than to play shortstop for the New York Yankees. Every kid who touches a bat and glove has that dream, but what made Jeter different? A scouting report that recently surfaced was tweeted by Baseball Hall of Fame president Jeff Idles that pointed out Jeter’s “perfect shortstop body,” above average instinct and, most notedly said “This guy is special. You get excited just watching him warm up.”

Michael Jordan RE2PECTS Him There’s one thing everyone should understand about Michael Jordan: He’s incredibly competitive. At everything. The man admitted that while he’s never going to play LeBron, he’s toiled over how to stop him in his head a million times. That said, it’s a pretty big deal when MJ shows up to welcome you into the brotherhood of retired greats, which he did on September 7th to visit and pay homage to the man who wears his brand. Jordan is very particular about what athletes wear his logo. You have to possess something that he saw in himself. Ha has to have your #RE2PECT.

He made Yankee Hats Famous First Jay Z’s famous line about making a Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can in his magnum opus to the New York City in Empire State Of Mind. While it’s true that the Yankee blue fitted got a big boost one Jay spit about rocking his, we’ve got to question why he thought it was cool in the first place? Jeter taught you well.

Stars Are Paying Homage First came the awesome video from Jordan brand, where even sworn enemies like Mr. Met and Boston Red Sox fans tipped their hat in a sign of respect to The Captain. More recently, Jeter to a walk through the Bronx to visit bars and stores where he had never been. Enjoying the people he’s made happy for the past two decades up close. Now the three of the funniest men on the planet, Kevin Hart, Will Ferrell and Chris Rock are showing their respect to mean that wears No. 2.

Yankees United While Jeter was winning chips, sacrificing his body often to do so, he brought pride to the entire city. With so many things that divide the city, social differences like income, race, sexuality and other cultural differences, Jeter and the Yankees made NYC feel whole. Jeter was the captain of one of the winningest eras in Yankee history, something that will forever make him NYC royalty.

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