It might be tonight. It might be Friday. It might be Saturday. No matter the day, though, Derek Jeter will soon get the four hits he needs to become the New York Yankees’ all-time hits leader. Through a combination of health, talent and ability, Jeter has swatted his way to the top of the list of many Yankee greats. Next year, he may very well emerge as the organization’s all-time steals leader, and before he retires, he’ll lead the organization in runs scored as well.
With history upon us, Derek Jeter Nostalgia has been in full force. Dorothy and Charles Jeter have been making the media rounds, and columnists all over New York are warmly praising Jeter for his hard work and clean image. My favorite of these pieces is this Anthony McCarron column. The Daily News tracked down a yearbook photo of Derek from Kalamazoo and spoke to Dick Groch, one of the scouts who first evaluated the eventual Hall of Famer.
Today, we view Derek Jeter as the consummate Yankee, but that’s due more to history than anything else. Derek has come to symbolize the Yankee dominance of the late 1990s and the Yankee perseverance of the past decade. He is one ring shy of a full hand and hopefully will earn that piece of jewelry this year. Jeter though almost wasn’t a Yankee, and for that, we jump into the Wayback Machine.
The date is May 30, 1992, and the Yankees had just lost to the Brewers 8-3. Greg Cadaret drew the loss, and Bill Wegman walked home with the win. In the game recap, Jack Curry talked about the Yankees’ draft plans:
Miami catcher Charles Johnson, Pepperdine pitcher Derek Wallace and high school shortstop Derek Jeter are the players the Yankees are interested in selecting with the sixth choice in the amateur draft Monday.
Grouping Derek Jeter in with those other two players reminds me of the old Sesame Street song with the line “one of these things is not like the other.” Charles Johnson was selected 28th overall in the 1992 draft by the Florida Marlins. He played parts of 12 seasons for seven teams and hit .245/.330/.433. One can only imagine what would have happened had the Yanks opted for Johnson over Jeter in 1992, the year Jorge Posada moved behind the plate.
Derek Wallace is a name lost to time. Selected 11th overall in 1992 by the Cubs, he was traded twice and eventually made his big league debut with the Mets. His Major League career lasted all of 33 innings.
As the draft neared in 1992 and the Yankees considered their top three candidates, another team emerged as a potential player for Derek Jeter. Said Murray Chass:
The Astros, with the No. 1 selection, had been leaning toward Phil Nevin, a third baseman from California State-Fullerton, but late last week, they were considering changing to Derek Jeter, a high school shortstop from Kalamazoo, Mich.
With just five teams in front of the Yanks, the Astros were the prime candidate to snatch Jeter away from them. But the ‘Stros wanted Phil Nevin a little bit more than they wanted Jeter. In the end, the Yankees got their man, their four World Series and a Hall of Fame short stop.
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Postscript: The link in the last paragraph goes to a Jack Curry article from June 2, 1992. Curry talked with the Jeter family shortly after the Yankees made Derek the number six overall selection of the amateur draft. Curry speculated that Jeter would command the then-high signing bonus of $400,000, but Jeter, in Curry’s words, “downplayed” the money.
“I enjoy playing the game,” a young Derek said. “I think the money part is just an extra.” Indeed.
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