Derek Jeter’s final walkoff in slow motion is absolutely beautiful ⚾️? pic.twitter.com/kO88ocWojU
— Baseball King™ (@BasebaIlKing) March 11, 2018
Just when you thought you’ve seen Derek Jeter’s final hit for the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium, along comes a brand new look—and appreciation—for this historical event.
My word this is a thing of beauty. The last Jeterian swing Yankee Stadium will ever see. Derek Jeter, the New York Yankees captain, coming through in the clutch for the last time ever. The perfect end to a first-ballot Hall of Fame career.
Here’s the scenario. It’s the bottom of the ninth and, after a David Robertson implosion in the top-half of the inning, the Yankees find themselves tied with the Baltimore Orioles at five apiece.
With one out and pinch-runner Antoan Richardson standing on second base, Jeter steps to the plate to face Orioles reliever Evan Meek.
As usual, Jeets is calm, cool, and collected at the plate. Meek’s first pitch comes in and Jeter promptly turns it around with an inside-out hit to right field. He drops the bat and starts running towards first. You see the runner being waved home. Jeter takes a wide turn at first and looks back to see if the Richardson scored. He did, and El Capitan leaps into the air in celebration as the Yanks win, 6-5.
His last at-bat at the new Yankee Stadium, the house that Jeter built, is a walk off. He ends his career in the Bronx in the most fitting way possible.
This is one of those moments that any Yankees fan can tell you exactly where they were when they saw it. I personally was at home causing enough noise to wake up anyone within three blocks of me. Easily the most bittersweet moment of not only my Yankees fandom but my entire life. Watching the only shortstop I had ever known leave the game the way that I best knew him for, an opposite-field grounder through the hole to walk it off.
This is the kind of moment that lives on in Yankees history. The perfect bookend to the career of one of the all-time great Yankees. A fitting end for an absolute legend.
Re2pect.
