Derek Jeter finally exits: 'I was ready'

By Maureen Mullen / USA Today

PHOTO: Derek Jeter leaves the field after the last baseball game of his career, at Fenway Park.

BOSTON – How to sum up 20 years of a stellar career?

After he played in the 2,747th and final game of his career, Derek Jeter had just one word.

"Fun," he said. "I had a blast. Listen, I got an opportunity to do what I wanted to do - the only thing that I ever wanted to do. I know that not a lot of people can say that. I've been fortunate, but I've had fun.

"There isn't a thing that I would change. It's easy to say, 'Yeah, I would change; we'd be in the playoffs' or 'I would change that we'd have won more championships.' But I wouldn't change it because this is what I wanted to do."

Jeter was sitting in a meeting room in the bowels of Fenway Park -- one that is usually reserved for the postseason, with its oversized media contingents -- after the Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 9-5 in the season finale. Wearing a navy blue suit and lavender tie, he had already removed his Yankee uniform - and the jersey with the No. 2 that will eventually be retired – for the last time.

Jeter went 1-for-2 in the game, lining out to shortstop in his first at-bat before his third-inning, run-scoring, infield single. It was the 3,465th hit of Jeter's career, sixth on the all-time list, giving him a lifetime average of .310. Manager Joe Girardi looked to Jeter on first base for the signal that he was done.

Jeter knew ahead of time that would be his last at-bat.

"The plan was to have a couple at-bats," he said. "That was the plan coming into today. I was hoping I got a hit in my last at-bat. When I did, Joe looked over and took me out of the game. That was the plan all along.

"I would have loved to hit a home run like everyone else, but getting hits is not easy to do. My first at-bat, I hit a line drive and unfortunately it was caught. I'd feel a lot better. I don't care how far it goes, where it goes. I have no ego when it comes to hits. It's either a hit or an out."

As Jeter's manager for the last seven seasons, Girardi's final act as his manager was to greet him when he came off the field. He was asked after the game what it has been like to manage the future Hall of Famer,

"Obviously, I got a lot of great stories to tell my kids and grandkids as time goes forward," Girardi said, choking up. "It's been a blessing. To manage a guy like that is what you want in every player. What you want every player to care about. What you want every player to fight for. What you want every player to do. It's been a blessing."

Red Sox back-up catcher David Ross is a veteran of 16 big league seasons. He had requested to start

this game, off his normal schedule, because he wanted to be on the field for Jeter's last game.

"It was awesome, other than wanting to win," Ross said. "What a beautiful day, just environment-wise, sold-out crowd. And being able to play in a game like that, where Derek Jeter, a guy that's an icon in our game and we have a lot of respect for is playing his last game. It's a treat for me that John [Farrell, the Red Sox manager] gave me to be able to catch that game, start that game, and be a part of all that."

The Red Sox hosted a pregame tribute to Jeter that lasted nearly a half-hour. He was greeted by the Fenway Park crowd with cheers and chants throughout the day – from when he first stepped on the field for batting practice till after the last out, the last player on the field – just as he was all weekend.

"I've been a part of some chants here at Fenway Park but I don't know if any of them were good," Jeter said. "I've said before that over the course of this entire season, Yankee fans have always been great to me. I take a lot of pride in playing every game. I missed some games but I take a lot of pride in doing my job and going out there every day. So, I think if you do that, then people may respect you. They may not necessarily like you or root for your team, but I think they have respect for you. They've shown me a lot of respect throughout the course of the year."

After the storybook finish to his Yankee Stadium career Thursday night, with a walk-off single in the ninth inning – "I don't think I could have enjoyed a game more than I did that last game at Yankee Stadium in front of the home crowd," he said -- there had been speculation that Jeter might not play the final three games of the season in Fenway Park. He took a day off Friday, but said there was never any doubt in his mind that he would play here.

"Of course," he said. "There are a few people that thought maybe I shouldn't play here. I thought about it. But I said I was going to play, so that's why I played. There are a lot of fans that told me that they came a long way to see these last games, so I felt it was right to play here. But don't think I didn't think about that, I thought about it. People say, maybe New York was your last game because you want to remember that as the way your career ended. But you can't take that memory away. I don't care if I played for another three weeks, that memory is going to be there and it's never going to go anywhere. I played out of respect for this rivalry and the fans here."

And now, at the age of 40, Jeter begins his retirement. He's not sure what he'll do now, he said. Take some time off, as he normally does after the season. This time, though, he won't have to begin his offseason workouts in about a month. He'll go back and watch the video of his final game at Yankee Stadium – runaway emotions that night made it hard to focus. He may watch some other games, too. Other than that?

"I don't know," he said. "That's a good thing. I'll take some time off, I'll rest and relax just like I've done every season when the season is over with. I don't know if I'll necessarily realize it or anything will be different until about three or four weeks from now when I would normally start working out. At this point, I'm on vacation. Get away from it for a while."

But, he goes into retirement content with his decision. He enjoyed this season as much as he could, he said, despite not finishing with a postseason run.

"I'm happy, man, because it's hard," he said. "It's a lot of stress, too. Like I said the other day, you try to play it cool, but out in the field with the bases loaded, one out, you've got Manny Ramirez at the plate, it's not a comfortable feeling at times. When you're facing Pedro (Martinez), trying to get a hit, it's not a comfortable feeling. I remember running into Shawon Dunston a few years ago in San Francisco, and I had never met Shawon Dunston. I saw him on the street; me and Jorge [Posada] were going to lunch and ran into him. I said, 'How are you doing?' He said, 'I'm stress-free. I don't have to worry about hitting any sliders anymore.' So I'm looking forward to it. I gave it everything I had physically, and I gave it everything I had mentally during my time. Now it's time to step back and, like I said, let someone else play.

"I was ready. I was ready for my career to be over with. I'm happy I had an opportunity to come and play here in a couple games, but I'm ready for this to be the end."

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