Derek Jeter.  2014 Swan Song. 

By:  Mike Lindsley

The name Derek Sanderson Jeter speaks for itself at this point.  Now batting.  The shortstop.  #2.  Derek Je-tah.  #2.  You can almost still hear Bob Sheppard say it.

October moments.  The leadership.  Five rings.  Mr. November.  Diving into the stands.  Face of the franchise since 1996.  Face of baseball during that time as well.

And now, all of a sudden, it is all over, as Jeter has announced that 2014 will be his final season in the Bronx.  Time flies doesn’t it?  It seems like yesterday when Phil Rizzuto was Holy Cowing in Cleveland over Jeter’s ridiculous over-the-shoulder catch and that laser home run to left-center field.

Yankee fans don’t have any tears left after saying good-bye to the greatest closer of them all, Mariano Rivera.  They will have to find some somewhere, because Jeter’s going away party and season are going to be as emotional for everyone.  In fact, Mariano Rivera will be a spectator at Yankee Stadium to send Jeter off.  How’s that for closure and emotion?  So weird, how this thing called “time” works. 

But there are two things that come to mind with this retirement.  One is the fact that Mariano Rivera should have pitched one more year.  Not now, of course.  Coming out of retirement would be stupid, especially because of the send-offs and that great good-bye in 2013.  It’s Rivera’s life, not ours.  But think about the careers ending together, these two giants in pinstripes.  Plus, the Hall of Fame gathering in Cooperstown, with Mo and Captain?  Insane. 

The second thing that comes to mind is just how screwed the Yankees are without these two guys. Heart and soul and leadership and production and class and clutch play and faces of the most famous franchise of them all.  The Yankees are simply in trouble.  Jeter and Rivera are irreplaceable.  There has been Ruth and Gehrig and Joe D and Mantle.  Whitey and Yogi and Donnie Baseball and Munson.  These guys are right there with them.  Some people have Rivera and Jeter as the top guys.  They have been that important to the team’s success. 

Hopefully Derek Sanderson Jeter’s final campaign is one for the ages.  He has given everything to the game and his team and his teammates and handled himself extremely well through the years.  He deserves it.

And that’s why his name speaks for itself.