Derek Jeter to Play Final Game at Yankee Stadium

Photo Courtesy of Keith Allison, Flickr Creative Commons

After a 9-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles yesterday, the New York Yankees were eliminated from playoff contention. With no hope of a post-season, the Yankee's focus for their final games will be saying goodbye to their captain, Derek Jeter.

When the Yankees host Baltimore again today at 7 p.m. Jeter will take the field at Yankee Stadium for the last time. It is sure to be an emotional experience for baseball fans everywhere.

“When you think about the Yankees, or baseball in general, a lot of people around here think of Derek Jeter,” said senior Greg Mascola. “The guy has had an amazing career. It’s hard to picture Yankee’s baseball without him.”

Jeter, who has played his first game as a New York Yankee on May 29, 1995, has five World Series Championship rings, 3,461 hits, 1,307 RBI and 2,744 games over 20 seasons.

He was a key part of the Yankees teams that won three consecutive championships from 1998-2000. He also won the World Series with the Yankees in 1996, his first full season in the MLB, and was a veteran leader on the 2009 championship team.

Jeter was given a standing ovation during yesterday’s game, and has been cheered for across the baseball nation as he made his last stops in each MLB stadium. However, fans who wanted to be there to say goodbye to Jeter at Yankee Stadium at his final game have been discouraged by skyrocketing ticket prices.

According to Forbes, the average ticket price for today’s game is about $845. The cheapest tickets, which are bleacher style and offer a less than ideal view of the game and usually sell for $20, are going for roughly $362. Forbes is even predicting that tickets for Jeter’s last game at Yankee Stadium will be the most expensive regular season tickets in MLB history.

“At first, I thought it was a shame prices were so high,” Mascola said. “But then I realized that its simple supply and demand. If I had the money, I would want to be there.”

When fans watch today’s game between the Yankees and the Orioles, their focus wont be the score of the game. When Jeter suits up in the Yankees home locker room for the last time, he will not be worrying about helping his team reach the playoffs. Instead, Jeter and his fans will be able to take time and reflect on the brilliant career of one of the most iconic figures in modern baseball.

"For him to do it one more time in Yankee Stadium, I think, is going to be special. I've talked about how special it is to put a uniform on, how special it is to put on a Yankees uniform. It's very difficult to take it off,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said to MLB.com. “I think tomorrow will be kind of a culmination of all the love he's been shown and all the appreciation he's been shown during the course of this year, and in his career and I think it'll be something we'll remember for a long time."

 

mmontal1@ramapo.edu