By: Frenchy Truitt

It’s rare a player is so talented that a team opts to retire his jersey number. Out of over 1,500 players in Yankees history, the team has retired 21 players’ numbers, and Derek Jeter will be the 22nd player to have his number retired by the team.

After 20 seasons playing for the New York Yankees, Derek Jeter officially retired in 2014. But this December, the Yankees reached the decision to retire Jeter’s famous jersey number 2, on May 14 against the Houston Astros at Yankee Stadium. According to Sports Illustrated, with Jeter’s number retired, all single digit numbers will be retired by the Yankees.

Madison Malin ’17, an avid Jeter fan, sees the decision to retire Jeter’s jersey number as a well-earned feat.

“[He] is one of the most iconic New York Yankees ever,” Malin said. “Jeter is one of those players, that even if you hated the Yankees, you had respect for [him] because he played the game the right way, and was really, really good for almost all of his two decades in the league.”

Likewise, many Yankees fans like Chris Veneruso ’19 respect Jeter’s talents even beyond baseball. According to Veneruso, Jeter deserves to have his number retired in May because of his contributions both on and off the field.

“The way he handled himself on and off of the field and how he stood out to children and adults is such a class act,” Veneruso said. “He also out performed everyone in the postseason which again led him to become one of the most decorated athletes of the past two decades.”

In May 2017, when his jersey number is retired, Jeter will be among 21 other baseball celebrities such as Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio and Babe Ruth, who have all had their numbers retired and “Jeter is right up with them,” Malin said.

Sam Greenberg ’18, another avid Jeter fan, thinks that this feat is beyond merited. Greenberg went further to say that Jeter is “the greatest player because of not only his skill, but his positive effect on everyone that he played with.”