O Captain, My Captain!

The New York Yankees had been my team since I was a teenager in China. The glorious decade from the late 1990’s was certainly one of the reasons. I remember running out of classroom during my high school lunch break and biking the fastest home to witness the heartbreaking 2001 Game 7 9th inning when Mo gave up the game-winning looper single to  Luis Gonzalez and the World Series to the Diamondbacks. 

In recent years, the Franchise is still historical, but the glories no longer come as frequent as that exciting era. The players I grew up watching stepped out of the spotlights one after another. The memories close to date were mostly saying goodbyes. There was the old Yankee Stadium; there were Tino, Bernie, and Paul (remembering the thunderous chant of  “Paul O’Neill” from the entire old Yankee Stadium during the 2001 WS?!); and there were the “Big Four”: First Jorge Posada, then Andy Pettitte (with a Cinderella ending) and Mo, There was only one remaining at the start of this 2013-14 season. When the great Mariano Rivera came out of the Yankee bullpen to the familiar tune of “Enter Sandman” for one last time last year, we all said quietly to ourselves: “The next (and final) one will be the captain, Derek Jeter.” Wasting no time, at the beginning of the season, Derek made it clear this was going to be his last one. 

Among all the great players and legends Yankees created from that golden era, Mr. Jeter had always been my favourite. He is Captain Clutch; he is always at the right place at the right time; his blue-collar work ethic is unparalleled; he leads by example and always says the right thing. It seemed like he was the perfect role model who never did anything wrong. So when he announced that this was going to be his retirement year, I instantly checked the Yankees’ schedule and had my eyes on the final home game at Yankee Stadium: September 25, 2014 vs. Baltimore Orioles. At that time, I was laughing at myself and thinking it must have been an adrenaline rush — when I calmed down, it would certainly sound like a silly idea; so, I put that thought aside. However, with the season went on and embracing all the Jeter’s final season tour saga unfold, that thought never disappeared in my head. When it became clear that the Yankees probably wouldn’t make to the playoffs again this year and that game would for sure be his final home game ever, I started seriously considering going to New York to witness history. I struggled with the plan, because it would involve more than $500 for the flights, $300+ for that game, and, above all those things in cash value, I would have to miss the person I love’s birthday. For some reason, all these didn’t matter in the end, being there for Captain #2’s last game was what I wanted. I bought the flight ticket, contacted my friends in New York, and finally got a good price ticket after searching for a month — here I come. 

I arrived in a raining NYC after an overnight flight on the morning of September 25. After a short walk around Times Square to tell myself I was in the Big Apple for real, I took a short rest before heading to the Bronx. One could easily notice that day was for Derek Jeter: from the streets of New York, to the subway, to the Stadium, it was full of #2 Pinstripes. A lady didn’t hide her envy spotting my Jeter’s jersey in the subway: “Going to the game? Must be expensive… Good for you!” I smiled back and nodded, feeling a bit ashamed of how much money and effort I paid to be there — but proudly nonetheless. When I arrived around 5:30pm, it was already a sea of people and media. Since it was my first time to the new Yankee Stadium, I took some photos, found my seat, and did a quick tour around it. Immediately, seeing half of the crowds wearing #2 shirts, I had the feeling that it was going to be a great night and all I paid for it was going to be well worth it — everyone was there for one purpose: to say one last goodbye and thank-you to a beloved person.

To everyone’s please, the weather god cooperated and the rain finally stopped about an hour before the game time. The ground crew took off the tarp signalling the game would start on time. Most people took their seats already when the teams came out of the dugout for the warmup, that was also when the first roar of spontaneous standing ovation started for Derek. The lady sitting next to me arrived a bit late, but as soon as I saw her, I knew she was not just another Yankees’ fan. She was wearing full Pinstripes gears: from her outfit, to  jewelries, to manicure, to iPhone home screen, and the list goes on. Crazy! She didn’t wait long to start talking with me, with a heavy New Yorker’s accent: “You bought the ticket from TicketExchange?” “Yes,” I replied and realized right away she was the person who sold me that ticket. It turned out she was, like most others in that audience that night, a life long Yankees fan. She had been a season ticket holder of those two seats since 1998. She witnessed all the greatest moments in recent Yankees history, including David Cone’s perfect game in 1999, the last game in the old Yankee Stadium, all those farewell games for the great players I mentioned in the new Stadium, and the first games after 9/11, etc. She knew the answer to every quiz about the history of this team with a beat of her heart. She had also been to so many other major league stadiums, and her favourite one outside Yankee Stadium was Camden Yards in Baltimore, same choice as the other woman sitting on my other side — also a diehard Yankees fan for life. The three of us chatted like old friends who hadn’t met for a long time — with a same language of this team, and one player. When I told her I came all the way from the west coast for this, she was very grateful her ticket ended up in a good hand.

The game had a strange start. With the emotion high, everyone was standing and chanting Derek Jeter’s name, many with tears in their eyes. Then the Orioles opened the game with back-to-back home runs, the first while the Bleacher Creatures were roll calling the captain’s name — talking about bad timing… The atmosphere took a wrong turn, from cheering to booing. The fans who caught those two home run balls had no choice but to throw them back, much to the crowd’s pleasure. Good thing was that the Yankees tied the game right away in the bottom half of the first inning (including a hit from Jeter) and the starting pitchers both settled down afterward. With the game ground into a pitchers duel, the atmosphere became more subdued. However, every time following Bob Sheppard’s  iconic voice of “Now, batting for the Yankees, Number 2, Derek Jeter, Number 2”, the entire stadium would stand up and do the chants with cheers for the captain’s every at-bat. Throughout the game in between innings, the Jumbotron played tributes to Jeter, from fans to players, from coaches to managers, basically every walk of life involved with baseball. All of us soaked in those moments for one last time. Then, came the late innings. When the fans realized this whole episode was approaching the end for real, spontaneous chants became more frequent, one section easily led to one stadium-wide chorus: “D-E-R-E-K J-E-T-E-R. *clap* *clap* *clap-clap-clap*”. Everyone, from 5-year-old’s baby voice to 60/70s’ seasoned tone, from the heart of the Bronx to the Island of Hawaii, from the loud and wild enthusiasts to the quiet and teared soft hearts — almost 50,000, no one was sitting anymore. Waves of thunderous chorus echoed inside and beyond the Baseball Cathedral— for that evening, it was the House Jeter Built. The chants went from “Derek Jeter”, to “Thank You Jeter”, to “Thank You Captain”. By then, everyone was doing their best to fight back emotions, including #2 himself. In the bottom of the 7th inning, with the game tied at 2-2 and the bases loaded, Jeter hit a soft infield ground ball — maybe it was the distraction from the fans’ noise, maybe because it was Derek Jeter, Gold Glover J.J. Hardy threw a routine double play ground ball into the outfield; two run scored and Jeter reached safely. The Stadium went wild: this had to be the ending now — Derek bringing in the go-ahead runs in his final game and final at-bat. The Yankees added another insurance run later that inning and carried the 3-run lead to the 9th. This surely had to be it. The entire stadium was standing and shaking. Derek fought back tears and tried to concentrate and finish the chapter. But the Orioles (or God) had other ideas, they tied the game with another back-to-back homers (one was a two-run shot) off Yankees closer David Robertson. “Seriously?!” “WTF?!” “The script was so perfect but now we will have a sour ending?” Questions were raised, and boos were thrown to the poor Robertson. The stadium went from ready-to-celebrate to shock. What’s now? Sometimes, the greats write history themselves. When the top of the 9th was done, the due-up list showed Jeter was coming up 3rd to bat. I’m sure everyone, like myself, had a quiet prayer for an even more perfect ending. Will it happen? José Pirela hit a single to start the bottom of the 9th. The rally bell was officially on. Brett Gardner safely bunted Pirela to scoring position, as expected. Then, came Captain Clutch — if all that drama was for this, it would all be worth it — history was in his own hands. We kept our fingers crossed, and like almost every time in the past 20 years, Derek Jeter delivered — first pitch, the other way — Did anyone have any doubt?! The crowd went wild again, probably even wilder this time because it was the real ending, yet in such a surreal fashion. Teammates ran out from the dugout and mauled him together, his families watched on from the sideline, the greats who went through all these years with him (including Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Tino Martinez, Bernie Williams, and Joe Torre) waited by the side, and fans threw their hats out onto the field. It was an unbelievable moment I will never forget. 

When the on-field interviewer asked Derek: “What was going through your mind in the game?” He replied, “Don’t cry.” So simple, yet so true and so Jeter-like. He carried the same demeanour throughout his 20-year career, always said and did the right thing. He said the most emotional moment for him in the game was hearing the fans thanking him, he said he was “just doing my job.” When asked what message he wanted to leave to the next generation, he said “I worked harder, or as hard, as anyone else who played this game.” How could you not respect a person like him?!

 

Derek took a final walk to his shortstop position and saluted the fans, who simply didn’t want to leave. When it was all said and done on a windy September night in the Bronx, all that was left was the posters in the Stadium, the memories in our heart, and the echoes of those chants in my head. 

THANK YOU, CAPTAIN!