Derek Jeter Revealed How Luck Played a Role in Preventing His New York Yankees Dream Crashing Before it Even Began

Derek Jeter made his Yankee debut, 27 years ago, which is surely a long journey. Now imagine if there was a slight possibility that the shortstop wouldn’t have ever played for the Yanks? Well, there was. The Pinstripes went sixth in the 1992 draft and Jeter could’ve possibly ended up with another team.

Before entering the major leagues in 1995, Jeter walked into the little league drafts in 1992. In the 1992 minor league drafts, the Yankees went sixth. And Jeter feared getting picked by another team. Correspondingly, Jeter spoke about this in an interview in 2004.

After the first draft, where did Derek Jeter think he would land?

While the Yanks went sixth, the Astros went first. The Hall of Fame pitcher, Hal Newhouser, who worked for the Houston Astros as a scout, extensively evaluated Jeter and rated him very high. However, the Astros feared Jeter asking for a high price, and hence, went another way. Which, in hindsight, could be looked at as a massive mistake.

PLAYBOY asked Jeter, “You were picked sixth in the 1992 draft. You dreamed of being a Yankee, but wasn’t it a long shot that you’d become one?”

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Jeter responded to this by saying, “It was luck. I mean, the draft is a crapshoot. I thought I’d be selected by Houston or Cincinnati.”

Captain Clutch’s magnificent Hall of Fame career

Derek Jeter made his Yankee and MLB debut in 1995. Throughout his 20-year-long Yankee career, the shortstop played with the Yankees and won them five World Championship Rings. Moreover, Jeter, who became the Yankee captain in 2003, appeared on 14 All-Star teams, won five Silver Slugger Awards, five Golden Glove Awards, and was the World Series MVP in 2000. In addition to that, he also won the Roberto Clemente Award and two American League Hank Aaron awards.

After retiring from baseball, the Yanks retired his jersey number two and added him to Monument Park in 2017. Then, in his first year of eligibility, he was added to the MLB Hall of Fame with a record 99.75% majority in the ballot.

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What do you make of captain Derek Jeter’s MLB career? Do you think he is irreplaceable? Let us know in the comments below.