Derek Jeter Reveals How Modern Technology Could Have Ended His Legendary 20-Year Career in Less Than Half the Time

For athletes, retirement is like a looming cloud, ready to rain on the parade of their careers. And it is often said that a career of an athlete is the shortest ever career there is to be. For many athletes, retirement is a bittersweet moment that can feel like a sudden and unexpected end to a lifelong pursuit. They’ve spent the entirety of their young lives chasing a dream, but despite their hard work, the finish line can sometimes sneak up on them. 

Will it be 5 years, will it be 10, or perhaps will it be just a few months? There are a lot of factors that lead to an unexpected end in one’s career. New York Yankees’ former captain, Derek Jeter, says that he was fortunate enough to have been able to have a career that spanned 20 years in the MLB, but ‘something’ he says could have put an early end to it. 

Derek Jeter’s career could’ve had an early stop 

Derek Jeter, the former legendary shortstop, recently shared his thoughts on retirement in a GQ interview. According to Jeter, most athletes don’t have the luxury of choosing when to retire.

The former sensation considers himself fortunate to have played for 20 years, but he also quipped that if analytics had been a thing during his playing days, he might have been forced out sooner, “First of all I think a lot of athletes most athletes I think, have an issue with retirement because they don’t have a choice, you know what I mean?” He continued, “I was fortunate, I played for 20 years and they would’ve forced me out too if they had all these analytics and stuff when I played.” 

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Although he said it as a joke, there may be some truth to his quip. As the use of analytics becomes increasingly prevalent in sports, it’s not hard to imagine that some players do fall victim to it. Nonetheless, Jeter’s impressive achievements on the field speak for themselves. 

Can you imagine the New York Yankees without Jeter? 

Well, aren’t the New York Yankees fans glad that Derek Jeter got to play for as long as he did? He certainly was a phenomenal shortstop and even if analytics somehow proved otherwise, the phenom led the team to World Series victories 5 times in his career.

It’s hard to imagine the Yankees without Jeter. His leadership and excellence in the ballpark were instrumental to the team. If he had been traded or forced into retirement after just five or ten years, the Yankees’ saga might have been drastically different. 

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