“This Guy Is Special” – Long Before Derek Jeter’s Legendary Reign as New York Yankees Captain, a Scout Recognized His Greatness

The sun beating down vs bright stadium lights. The yells of teammates vs roars from the audience. A cry of victory vs a cry of defeat. Paradoxes exist everywhere in baseball. One player that always emulated them naturally was Derek Jeter. A five-time World Series champion, the former New York Yankees shortstop served as captain of the team for 11 years. Since his time in MLB, everyone has come to know the story of the kid from Kalamazoo, who wanted to play baseball in Pinstripes. But where did his story in the big leagues start?

Looking at young players, sometimes it’s not easy to predict where life’s trajectory will take them. But then a talented few, like Derek Jeter, stand out right away. Dick Groch, a former scout for the Yankees, predicted at first sight that the skinny young boy from Michigan’s Kalamazoo Central High School was headed straight to Cooperstown. But while Groch kept track of Jeter for a year, watching him play under all conditions, there was another scout who knew he had found a gem in the young boy.

Jon Niederer predicted Derek Jeter would make it to MLB by the time he was 21…

And despite an already bold claim, the former shortstop proved him wrong. Jeter played his first Yankees game with the pinstriped jersey number 2 on May 29, 1995, 28 days before his 21st birthday. While Groch is the one usually credited with discovering the Yankee powerhouse, it was Niederer who first gave a promising scouting report.

In his book, Jeter Unfiltered, the Hall of Famer gives behind-the-scenes details of his meteoric rise to fame through pictures. Right near the end of the book, on page 232, is a copy of his scouting report, filled by Jon Niederer. In addition to many qualities, the scout clearly details the factors that made the young athlete perfectly signing-worthy.

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“This guy is special. You get excited just watching him warm up. All-Star pot [potential] as SS [shortstop] at ML [Major League] level,” Niederer writes. And as it turned out, Derek Jeter was very special indeed.

On the flip side, Jeter did exhibit weaknesses

It’s a simple fact of being human – no one is perfect. While Captain Clutch may not have hit the most home runs in his time as a Yankee, he had other abilities to make up for his shortcomings. However, when scouting, Niederer had a duty to point out the mistakes he made so that they could be improved upon later. “Got some hot dog in him, tendency to coast, be too cool,” he wrote. While it would be incorrect to describe Derek Jeter as a hothead, he certainly had a passion for the game.

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After all, that is what made him one of the greatest names in baseball. Not to mention, an easy entrant into Cooperstown with the second-highest voting percentage ever seen.