Yankees' Derek Jeter To Sit Out Game 1 Of Final Series In Boston
BOSTON (CBSNewYork/AP) — Derek Jeter is getting a day off after his emotional farewell to Yankee Stadium.
New York manager Joe Girardi put together a lineup without his star shortstop — or many of his other regulars, either — for the series opener on Friday night against the Boston Red Sox.
Jeter has said he will play during the weekend series out of respect for the rivalry, but at designated hitter, so he can savor the memory of playing shortstop for the last time in his home ballpark.
"He said he'd like to have a day," Girardi told reporters. "It's always difficult at this point because everybody wants to see him. He's been through a lot, and our team's been through a lot."
The future Hall of Famer has been the focus of a yearlong farewell tour after he announced in spring training that this would be his final season. And the trip ends at Fenway Park, where the Yankees captain has earned the respect of the rival Red Sox and, begrudgingly, their fans.
"I think Derek understands the magnitude of the rivalry and the importance of it in the game of baseball," Girardi said, predicting that the Boston fans will give him a nice sendoff in spite of the history.
"I think there will be a great amount of respect," Girardi said. "Even though it's a huge rivalry, I think there's a huge amount of respect too for what these organizations have done for the game of baseball."
Jeter played his last game at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night, delivering a walk-off single in the ninth inning to give New York a 6-5 victory over the playoff-bound Baltimore Orioles. Red Sox players watched on TV after their game against Tampa Bay was over.
"I would say it's a dream and not many people come through in situations like that," Red Sox slugger David Ortiz said. "This is a guy that's done it all in baseball."
Elsewhere in baseball, much of the talk was about Jeter.
"When you look at great players, you look at them as the heat turns up, they get calm," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "Not everybody can do that. But he's one of them that can. That's why he's got 3,000 hits. That's why on his 3,000th hit, he hit a homer. That's why he got the hit last night. Because the situation is never too big for him."
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