Derek Jeter

The Players' Tribune Founder

Derek Jeter played shortstop for the Yankees for 19 years, from 1996, when he was the AL Rookie of the Year, until his retirement in 2014. New York drafted Jeter out of high school in 1992, and he debuted in the major leagues three years later. A key member of the Yankees’ dynasty of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Jeter is the team’s career leader in hits (3,465, more than any other shortstop in baseball history), doubles (544), stolen bases (358) and games played (2,747). He was selected to 14 All-Star teams, and won five Gold Gloves and five Silver Slugger awards. With Jeter anchoring the infield, the Yankees won five World Series (1996, 1998. 1999, 2000, 2009) and seven AL championships. Though Jeter never won an MVP award, he was the runner-up in 2006, and he was named the MVP of the 2000 World Series. He is baseball’s all-time postseason leader in hits (200), runs (111) and total bases (302). Three years after Jeter called it a career, New York retired his number 2, making him one of 16 Yankees to receive the honor. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020, his first year of eligibility, garnering 396 of 397 votes, the highest percentage in history for a position player. Jeter was born in New Jersey, but grew up in Kalamazoo, Mich., where the family moved when he was four years old. Still, he remained a Yankees fan — his family used to make the 2½-hour trip to Tiger Stadium to see New York play when the team came to Detroit. Baseball was the primary sport in the Jeter household. Derek’s father, Charles, was a former college baseball player at Fisk University, in Tennessee. But that didn’t mean that it was the only game Derek played. He ran cross-country in the fall and played basketball in the winter at Kalamazoo Central High. On Oct. 1, 2014, just a few days after he retired, Jeter launched The Players’ Tribune, an online platform where athletes could publish their own stories in their own words. Three years later, he became a part owner of the Miami Marlins, and he served as the team’s CEO from September 2017 to February 2022. His charitable foundation — the Turn 2 Foundation — has been in operation since 1996, with the mission to motivate young people to turn away from drugs and alcohol and choose healthy lifestyles. Jeter is married to former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Hannah Davis, and the couple have three daughters and a son.