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Jeter's annual Octoberfest

The Yankees shortstop has come through in the postseason at the plate and in the field.

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 20, 2001

NEW YORK -- What he does is amazing enough. The control he has of his bat. The silky smoothness on defense. The speed and athleticism on the field. The seemingly intuitive sense to make the right play at the right time and to look good doing it.

But it's how he does it on the postseason stage, and how he keeps doing it, that truly sets Derek Jeter apart.

"There's a look in his eye," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "A look that tells you he has a love for the game and the competition. He has never had any regard for putting his body in peril or being embarrassed by a bad swing.

"He thinks cool in very hot situations."

There are many players who can be stars during the regular season but quickly dim once the playoffs begin. Barry Bonds is one. Randy Johnson had been considered one. Seattle's Bret Boone is on his way to becoming one.

But there are the select few who sparkle even more.

"I just enjoy being in these types of situations," Jeter said.

In a way, it's all Jeter knows.

He was just a kid when the Yankees brought him up in 1995. But they saw greatness and wanted him to see where legends were made. So they had him stay with the team for the playoff series with Seattle.

"They gave me an opportunity to see what it was like, and I think I learned a lot. And it helped going into '96," Jeter said. "So I think I've sort of grown into it. You know what it's like to play in big games."

This is Jeter's sixth full season, and he has been in the playoffs each time. At age 27, he has already played in 68 postseason games.

And played well.

He has a .327 career postseason average and more hits -- 88 -- than anyone. He had a record-tying 17-game postseason hitting streak. He has a World Series MVP award (from last season). And he has four World Series rings.

"I've played a lot of games in the postseason ever since my first year," Jeter said. "You have to enjoy playing in this type of atmosphere. Obviously, you're under the microscope. Everything you do is going to be magnified.

"But just because you enjoy it doesn't mean you are going to go out there and be successful."

Already this postseason, he has made two defining plays.

Insisting he was just "doing my job," Jeter essentially saved the Yankees' season Saturday. He raced across the diamond to pick up an errant throw and without breaking stride flipped the ball toward home plate to preserve the Yankees' lead in Game 3 of the division series.

Two nights later, in the decisive fifth game, he chased a foul popup behind third base with such determination that he went over the wall, spikes over head, and crashed into the seats to make the catch.

Plus, he hit .444 for the series.

"I guess that's the reason he's wearing so many rings," Oakland manager Art Howe said. "This kid is as good as they come. Whenever they need a big play, he's there to make it. Whenever they need a big hit, he gets it. I think they have got a new Prime Time."

Jeter's story is still being written, but he soon might displace Reggie Jackson as baseball's most fabled postseason performer.

"You see him play, and he's like Coca-Cola -- the real thing," Jackson said. "He can certainly be the new Mr. October."

Jeter often is compared with the American League's two other marquee shortstops, Boston's Nomar Garciaparra and Texas' Alex Rodriguez. While Torre acknowledges Jeter doesn't have their power, Rodriguez's speed or range or Garciaparra's arm, he doesn't concede anything.

"There's something about him, the whole package, that makes him very special," Torre said. "And a good fit for what we do.

"And the one thing about it -- I look at that look in his eye when we get in a competition; whether we are up, down or even -- and he loves that competition."

The question then is whether someone is born with that special something or has develop it.

"I think it's innate," Seattle manager Lou Piniella said. "I think it can be augmented, but I think you've got to have it in you."

Torre, who took over the team in 1996, the same year Jeter became a starter, said it didn't take him long to realize how special Jeter was.

"We were playing a very good Texas ballclub in the first game of the division series, and they beat us. And he contributed by making an error on which they scored the winning run," Torre said. "I was asked by the media, "Are you going to talk to him?" And I said, "I don't know.' Because I didn't know him that well.

"Before he went home that night, he popped his head in and said to me, "Get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow is the most important game of your life.' I said, "Well, I guess I don't have to talk to him."'

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