Derek Jeter is the greatest shortstop in modern baseball history. In this, his final season, Sports World News takes a look back at the top moments in the career of Derek Jeter. Each day we will feature a different Jeter moment, all the way through his last game.
Today we look back at April 1, 1997, when Jeter proved he could be fooled once in a while.
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The Yankees opened up the 1997 season in Seattle against the Mariners. They were coming off their first World Series title since 1978. Jeter won the American League Rookie of the Year in 1996, batting .314 with 10 home runs and 183 hits in 157 games. He hit .361 during the 1996 playoffs, which includes the big “Jeffrey Maier” home run in game one of the 1996 ALCS against the Orioles. There was great anticipation for Jeter and the Yankees heading into the 1997 season.
On the mound for the Yankees was David Cone. Cone was coming off an injury plagued, but still effective 1996 season. He went 7-2, with a 2.88 ERA in 11 starts. Jeff Fassero started for the Mariners. Fassero would pitch 16 seasons in the Major Leagues, winning 121 games and posting a 4.11 ERA. 1997 was probably his best season in Major League Baseball. He would go on to win 16 games to the tune of a 3.61 ERA. His 35 starts went on to lead the American League.
The game had a lot of meaning for players and coaches on both sides, other than the fact is was opening day. Former Yankee great Lou Piniella was managing the Mariners. Yankees' first baseman Tino Martinez played his first six Major League seasons in Seattle before joining the Yankees in 1996. It was reunion for many, but a heated match all the same.
Cone did not fare well in the game. He gave up four earned runs in six innings of work. Three of the runs came courtesy of Ken Griffey Jr., who hit two home runs against Cone. Fassero did well himself, going seven innings, giving up two earned runs. Mariners' shortstop Alex Rodriguez, who won the American League Batting Title (.358) in 1996, had one hit (a single) in four at bats. The Mariners beat the Yankees, 4-2. But the real question is, how did Derek Jeter do?
Jeter went hitless in four at bats. He ground out to Rodriguez in the first, grounded out to Fassero in the third, a fly ball to right field in the fifth and a ground out to Rodriguez in the eighth. Jeter would go on to hit .291 and smack 10 home runs in 1997. The Yankees won the 1997 American League Wild Card and lost in the Division Series to the Cleveland Indians. Jeter is not a fool, but he and the Yankees were made to look like fools on April 1, 1997.
And that is no joke.
Do you remember this moment? Let us know in the comments section below!
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