After spending the last 20 years in pinstripes, Yankees captain Derek Jeter played his final home game in Yankee Stadium on Thursday night. Buck Showalter, Jeter’s first big league manager, was in the other dugout managing the Orioles (NYY 6, BAL 5).
We followed the night here with this live blog. Photos, videos, links, game updates … basically anything worth passing along can be found right here, so make sure you scroll through for all the important stuff. There was a lot of it (all time stamps are ET).
Update, 10:41pm:
Video of Jeter’s storybook walk-off hit is right here. Baseball can be truly amazing sometimes.
Update, 10:20pm:
You can’t make this stuff up. After a Jose Pirela and a Gardner sac bunt, Jeter laced a walk-off single to the right side to give the Yankees a 6-5 win. Unreal.
Update, 10:11pm:
Well, Jeter will get another at-bat. Adam Jones (two-run) and Steve Pearce (solo) hit home runs off David Robertson in the top of the ninth to tie the game at five.
Update, 9:51pm:
As promised, here is Jeter driving in the go-ahead runs in the seventh inning (with an assist to Hardy):
Update, 9:48pm:
Jeter was fighting back tears at shortstop as fans had dueling “Der-Ek Je-Ter!” and “Thank You Der-Ek!” chants going in the eighth inning.
Update, 9:32pm:
Drama! In his fourth at-bat of the night, Jeter drove in the go-ahead runs with an assist to some terrible Orioles defense. The bases were loaded with one out, Jeter hit a weak grounder to shortstop, and J.J. Hardy threw the ball into right field trying to get the out at second base. Two runs score and the Yankees took a 4-2 lead in the seventh.
That might have been the final Yankee Stadium at-bat of Jeter’s career. Video will be posted as soon as it’s available.
Update, 9:20pm:
As expected, lots and lots (and lots) of people came out to see Jeter’s final home game.
Update, 8:47pm:
In his third at-bat, Jeter struck out for the second out of the fifth inning. Gausman got him swinging at an inside fastball. The score is still tied at two through five innings.
Update, 8:43pm:
Jeter is not the most skilled defender at this point of his career, but he did make a real nice play going to his left to start a double play in the third inning:
Update, 8:24pm:
The Yankees are using commemorative bases in honor of Jeter’s final home game:
Update, 7:58pm:
Jeter’s second at-bat was a little less dramatic. He grounded out to short for an inning-ending fielder’s choice in the bottom of the second.
Update, 7:52pm:
Here is Jeter’s first inning at-bat and double. Like I said, he juuust missed a home run:
Yankee Stadium has been electric so far, as you can tell from the video.
Update, 7:48pm:
Here is Jeter taking the Yankee Stadium field in the first inning for the final time:
The game is still tied at two.
Update, 7:46pm:
Jeter was charged with an error in the top of the second. He charged a ground ball and pulled Mark Teixeira off the bag at first base with the throw. No love from the official scorer!
Update, 7:41pm:
It’s a big night in New York, so you can bet the stars are coming out. Jay-Z is at the game:
As is Mets right-hander Matt Harvey:
The Mets are currently playing the Nationals in Washington, by the way. Harvey is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
Update, 7:37pm:
Here’s a neat video of fans in New York saying farewell to Jeter:
Update, 7:25pm:
In his first at-bat of the night, Jeter doubled in a run against Kevin Gausman. It was almost a home run too. Banged off the top of the wall in left-center field to score Brett Gardner from first. Jeter later advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Brian McCann’s ground ball to second.
The game is currently tied at two. Nick Markakis and Alejandro De Aza hit back-to-back solo homers for the Orioles in the first inning.
Update, 6:58pm:
Rain? Of course it stopped raining. Not only did it stop raining, but now there’s a rainbow over Yankee Stadium:
Of course.
Update, 6:45pm:
I’m not kidding when I say just about everyone is congratulating Jeter on Thursday:
Touching tribute, Charmin.
Update, 6:43pm:
It’s no secret opposing players love and respect Jeter:
Update, 6:14pm:
The tarp is being removed from the field and the Yankees announced the game is scheduled to begin on time at 7:05pm. How about that? The baseball weather gods did Jeter and the Yankees a solid.
Update, 5:50pm:
Just in case you were worried, yes, Jeter is in Thursday’s lineup. He is playing shortstop and batting second, just as he has for most of the last 20 years:
Update, 5:43pm:
First things first: the weather in the Bronx is not great. It has been raining outside my New York-based window all day but it has cleared up within the last hour or so. The current local forecast calls for a 90 percent chance of rain at 8pm before it drops down to 40 percent at 11pm.
As always, MLB plans to do whatever they can to get the game in:
Yankees manager Joe Girardi told reporters, including Chad Jennings of the Journal News, “I would suggest you make some plans, because I think we’re going to be here a while.”
If postponed, the game won’t be made up unless it could impact postseason positioning. The Yankees have already been eliminated, so the only way a potential makeup game could mean something is if the AL East winning Orioles have a chance to claim the best record in the AL.
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