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Where to watch "The Captain"
7. Episode 7 - A Star in the Fabric
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If you followed Derek Jeter’s legendary career with the Yankees, you had to have the sense that his final act would be dramatic in some way. And sure enough, in the final home game of Jeter’s career, he would bid farewell to the fans with one more classic moment: a walk-off single to win it in the bottom of the ninth. The heroics capped an emotional night for Jeter and his family, as the 40-year-old now had to contemplate the road ahead. One new development that would certainly occupy his time: the longtime bachelor had finally decided to settle down, marrying girlfriend Hannah Davis and starting a family. Hannah’s pregnancies came with complications, however, and in the episode, both notoriously private Jeters offer extraordinary glimpses into their struggles and just how close they came to losing everything. All along the way, baseball would remain a central foundation even after retirement. There was, of course, the inevitable – induction into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on his first chance – and it came only one writer’s vote short of being completely unanimous. A pandemic-postponed ceremony in 2021 would be a memorable celebration of Jeter’s remarkable career, and an era of Yankee baseball that will never be forgotten. Meanwhile, Jeter had also mused quietly about entering another arena of the game: team ownership. And when an opportunity came up to lead a group bidding for the Marlins in Miami, he jumped into it, and in 2017, along with lead partner Bruce Sherman, Jeter became the franchise’s part-owner and CEO. The subsequent rebuild that he spearheaded would be difficult to endure, but Jeter made history in 2021 when he hired former Yankees assistant GM Kim Ng as his team’s new general manager – the first woman in baseball history to hold that title. Though the Marlins would make a surprise run to the playoffs in the shortened 2020 season, Jeter’s vision would eventually diverge with Sherman’s, and he left the team before the 2022 season. With a full family life, as well as The Players' Tribune – the player-centric media platform he founded – Derek Jeter in retirement is hardly the portrait of a man living a quiet life. There is more story to write, even as the tale he’s already crafted endures as a modern legend for all-time.
Disney+6. Episode 6 - Never Gave Up a Day in My Life
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It was the end of an era in September of 2008 when the Yankees played their final game in what would become known as the old Yankee Stadium, with the replacement set to open the following spring. As ever, Derek Jeter was at the center of the moment, delivering a heartfelt speech to the crowd for the occasion. The night commemorated an extraordinary chronicle of history, but in the back of everyone’s mind was something else: this was the first time in Jeter’s career that he wouldn’t be playing in the postseason. The team’s chemistry and makeup had not quite been working for the previous several seasons, and as captain, Jeter had to acknowledge that he bore some responsibility for that. Even after the promising addition of new ace C.C. Sabathia, the 2009 season wouldn’t begin auspiciously – with Alex Rodriguez publicly admitting he had used steroids in the past – but despite that rocky start, the Yanks gradually gained control of the American League East, winning 103 games in the regular season. Then came the playoffs; with New York trying to reach the World Series for the first time in six seasons, the Bombers swept the Twins and then got past the Angels to set up a matchup with the defending champion Phillies. Jeter would hit .407 in the Series, and the Yanks would win it in six games – a fifth World Series ring was his. The next year would be difficult, however, as at the 2010 All-Star break, George Steinbrenner passed away, and after the season, Jeter grew angry when negotiations for a new contract weren’t kept private. Eventually, he’d re-sign with the club, but even today, it’s clear Jeter hasn’t forgotten the way he felt he was betrayed. Still, there were better times ahead, with Jeter’s 3000th hit coming in July in memorable fashion – a home run in the midst of a 5-for-5 day – and jumpstarting a resurgence that would carry over all the way to a terrific year in 2012 as he turned 38 years of age. There were life changes, too, with Derek meeting his eventual wife Hannah. And though his 2012 campaign made him an MVP candidate, an ankle injury late in the season would hamper him in the playoffs. In Game 1 of the ALCS, he’d fracture the ankle, an injury that would end up costing him nearly the entire 2013 season as well. As he approached 40, he would announce his retirement prior to his final season in 2014, giving Yankee fans one more year to applaud their team’s captain, one of the greatest ever to don the pinstripes.
5. Episode 5 - Hiding in Plain Sight
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While there is plenty of glory, there are also moments that Derek Jeter would prefer to forget. Which makes it all the more fascinating to hear Jeter openly and extensively reflect on one of the lowest points of his time with the Yankees, the 2004 ALCS, when the Red Sox mounted an unprecedented comeback from a 3-0 deficit to defeat New York, on their way to a World Series title at last. There wasn’t just one reason for the collapse, but looking back, it was undeniably emblematic of a few different changes that had taken place with the Yankees, a shift in culture that had happened as members of the World Series dynasty had moved on and were replaced by different characters, who handled playing in New York differently. The distinction only shined a brighter light on how much scrutiny Jeter dealt with as the face of the team, and how he went about handling that attention with the insatiable New York media. In fact, to so many, Derek Jeter the ballplayer was completely inscrutable, always keeping the media at a distance, yet occasionally using reporters to subtly get messages across to teammates. Then there was the related issue of Jeter the celebrity, the extraordinary rumors that sometimes flew about his personal life, and the ways he handled them. Much more seriously, race was an issue undeniably underlying all questions about Jeter’s biracial identity, and years after his retirement, questions linger about what was asked, and what was assumed, by observers up close and from a distance. The issue still spurs heated debate to this day, particularly with the heightened awareness to the topic that’s since evolved for many in American society. Meanwhile, on the field, 2007 would be the seventh straight season that the Yankees reached the postseason but failed to win the World Series, and the fourth straight they failed to reach the Fall Classic. The disappointment led to the departure of a figure who’d been with Jeter from the beginning in the Bronx, Joe Torre, and coincided with a period in which the shortstop, now entering his mid-30’s, started getting more criticism about his abilities on defense. But by that point, anyone doubting Derek Jeter should have done so quite warily.
4. Episode 4 - Bigger Than Baseball
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Early on the morning of September 11, 2001, you could say everything made sense in New York. It was a beautiful day, and Derek Jeter and the Yankees were in the midst of another dominating season, leading the American League East by 13 games. October, and another postseason, and another shot at a World Series title, were all beckoning. And then everything changed. What ensued that fall in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks – for the city of New York, and for the Yankees – will never be forgotten. Jeter and the Yankees played a fundamental role in the city’s healing process for millions of fans, providing at first distraction, and later inspiration in the way they played. First, there was the division series against the A’s, with the Yankees falling behind 2-0, just one game from elimination. But in Game 3, Jeter’s signature “flip play” to save a botched relay and prevent a run will forever live as arguably the greatest defensive play of his career, particularly since it preserved the lead in a 1-0 game, and spearheaded a Yankee comeback in the series. Then, after the Yanks dismantled a Mariners team that had won 116 regular season games, came a World Series for the ages against the Arizona Diamondbacks. After the Yanks fell behind 2-0 in the desert, ninth-inning comebacks in Games 4 and 5, the first of which ended with a walk-off Jeter home run, birthing the moniker “Mr. November,” put New York on the cusp of another title. But back in Arizona, it would all fall apart in stunning fashion at the end of Game 7, the Yanks coming up short in a postseason series for the first time in five years. The Bronx Bombers’ invincibility had been pierced. Though they were still as captivating as ever, in any number of ways. After George Steinbrenner criticized Jeter for his nightlife habits, the beef was quashed in entertaining, and appropriate, fashion: a TV commercial. And in 2003, the Yanks would embark on another unforgettable postseason, highlighted by a showdown with the Red Sox, hungrier than ever to take down their arch-rival. But a Game 7 meltdown by Boston at Yankee Stadium, culminating in an electric extra inning win to send the Yanks to the World Series, only solidified the sense of dominance New York held over Boston. Even though the Yanks fell short in the World Series again in 2003, by the midpoint of 2004, led by their shortstop, it still felt like the Yanks held the upper hand on the Sox – and Derek Jeter still felt as hungry as ever.
3. Episode 3 - I Don’t Have to Be Your Best Friend
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Life at the top of the world tends to be pretty great. But pretty great doesn’t inhibit complications, and at the peak of the Yankee dynasty at the turn of the twenty-first century, Derek Jeter dealt with occasional turmoil amid extraordinary success, even if Jeter himself would tell you that none of it was of his own doing. First though, on the diamond, Jeter was hitting his prime as the Yankee dynasty continued in 1999 and 2000. He was one of the toughest outs in all of baseball, among the league leaders in average, hits, and runs scored. The Yankee juggernaut fought off a pesky Red Sox team in ’99 on its way to a dominating run through the postseason, sweeping the Atlanta Braves to win a third World Series title in four years. Then in 2000, despite fading at the end of the regular season, the Yanks won another division title, then edged the Oakland A’s in the division series, got past the Seattle Mariners in the championship series, and then in a memorable Subway Series, beat the Mets in five games to capture another World Series, with Jeter named MVP of the Series. The Yankee shortstop had won four rings in five seasons in the big leagues. It was incredible, even as it felt inevitable. Nothing, however, was by accident. As much as anything else, Derek Jeter was defined by his intensity, his focus, his competitiveness, and a sense of loyalty that he held paramount in every relationship he developed, in the game and beyond. And none of those relationships received as much scrutiny as the one he maintained with baseball’s other superstar shortstop, Alex Rodriguez. While Jeter collected World Series rings in the late 90’s, A-Rod emerged as the game’s best all-around player. That the pair were also good friends made for a great storyline – that is, until A-Rod was quoted in an Esquire magazine article talking about how Jeter had “been blessed with great talent around him,” adding, “You never say, ‘Don’t let Derek beat you.’ He’s never your concern.” The comments would put a fissure in one of baseball’s most scrutinized relationships. All Derek Jeter wanted to focus on was winning.
2. Episode 2 - Loyalty One Way
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As the 1996 baseball season began, there would have been very few observers around the game predicting that a dynasty was about to be born in the Bronx. But with a new rookie shortstop, and a new manager, that year would launch a new era of Yankee baseball, and baseball history. Derek Jeter would be the rarest of rookies – a youngster who looked like he belonged in the big leagues from his very first day in the lineup that season. Surrounded by a clubhouse of veterans, a few fellow young stars, and of course the man he called Mr. T, manager Joe Torre, Jeter would immediately emerge as the heart of a team that won its first division title in 15 years. Then came the postseason, and a succession of unforgettable moments, including Jeter’s controversial eighth inning home run that tied Game 1 of the ALCS (with, some contended, the help of fan interference), an eventual Yankee win, and then a stunning comeback in the World Series, with New York winning four straight after falling behind the Braves 2-0 in the Fall Classic. The Yankees were World Series champions again. And Derek Jeter had been born as a star. Jeter would quickly become one of New York’s biggest celebrities, mingling with stars of other worlds, while earning a relationship as a consummate professional on the field. Comparisons would also come to be made to another young star shortstop across the country, Alex Rodriguez of the Mariners, with whom Jeter developed a friendship. In 1997, the Yanks would come up a bit short in the playoffs, losing to the Indians in the ALCS, but they’d roar back in 1998 with one of the great seasons by any team in history, winning 114 regular season games and sweeping San Diego in the World Series. Derek Jeter and his franchise were on top of the baseball world. It felt like they belonged there. And it looked as if they’d be there for a long, long time.
1. Episode 1 - No Blueprint for Success
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When 17-year-old Derek Jeter was drafted by the Yankees, his favorite team, in the spring of 1992, it felt like the start of a storybook tale. But it was also part of a longer story, of the son of a white mother and Black father who’d have to grow up a lot over the next few years on his way to the big leagues in 1995, a place where even more lessons awaited.
