10 Chapter 9 Tragedy and Triumph

Chapter 9 Tragedy and Triumph Derek Jeter should have been on top of the world. At the start of the 2001 season, he was just twenty-six years old. He already had four World Series rings. He earned more than almost every baseball player. He had dated lots of celebrities, from superstar singer Mariah Carey to Miss Universe. But that same year, Sharlee was being treated for cancer. Sharlee and Derek had

always been close, talking on the phone each day. Now they talked on the phone in the middle of the night, too. Derek kept playing. He didn't tell many people about Sharlee until the end of May, when doctors said she was cancer-free. The next day, Derek hit a three-run homer. The next day was Mother's Day, and Sharlee and Dot and Charles were cheering from the stands.

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Then came more devastation: September 11, when terrorists flew planes into New York's World Trade Center. Thousands died. Derek and his teammates did what they could to help. They visited victims in hospitals. They spent time with children who lost parents. Derek wasn't doing it to make news or for people to say what a great guy he was. In fact, he told reporters to stay away. Some things shouldn't be in the newspapers, he felt. These visits were private.

New Yorkers, stunned and sad, told Derek they wanted the Yankees to win another title for the city. Derek was going to do his best to give it to them. In the American League Division Series, the Yankees were pitted against the Oakland Athletics. Down two games to one, hopes were fading. In the eighth inning of Game Four, they clung to a 1–0 lead. Oakland was at bat, with two outs and a man on first. The batter smashed a long drive into the right-field corner. A double! Could the runner on first make it home? Yankees outfielder Shane Spencer made the throw to infield. Two cutoff men stood along the first-base line. Their job: to get the ball home. But Spencer threw it over both their heads. The A's thought they had an easy run, and a tie score. They were wrong. Out of nowhere, Derek raced for the ball. He scooped it up on just one bounce, using both hands. Still running, he flipped the ball sideways—right on target. Jorge Posada

caught it at home and easily tagged the runner. "What was he even doing in that spot?" one Oakland player wondered. But Derek was there. He made the "flip," still considered one of the best defense plays in baseball history. Derek would only say he was doing what he was supposed to be doing. Helping the Yankees win. He hoped he could do the same in the World Series, playing against the Arizona