7 Chapter 6 Taking on the Minors

Chapter 6 Taking on the Minors In Class A baseball, in Greensboro, North Carolina, Derek bonded with teammates. He had fun playing. He was named Most Outstanding Major League Prospect by the South Atlantic League managers. Still, he made fifty-six errors. All along Derek had been planning to go back to college in the fall. But baseball was his future. And he knew he needed more training. So after the season, when the Yankees wanted him to stay on for extra instruction, he put college on hold. The hard work paid off. Usually, the Yankees didn't promote players once a season began. But in 1994, Derek moved from Class A to AA to AAA.

He wasn't that lost, crying boy anymore. He was making friends like Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera. He was playing hard in the field and getting hits. At the end of the season, he was named Minor League Player of the Year by USA Today and other newspapers.

In 1995, living in Tampa during the offseason, Derek kept training and improving. In April, he returned to his Triple A team in Columbus, Ohio. Then, on May 28, at 6:00 a.m., there was a knock on his hotel room door. It was the team manager. Yankees shortstop Tony Fernandez had pulled a muscle. "You're going to the big leagues," the manager told Derek. Derek flew to Seattle that morning for a series against the Mariners. In the locker room, he got his first Yankees uniform. On the back was his number: 2.

该页暂无翻译

Derek ran onto the field with the rest of the team. He couldn't believe it. He was sharing the infield with all-stars captain Don Mattingly and Wade Boggs!

UNIFORM NUMBERS IN 1929, THE YANKEES WERE THE FIRST TEAM TO USE UNIFORM NUMBERS, TO HELP FANS KEEP TRACK OF PLAYERS. BY THE 1930S, ALL MAJOR LEAGUE TEAMS HAD THEM. AT FIRST, YANKEES' NUMBERS WERE ASSIGNED BASED ON BATTING ORDER. IF A PLAYER HIT THIRD IN THE LINEUP, LIKE BABE RUTH, HE GOT NUMBER 3. SOME TEAMS MATCHED NUMBER WITH POSITION. THEN CAME ANOTHER SYSTEM: THE LOWER THE NUMBER, THE HIGHER THE PLAYER'S IMPORTANCE TO THE TEAM. AS FOR DEREK HIMSELF, #2 JUST HAPPENED TO BE AVAILABLE FOR HIS DEBUT.