Number two, Derek Jeter, number two.

Posted on June 17, 2014

Derek Jeter #2 of the New York Yankees walks to his position at shortstop during the game against the Oakland Athletics at O.co Coliseum on Friday, June 13, 2014 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin)

 

This past weekend one of the living legends of baseball passed through Oakland for the last time. The New York Yankees were in town to play the A’s, and Derek Jeter was making his final regular season appearance at the Oakland Coliseum. This was a moment in time I could not miss. I had to get out there to photograph the Joe DiMaggio of our era one last time.

I wrote a blog post entitled “You can’t take a bad picture of Derek Jeter” back in 2010. I wrote about how ballplayers like Jeter are so special. An honor to photograph. Since I am on the west coast and Jeter plays in New York I do not have many chances to shoot him. This means when he makes the rare Bay Area appearance with his ballclub I need to do my best to get out there and document everything he does so I can preserve the legend of this iconic Yankee with my photographs.

Unless I see Jeter in the post season, this would be the last time I would be able to shoot him in uniform. Unlike my friends in New York who have the privilege of shooting Jeter in the glorious home pinstripes, I am stuck with the road greys. However, I am able to move around the Coliseum with ease and shoot Jeter from all over the place, even in the dugout! Try doing that at Yankee Stadium without getting thrown out of the park on your ass!

I got to the park Friday around 4:30pm so I would be ready for Yankees batting practice. The Yankees batting practice has always been so much fun to shoot over the years. They have always had great stars. However, this time I was only concerned with one guy. The Captain. Number two.

As usual, Jeter hung around the cage without his helmet on. The combination of screaming late afternoon sunlight and no brim of a helmet to cast a shadow on his face meant that I could get some great portraits of Jeter between his turns of BP. Jeter has always had terrific facial expressions. His smile is wonderful, and his serious look conveys his tenacity for winning. Both were on display in the 5 o’clock shadows on Friday.

I shot two innings and got out as the sun went down and the dark and dingy Coliseum lights took over. I did not need ugly brown, red, and yellow pictures of Jeter at night. I had a great pre-game and hoped I would be able to come back and shoot him in the sunshine on Sunday afternoon.

I drove to the Coliseum on Sunday morning waiting to see if Jeter would be playing. Since this is his last year he has been slowing down and not playing every day. Sometimes he DH’s and does not play in the field. I was thrilled when the Yankees lineup popped up on Twitter as soon as I pulled into the parking lot telling me that Jeter would be playing shortstop and batting second. This would be a good day.

We had the awesome Bay Area fog surrounding the Coliseum when batting practice started on Sunday morning, meaning the light was super soft and great for pictures. Jeter put on another great show for me during pre-game stretching and BP. When he appeared in the dugout before he was honored during a ceremony at home plate he showed off his million dollar smile, looking very casual (see above). This was a picture I was really looking for. I was thrilled to get it. Anytime I can get a good picture of a ballplayer with a wide angle lens in the sweet dugout light it is a big win for me. Add to this equation the great Jeter smile and the victory was mine.

During the game I sat on him on defense with my 400mm lens waiting for him to make a great play on a ground ball, but that never happened. I did get a nice batting sequence of him late in the game when I shot him loose from third base as he knocked in a Yankee run with a sacrifice fly (see above). In the 7th inning the Yankees were getting smoked 10-3, so Jeter was taken out of the lineup, and I took myself out of the lineup to beat the sell-out crowd traffic and get home to start editing.

Jeter has always been one of my favorite players to shoot. He gave me one of my greatest memories when he hit his Mr. November walk-off home run to beat the Diamondbacks in Game 4 of the 2001 World Series at old Yankee Stadium. I was shooting from third base that night next to my good friend Robert Seale. The ground shook like crazy. I told Robert to remember this moment. It would be one of the most thrilling moments we ever photographed. I was right.

Thanks for many great moments you have provided for myself and fans everywhere Mr. Jeter. I hate saying goodbye to great players like you. A part of me will be rooting for the Yankees this summer, hoping to have the chance to see you again in October. Until then.