Derek Jeter Biography

Derek Jeter has been the starting shortstop for the New York Yankees since 1996, and in those years has become one of the most famous Yankees ever. Jeter first played 15 games with the Yankees in 1995. The next year he established himself as the team's regular shortstop and quickly became an All Star. The Yankees won the World Series four times in Jeter's first five full years on the job: in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000. He was named the team's captain in 2003, becoming the first Yankee captain since Don Mattingly's retirement in 1995. Jeter's good looks have helped make him a favorite with younger fans, and in the early 2000s he was often compared with fellow shortstop prodigies Nomar Garciaparra and Alex Rodriguez. Such was Jeter's reputation that when Rodriguez joined the Yankees in 2004, Rodriguez moved to third base to allow Jeter to remain at shortstop. With both Rodriguez and Jeter on the squad, the Yankees won the World Series again in 2009, making Jeter a five-time champ.