Even in Class A, Posada and Pettitte Sensed What Was to Come With Jeter

By JACK CURRY

Published: September 12, 2009

He was an 18-year-old shortstop from Kalamazoo, Mich., a first-round draft choice who wore his cap tilted back on his head and who looked as if he needed to gain 25 pounds. When he showed up to play with the Yankees’ Class A affiliate in Greensboro, N.C., in 1992, Derek Jeter was a curiosity to some teammates.

Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte were on that team and they remembered when they first saw the 156-pound kid who was supposed to become a great Yankee. So this skinny shortstop is the next star? It did not take long before Posada and Pettitte understood why Jeter was not the same as the other minor leaguers.

“Nothing really surprises me when it comes to Derek Jeter,” Posada said.

On the night when Jeter slapped a single to right field — where else? — to surpass Lou Gehrig on the Yankees’ career hits list, players like Posada and Pettitte spoke about Jeter with a mixture of appreciation and awe.

As Jeter pursued Gehrig and each of his at-bats turned into an event, it was obvious that his teammates, especially his longtime teammates, relished riding in the back seat. Pettitte said that Jeter always had “a lot of class and a lot of charisma” and carried himself differently, something that did not change as he boosted his hits total to 2,723.

“We were so young and started this run off at a young age,” Pettitte said. “Again, you knew that he was special.”

In 1992, Jeter did not feel special. He went 0 for 7 and struck out five times in his debut with Class A Tampa. Because Jeter had received an $800,000 signing bonus, he felt as if every pair of eyes was scrutinizing him. He called home several times a day, pushing his phone bill to $400 a month.

After Jeter batted .202 in 47 games with Tampa, the Yankees sent him to Greensboro to get some more at-bats. Jeter would have rather traveled back to Kalamazoo. Posada recalled how Jeter was erratic at shortstop in his first day at Greensboro but rebounded.

“The second day, you saw what every guy in the organization saw,” Posada said. “He made a great play in the hole, he made a great play over second base and he hit a home run. He hasn’t looked back ever since.”

That is not entirely true. In his first 11 games at Greensboro, Jeter batted .247 and made 9 errors in 48 chances. Pettitte recalled how some of those mistakes came in his starts.

“I know he made a few errors behind me while I was pitching,” Pettitte said. “I was like: ‘Look at this guy. Are you kidding me? The first-round draft pick or whatever.’ He says to this day that I big-leagued him bigger than ever. And I may have. I don’t know.”

Pettitte laughed about how he and Jeter had different versions of the story. Seventeen years later, Pettitte and Jeter still tease each other about a game that should have been forgotten. But if Jeter knows it will make Pettitte chuckle, he will talk about it for another 17 years.

“Like Jorge says, he hasn’t changed,” Pettitte said. “He still says the same corny jokes or wisecracks that he did back then.”

Even as Posada called Jeter his “best friend,” he spoke about Jeter in a reverential way. Posada said Jeter did not open up to many people and probably never would, preferring to keep “the same people around” who have known him the longest.

“I admire him, I do,” Posada said. “I enjoy playing with him. I think he’s a great leader. I think he wants to win. He shows that. That’s the only thing he wants to do. He wants to, every game.”

The teammates at Greensboro — Jeter, Pettitte and Posada — graduated to Yankee clubs that won four World Series titles in five seasons. The Yankees (91-51) have the best record in the major leagues this season and, with help from those three players, are trying to secure another championship.

Still, after the Yankees lost to the Orioles, 10-4, on a soggy Friday night, the loss was shoved to the background. The focus was on Jeter, who passed Gehrig with a single off Chris Tillman. The fans gave Jeter stirring ovations, something that his longtime teammates matched with praise of their own.

“You take for granted sometimes that you play with him and you see him and see him,” Posada said. “The last week, coming to 2,721 hits, then you’re like, ‘This guy has some unbelievable numbers.’ He breaks the record. He’s the No. 1 all time.”

News source：http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/sports/baseball/13jeter.html?_r=1&ref=baseball