Original subtitles

Narrator: "The Captain" is presented by Capital One.

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kept a really close knit group of people around him

that were supportive of him.

I really do credit my parents for that.

My dad used to tell Derek, "If your head ever gets

too big to fit through this door, you know,

you’re not going to be welcome here."

You know, when Derek came home and he was around us,

he was Derek, and that’s the only way

he expected to be treated.

♪

What’s in your wallet?

[ Cheering ]

♪

Derek: I always said when I played

I felt like I was on a Broadway stage.

We became the hot spot.

You know, it seemed like anyone and everyone

that came to New York came to Yankee Stadium.

Announcer: Jeter’s first at bat of the night.

There it goes.

That one is drilled deep to left field.

Going back, still back, still back.

It’s off the wall.

Announcer: How do you like that?

From Day 1 he has seized the moment.

He always seizes the moment.

Derek: I was always most comfortable playing.

That was my job.

It’s the only thing I ever wanted to do.

Announcer: That one gets away from Joseph.

Jeter goes to third, and he’s in.

Derek: Everything that came along with it

was not a part of the dream --

the attention, the notoriety.

You can’t hide in New York.

You know, it’s the price you pay.

Announcer: And we are joined in the booth by Joe Torre.

Joe, what comes to mind as it winds down?

What comes to mind is how grown up he was

right from the get-go, and you know, halfway

through the ’96 season, the veterans

were looking for him to do something.

Announcer: Jeter scores, the game is tied at two.

♪

♪

[ Camera shutters clicking ]

Let’s go, Jeter!

♪

Announcer: It was an incredible series,

and the New York Yankees have lost it

in a heartbreaking fashion.

Curry: After that loss, I was already in my head

thinking about the 15 or 20 stories

that I was going to have to write

because so many changes were looming with that team.

Buck Showalter wasn’t going to be back.

Don Mattingly would retire.

Stick Michael was replaced by Bob Watson.

Now the Yankees need to find a manager

to take this really talented group to the next level,

and Joe Torre was not the Yankees first choice.

Torre: I played for three teams --

the Braves, the Cardinals and the Mets.

And I happened to manage all three of those teams,

and I got fired by all three of those teams.

I get a call.

How would you like to be on the short list

of people for manager of the Yankees?

[ Indistinct conversations ]

Sherman: All of a sudden, Joe Torre is the manager.

I felt like a last resort.

And you know, famously, The Daily News

has "Clueless Joe" on its back page.

The media criticized the move, so George actually contacted

Buck Showalter, his previous manager.

Matthews: George had second thoughts about letting Buck go.

Buck said, you know, the hell with you.

Buck is a standup guy,

but he’s also a little stubborn.

And he’s like, you know, if you don’t want me,

you know, go fuck yourself.

Anytime you start a new situation,

you’re always a little jumpy

Man: Did you look at the pinstripes when you’re

putting the pants on and think?

Oh, sure, about three different pants.

I had to try three different ones on before they fit me.

It didn’t bother me

because I felt this was a bonus opportunity for me.

You know, what could I lose?

I was basically told that Derek would be the shortstop,

so I would tell the press that.

Before we even started spring training,

I saw Derek was interviewed.

Derek: This is a big spring for me.

I’m told I’m getting an opportunity to win a job.

So, you know, I got down here early

and been here since November.

I got an apartment down here, so I’ve been

working pretty hard.

He phrased it a whole lot better than I did.

And, you know, that caught my attention early on.

Cone: There were a lot of eyeballs on Derek, and we were like,

"Oh, what’s this kid all about?

Such an iconic position to play in sports,

the shortstop of the New York Yankees.

Is this guy the answer? Is he gonna be the one.

Spring training, I struggled.

I mean, I struggled bad. I made a lot of errors.

I really wasn’t hitting, put a lot of pressure on myself.

Torre: Toward the end of spring training,

you know, there was some chatter about

is maybe Derek’s not ready.

I remember hearing whispers

Cerrone: Mr. Steinbrenner had this cavalry

of baseball advisers.

They had a meeting.

They probably were 20, 30 people in the room,

and they had a big, thick binders.

Someone had stood up in the meeting

and said to Steinbrenner, he goes, we can’t win

with this kid Jeter at shortstop.

Ultimately, he was ordering Bob Watson to find out

what else is out there, and there was Felix Fermin,

was this player from the Seattle Mariners.

They’re talking to the Mariners about trading Mariano Rivera

for Felix Fermin and send Jeter down.

For Felix Fermin? Come on, man. Are you serious?

Give somebody up, but Felix Fermin?

Can you imagine Jeter to AAA, Rivera to Seattle.

No dynasty.

Derek: Roughly a week left of spring training,

Tony Fernandes broke his arm,

and I truly believe if Tony didn’t break his arm,

I would have been sent back down to AAA.

They were stuck. They had no choice

to at least ride it out as long as they could.

Announcer: Opening day, 1996. It’s a new year.

It’s also a new look for the New York Yankees.

Verducci: There’s an unknown factor about Derek Jeter,

about how good he would be.

It wasn’t a slam dunk that this guy was going to be a star

by any means or even make the team in his own mind.

Torre: I can’t tell you how nervous I was

opening day in Cleveland.

You know, everybody was watching.

And then all of a sudden, you know, Derek Jeter showed up.

Announcer: Oh, he got to run on that one.

That’s gone. Holy cow!

I mean, he creamed it.

His first big league home run.

Announcer: That’s going to be a great feeling.

Announcer: Nice going there, Derek.

Properly hit. Look at Jeter.

-What a play by the youngster. -Oh-ho!

That’s got to be a confidence booster.

Cone: Just such a well-rounded effort.

Announcer: He’s calm, though.

I mean, nothing seems to faze him.

Couldn’t have made a better statement for a rookie

shortstop to say, hey, I’m the guy, I got this.

Announcer: Off the end of the bat, into shallow center field.

Derek Jeter back! What a play Derek Jeter made.

Torre: That sort of helped me exhale a little bit,

the decision that was made.

You know, we were off to the races at that point in time,

Hitting a home run on top of the defensive stuff,

I couldn’t have written a script better than that.

No disrespect to Buck who was before Mr. T,

but in that particular period of time,

he was the perfect manager.

The demeanor that he had, the calming influence.

You know, he understand you’re going to make mistakes.

He had patience with it.

Strawberry: He allowed Derek just to be Derek.

When a manager can allow you to just be you,

you can eventually take off.

Announcer: And Joe Torre and the Yankees

three-game lead over Baltimore.

Waldman: You got to remember what ’96 was like.

Nobody expected anything.

And then all of a sudden, the team started to gel.

There weren’t stars on that team.

They became stars because they started to win,

and the city took them to heart.

[ Indistinct ] Derek Jeter!

Derek Jeter best shortstop.

And then they had this 21-year-old shortstop

who was doing incredible things.

Announcer: Hit on the ground, a short, backhander by Jeter.

The long throw. He got him on a throw.

Sherman: It’s hard to ignore that they got another level of fan base

because their shortstop is young...

Announcer: Line drive. Jeter’s got it!

Sherman: ...a little matinee idol.

Announcer: Listen to this.

I don’t know why they’re not in school,

but they’re here for Derek Jeter.

Armstrong: Every girl that went to school in the Bronx

had a poster of Derek Jeter in their locker.

I was 100 percent convinced

that I was going to grow up and marry Derek Jeter.

Derek: The city’s been very supportive.

We went to the Knicks game last night,

and the crowd’s cheering for the Yankees.

I mean, I like it. I enjoy it a lot.

Sherman: It was clear he could handle himself,

handle the atmosphere and permeate something

that was valuable to the team.

Announcer: In the bottom of the 10th.

And it’s into center field!

The Yankees have won it.

He is rapidly becoming the Yankees player of the year.

Cone: There’s a certain point during the season

when somebody has that type of year

that you stop being a rookie.

It’s like, this guy is the mainstay.

This guy’s the reason why we’re here.

Announcer: Bernie Williams camped down under it.

Makes the catch, and the New York Yankees

are the 1996 American League Eastern Division Champions.

But we didn’t know how the young guys would fit in.

I think what Derek has done

is probably been the key to the year.

Oh yeah, We hope to celebrate three more

times after every round of the playoffs

and after the World Series.

But we’re playing well right now,

and hopefully it’ll continue.

He just won the division, right, didn’t he?

And he is that young, right? He’s so cool.

He’s barely legal to have that champagne

dripping from his head. He’s been great.

Verducci: The Yankee fan was hungry in ’96.

You got a little bit taste in the postseason in ’95.

There was palpable energy and excitement around the city.

[ Indistinct conversations ]

Where you staying? Where you staying?

[ Indistinct ] Is that right across the street?

Yeah, right across the street. Oh, really?

Dr. Charles: We talked almost daily, you know, really,

I was there to be his parent,

be there to support him and enjoy things with him.

If he felt a need to talk with me,

something, you know, then I want to be there for him.

Okay, alright. That’s your dad?

Waldman: It’s very difficult to play in New York.

It’s very difficult to play when you’re that young

and be like Derek Jeter and be that kind of a star.

I think it’s his background, I really do.

He knew who he was, and he was always prepared.

And the moment is never too big for you

if you’re prepared for it.

Announcer: Orioles 4, Yankees 3.

In the eighth, Game 1 of the league championship series.

Announcer: Here on one and hit it to deep right

Jeter: I couldn’t see it. I knew I hit a fly ball.

I knew I hit it good two right field.

Announcer: Tarasco back on the track.

He’s near the wall.

He makes the...

It’s good! It’s good!

A homerun for Derek Jeter.

Derek: Then I see Richie Garcia signaling a home run.

You know, I don’t think I saw what happened really

until after the game was over with.

Announcer: And what happens here?

He contends that a fan reaches up and touches it.

Derek: But then after the game, obviously you see

what’s -- what’s apparent to everyone that was watching it.

Announcer: Here comes Davey Johnson.

Derek: Was that Tony should have jumped.

Announcer: I think he would have bought the ball.

-He catches that ball. -Absolutely.

Williams: I have no idea why or how.

It’s one of those weird things that happen in this game where,

you know, you get something that is outside of our control.

Announcer: Meanwhile, here’s the kid

receiving congratulations all around.

Strawberry: Guy was never going to catch that ball.

He didn’t even jump.

So how was he going to catch the ball?

Pat the kid on his back, we say thank you, you know, good job.

Maier: I hope it didn’t affect the game that much,

but I’m a Yankee fan and I do want the Yankees to win.

And people say, oh, that’s a reason why we beat Baltimore.

No, no. We would have beat Baltimore anyway.

You know, Bernie beat Baltimore later on in the game.

Announcer: It’s mighty high,

it’s mighty far, and goodnight.

I could see the kid reach over the fence from where I was at.

That ball was, I want to say, a routine fly ball.

It wasn’t fair. Orioles should had that.

When I hear people talk about that game,

"ah, that changed everything,

we would have beat you." No, you wouldn’t of.

We were dominant against you the whole year.

Announcer: Rolled to Alomar, right through his legs.

The gold glover has it go right through the wickets.

Ripken a ground ball to short, Jeter.

The New Yankees...

are going to the World Series.

[ Cheers and applause ]

New York Yankees! New York Yankees!

Woman: How long have you been standing out here?

Two nights waiting out here.

Man: Some people would think you’re crazy. Oh, yes, I am.

I’m crazy about the Yankees. That’s what I am.

I got box seats

down the third base line right next to Wade Boggs.

Oh, my God.

Announcer: Here comes Atlanta, New York.

Man: The Braves are considered the favorites by many observers

to repeat as world champions.

Derek: This was before interleague play,

so I didn’t know anything about the Atlanta Braves

other than the fact that I watched them on television

when I was in high school.

We had a pre-World Series meeting,

and, you know, first thing out of Mr. T’s mouth is

this team is better than any team you’ve played all year.

I’m like, "Damn. So we’re really in the World Series now."

We were facing arguably one of the best pitching rotations

in the history of the game.

You know, when you talk about Maddux.

Glavine, John Smoltz,

we were coming in as a heavy, heavy underdog.

Announcer: It is Game 1 of 1996 World Series.

They look like they’re ready here in the Bronx?

Announcer: Definitely.

Announcer: Long drive into left field.

At the track, at the wall, it is gone.

Andrew Jones.

What a performance.

The 19-year-old World Series for the Yankees

so far has been a nightmare.

They killed us, man.

I mean, there was no way to sugarcoat it. They killed us.

Announcer: 4-0 Braves, ninth inning

And the 1-2 to O’Neill. Game over.

Derek: Bam, bam. We’re down two straight games.

Even the most confident Yankee fan at that point

probably was saying, well, it was a nice run.

Derek: It’s all preparation.

Man, if you -- I always treated playoff games

like spring training games.

In my mind, still the same game.

You know, if you play every game like it’s the most important

game of the year, your mindset doesn’t change.

Whether you’re up 2-0 or down 2-0,

it’s still the same mindset.

So we just had to win one game.

Raines: When we got to Atlanta,

we heard it in the background, is that, you know,

they had the champagne ready in the clubhouse.

Ready to pop the bottles.

Cone: In the bowels of the stadium,

you could hear them really talking some smack.

You have to find something you hate about your opponent.

Announcer: A must win situation for the New York Yankees.

Cone: They don’t respect us. Well, let’s get pissed off.

Announcer: Up the middle, a base hit.

Raines comes in to score.

The Yankees score first here in Game 3.

Just win on. All you got to do is win one game at a time.

Down the line and right.

Goodbye.

Game 3 belongs to New York.

♪ I gots it crunk, if it ain’t real, ain’t right ♪

Andrew Jones trying to add to the Atlanta 5-0

fifth inning lead.

To third, Hayes can’t make the play.

Jones scores, and it’s 6-0 Atlanta.

Pretty sure they’re feeling good about themselves

in the other dugout.

Announcer: 1-2 on Jeter,

and that’s a little flair in the right, trouble.

A lead off base hit.

I believe we were going to win that game.

Announcer: Into right field, base hit.

It gets past Don.

Here comes Jeter, he’ll score.

When you have that type of belief,

I think it rubs off on people.

And then we started creeping our way back into it.

Announcer: Top of the eighth inning, 6-3,

the Braves out in front.

And it’s first and third one out

for the catcher, Jim Leyritz, his first at bat of the night.

Strawberry: I don’t know if he broke his bat or not.

He just grabbed my bat and said,

let me use this, you know, and he battled.

Announcer: Again, the 2-2 to Leyritz.

In the air to left field.

Back at the track, at the all.

We are tied.

Once he hit that, we tied the game,

I knew we had that series.

Announcer: They’re dancing in the streets in New York right now.

Pendleton shoots it to deep left, ranges is there,

falling as he catches it.

And in 10 innings, the Yankees hang on

and this series is tied.

Runners at first and third, two out.

Bottom of the ninth inning with the Yankees

leading by 1.

0-2 from Wetteland.

Into right field.

O’Neill is there. Ball game.

Yankees win 1-0 begin as Wetteland

saves it for Andy Pettitte.

[ Cheers and applause, horn honking ]

Derek: Playing at home now, all you hear about,

walk out your apartment and everyone’s wearing

Yankee hats and everyone’s good luck.

I think there’s more Yankee fans

than any other team in New York, right?

Man, they’ve been waiting for this for a long time.

Actually enjoyed those games more

because I felt as though more people were watching,

and I always like people watching.

Announcer: The Yankees won three in a row.

Game six here at Yankee Stadium.

The New Yorkers look for their first world title

since 1978.

Now Girardi, infield is in for the play at the plate.

Into center field.

That will put the Yankees on top

and over the head of Grissom.

It’s my best moment in the game.

If I had to single out one individual moment,

that would be it.

Derek: I just had never heard anywhere that loud,

baseball field or any other place.

It felt like the whole place was shaking.

It felt like the ground was shaking, which it may have been.

Announcer: Now, the runner at third, one out

for Jeter against Greg Maddox.

Base hit, 2-0, New York.

Verducci: Now Jeter is on first base.

Bobby Cox, Hall of Fame managers in the other dugout.

First pitch, calls a pitch out.

Announcer: Pitch out. Nothing doing, ball 1.

Verducci: Jeter’s not running. Guess what he does next pitch?

Announcer: There here goes.

No throw.

Verducci: He’s got such a big jump,

there’s no throw to second base.

Announcer: Into right center.

Verducci: Jeter’s got such a great secondary lead,

scores from second base.

Announcer: No good. 3-0, New York.

Winning baseball, that’s Jeter.

That guy would cut your heart out to win a game.

Announcer: Joe Torre and the Yankees are now one out away.

Announcer: The stretch and pass

Swing on, and popped up again of third.

Hayes has room.

Hayes makes the catch!

Yankees win! The Yankees win!

They surmounted every challenge.

They have climbed every mountain.

And the New York Yankees are world champions

Announcer: This is the greatest feeling in the world.

Unbelievable.

Derek: It’s going to be kind of hard to top this one,

but hopefully we can come back,

but we’ve got a lot of time to celebrate this one.

[ Cheers and applause ]

♪

I can’t imagine winning a championship in any other city

that’s bigger than winning here in New York.

♪ Yo, when you think of me, you think of the problem ♪

This is the media capital of the world,

playing for the most recognizable,

storied franchise in all of sports.

We win a World Series My first year. I’m 22 years old.

Now you’re the toast of the town, the whole team,

the toast of the town anywhere you go.

Sherman: I think it changed coverage of them forever.

They went from a baseball team to like the Beatles

pretty much overnight.

Letterman: Derek Jeter.

Rookie of the Year, Mr. World Champion shortstop.

What about that kid knocking --

taking care of your home run there?

I put him out there, actually.

We won the World Series.

Six games.

The Yankees are the biggest team in New York,

and Derek is the face of the biggest team in New York.

Derek: I could tell my life had changed.

Everything changed for us after that, everything.

Evans: It was 1997.

So I’m just coming off the road with Puff.

We just, you know, we’re doing some things in the studio,

whatever have you, [indistinct] comes in.

She said, "Hey, I know you like baseball, Mike."

I say, "yeah, yeah. I’m a huge Yankee fan since 1980.

She’s like, "You still cutting hair a little bit?"

I was like, "Yeah, I do a little haircut and every now and then.

That was my first time meeting Derek.

We broke bread over a haircut.

I started telling Puff, A.K.A Diddy, A. K. A love, about Derek.

And, you know, he was a baseball buff, too.

Derek: You know, hip hop was at full force

and Puff was at full force, you know what I mean?

Evans: Puff was like, "Yo, listen,

I’m the king of New York. I’m Diddy."

He said, "You know what?

He could be the prince in New York."

So we started calling Derek, Prince.

♪

And Derek had his mark on the town.

He was doing it so humble.

He wasn’t a guy flashy,

no bodyguards, no big cars.

But he started to recognize, you know, oh, shoot,

I can actually fly.

A lot of people would have beat that apple,

meaning New York, and choked.

He took little, little bites at a time to digest.

All you need to do is get with the wrong click

in New York, you’re over.

You got to be careful, got to be wise on

how you biting that apple.

Small bites.

Fat Joe: I seen him for the first time.

Puff Daddy had a party, and it was like,

holy shit, it’s Derek Jeter.

He was party, most beautiful women in the world.

This many temptations, a lot of trouble you could get into.

You got to understand baseball money

different from any other money.

And they make up something called baller alert

for no reason.

It’s a different type of target on these guys backs.

Derek: I had fun.

If I said I didn’t, I’d be lying to you.

We went out because you’re in New York

and because we had success.

Yankee Stadium was where the cool kids went.

We always had access, could meet anyone.

I don’t think it could have happened now.

I’ve joked before and said if there were phones back then

my career would have been three years long.

Strawberry: There’s a lot of things off the field

that can really distract you from who you are.

It’s a fast moving pace of playing in New York.

The real things, the alcohol, drinking, the partying.

And I made a lot of mistakes of doing a lot of things

in the public eyes and everything,

and it cost me.

Straw sat me down, telling me about the pressures,

the mistakes that he made. I’m always here to talk to you.

I’m here to help you, look out for these people, those people.

You can’t let everybody in your circle.

You got to keep your circle tight.

If you let the wolf into the chicken coop,

that one wolf can just take away a lot.

Announcer: Derek Jeter delivers...

Torre: You know, let’s admit it. He’s a single guy,

goes around the Big Apple and everybody wants Derek Jeter.

Man: What’s it like, though? All of a sudden

you’re on the cover of magazines.

I mean, I can look outside right now and there’s girls

at there screaming for you guys right now.

What is it like? Really, seriously,

To be honest with you.

I’m always looking out for his best interests, you know?

He comes in New York, I introduce him to friends.

You know, I try to, you know, decipher through

the good and the bad, and I give him all the good.

You know, I stay by myself. Let’s take care, Alex, first.

Well, first things first. How did you two meet?

How did you get to be such good friends?

Rodriguez: My experience with Derek early on

was actually way before Seattle.

It was when I was a junior in high school.

It was overwhelming seeing a young, skinny kid

with brown skin just like me from Kalamazoo, Michigan.

I’m like, "Where the heck is Kalamazoo, Michigan?"

The next spring, he actually was down in Fort Lauderdale

for spring training, playing with the Yankees.

I was still in high school,

and Michigan was playing the University of Miami.

Derek: University of Michigan was down there playing.

That’s the first time I actually met him in person.

And the initial reaction was, this guy’s huge.

You know, he was big. Early on, we were friends.

Then the bond was is baseball, right?

That’s what sort of drew us together.

And then over the years we started --

I’d see him in the off season whether he’d come to Tampa,

I go to Miami.

A couple of New Year’s Eves,

you know, get to know his family.

So the relationship developed over time.

You guys are talking a second.

What do you say during a game to each other?

Well, if I ever get jammed or anything,

he’ll be the first one to say,

"Oh, you really hit that ball hard.

Way to hit. Hey, you know, you did a good job."

Announcer: Rodriguez with a diving stop.

What a play.

So, you know, that’s the kind of friend his is.

Announcer: Alex Rodriguez robbing his good buddy...

Rodriguez: It was truly surreal.

I mean, with two young kids, both bachelors,

both starting shortstops, going to the All-Star Game

and playing at a high level.

And it was just like, Oh my God, we’re living out our dream.

Announcer: There goes, hammer out to deep left field.

Rodriguez: In many ways, it was the golden age for shortstops.

Announcer: And Nomar makes them play.

We had so much respect for each other,

especially like Nomar, Derek and I

We were kind of the, three of us,

were kind of emerging into the scene.

A line drive speared by Garciaparra.

Garciaparra: If you turned on, you know, "SportsCenter" at the time,

it was one of us who was on there on a daily basis.

They were showing us.

Announcer: And he drills this one to left field.

Garciaparra: It brought so much attention to all of us

because of what we were doing every single day.

Announcer: Jeter in the hole in and the long throw...

Competition eliminates complacency.

That’s why I like to say, so I paid attention

to what those guys are doing all the time.

I had covered both Derek and Alex

throughout their minor league careers.

Derek had won the Rookie of the Year, won the World Series.

He was the toast of New York.

Alex, meanwhile, up in Seattle,

had one of the best seasons of any baseball player ever.

There was no question that Alex Rodriguez

was a better player at that time than Derek Jeter.

When I sat down with Alex and Derek in 1997,

I’m walking with Alex.

He said, "Alan, I think this is going to be the last interview

that I do with Derek together."

He said, "I love the guy.

He’s my friend. He’s a great player.

But you remember the cover of "Sports Illustrated?"

I was sitting and Derek was standing above me.

It gives the impression, you know,

I’m just sort of below him."

And he said, "I’m sorry. I’m the better player."

And I said, "Of course you are. Everybody knows you are."

He wasn’t being egotistical. He was being correct.

That couldn’t be further from the truth.

There wasn’t never that type of competition

about who’s better or this is better.

We wanted to make our teams great.

We wanted to be great.

But it stuff like that where people,

I believe, really got off on trying to drive a wedge

between Derek and I.

At the beginning, you have this kind of innocent climb.

Once you get a little bit too high,

people then want to get two brothers and split them apart.

You can compare statistics all you want.

So, you know, I didn’t care who hit more home runs,

who had more RBI, who had more stolen bases.

I compared who won more, and we won.

That was it.

[ Indistinct shouting ]

Announcer: Great night for Game 4

of this 1997 divisional series.

Derek: Once you win, there’s nothing else

to do but to win again.

Anything less than that is a complete failure.

Announcer: Bottom of the eighth inning,

Yankees hanging on by one run.

You can not say enough how about this Yankee bullpen.

Torre: It was Mariano’s first year a closer.

When you’re the closer, you’re it.

There’s no safety net.

2-0 on Alomar.

Into right field, well hit.

Track, wall, tied.

To me, that was a moment that made me,

that bitter filling in my mouth.

Announcer: Off Mendoza, base hit.

There will be game five tomorrow night.

[ Cheers and applause ]

♪

The Yankees down by a run, ninth inning.

Into the right center field.

Grissom will not get there.

Off the wall, off the bat of O’Neill.

Trying for two.

Safe with a double.

Tying run at second with two out,

and Bernie Williams, who has a hit tonight.

-Into left center field.

Giles is there.

Celebrate.

[ Cheers and applause ]

Raab: That was a miracle.

Part of growing up in Cleveland is hating the Yankees,

and part of moving to North Jersey in late 1996,

there’s Derek Jeter all of a sudden.

I hated the motherfucker.

I really -- I mean, I really did.

Derek: That one hurt, man.

As a starting shortstop,

all I knew was winning the World Series.

And now you’re going to the other extreme.

You should never be okay with losing.

So I was upset.

You know, when you lose, people say,

Oh, forget about it. No, no, no, no.

Remember it, you know?

Remember what that feeling is like.

Don’t want to experience it again.

You know, you hate to lose like this.

I mean, it was a good series good five games,

but, you know, they got the best of us.

You know, I didn’t want to talk to anybody.

You know, I just wanted to be by myself.

And you have so many things going on in your head

about what we did wrong, what we should have done.

And then all of a sudden, it’s bam, Next year, let’s go.

It was Groundhog Day of ’98. Bob Watson resigned.

I got a call from George Steinbrenner,

and he asked if I can come down and meet him to discuss

possibly me becoming general manager.

I remember him looking me in the eye and said,

Bob Watson and Gene Michael have told me you can do this,

and is it something you’re interested in.

And at that time, I was scared to death, clearly.

When George offered this job, I mean, was there

any trepidation or was it an automatic yes.

It was, you know, that’s a tough question because...

I was smart enough to accept it,

even though privately, if you put truth serum in me,

I really had no interest in the position.

It’s the first step of your last day with the organization

because no one last long in those positions,

you know, in New York and under George Steinbrenner.

Man: Brian Cashman, the general manager.

Olney: He felt enormous pressure,

and his ex-wife told me a story about

how he would wake her up at night

because he was grinding his teeth constantly.

And so they go into ’98, and not only are they driven

by the failure from the year before, but they are loaded.

Williams: We started creating this culture.

Announcer: Got it.

Williams: We had an opportunity to win every game

that we played in that year.

Announcer: He puts it away, and David Wells

has pitched a perfect game.

Williams: So when you have this attitude and it’s collective

and it’s pervasive, it’s almost like

you’re telling the other teammate

We’re going to come here, we’re going to win,

and there’s nothing you can [laughing] do about this.

Announcer: Long drive to right field,

and the Yankees have taken the lead.

[ Cheers and applause ]

Oh! That’s gonna call ya. He’s gone.

Benches are gonna empty. That was frustration by Benitez.

Strawberry: And he just drills him.

He looks at our dugout and starts telling us, "Come on."

Announcer: That was a real cheap shot.

He made a bad decision to tell us to come on.

Announcer: Darryl Strawberry’s after him now.

Whoa! They’re after him.

♪ I fought for my freedom ♪

Derek: That was a wild brawl, man.

You see Graeme Lloyd and Jeff Nelson

and then Straw.

Cone: I knew who to watch. Straw’s the guy to watch.

Strawberry snuck around the side.

There goes Darryl Strawberry.

This spills into the dugout. This is horrible.

Cone: I had some flip-flops on and I ran down there,

and I was holding on for dear life like this

with my flip-flops and they go flying off.

Announcer: Joe Torre right now trying to keep

Darryl Strawberry calm.

If Joe didn’t come and get me out of that dugout,

I’d still be in the dugout fighting.

We had to send a message to Baltimore

or anybody else to let them know we’re the Yankees.

Derek: That was a good one.

Sometimes you have moments like that

and it brings teams together.

Announcer: Back to action, and Tim Raines

with two out, the bottom of the ninth.

[ Indistinct ]

Raines has left the yard.

Raines: Probably the only time that I went up to the plate

to try to hit a home run and I actually did it.

Announcer: Raines knew it too, didn’t he.

O’Neill with a nice grab.

We wanted to have the mindset

that we were beating you before the game started.

-Could be two. -We weren’t cocky.

We were confident.

Announcer: Brosius with a barehand throw, gonna get it.

But we wanted to beat you down every single day.

Announcer: He spins and throws.

Jeter with another fine play at short.

Oh, he’s cool breeze now, you know? [ Laughs ]

He’s really developed into just a superstar

of a player at this point in time.

♪

That attraction is so real out there,

and who’s not going to want a taste of it?

Smith: Derek was the hottest guy

in the hottest city with the hottest nightlife.

And, you know, everybody wanted to be with him.

Everybody wanted a piece of him.

Desus Nice: Back then, nightlife was its own separate culture.

You didn’t go to one club, you went to like five.

You was hoping. Bing, bang, bing, bing, bang.

The night kept going. This is before bottle service.

Yes. This is back when you didn’t

have to buy a table to impress chicks.

It was more everybody was on the come up and celebrating

coming up with each other.

You would see more celebrities, more artists together.

Derek: That’s how New York was, you know?

You know, I could tell you Monday was China Club.

Tuesday was life. Wednesday was NB.

Thursday, you know, I mean, I can go through the list

running into Denzel Washington,

Jack Nicholson, they’re Yankee fans.

And everyone was there and they enjoyed themselves

because it wasn’t, you know, social media

or pulling out your phones.

Anything I was doing, I wasn’t try to hide them.

Evans: We was at a place called Cronies having a bite to eat.

Puff, hit me on the on the Skytel Motorola pager.

He said, Me and J. Lo are going to be here tonight.

This where we going? Club New York.

He said, playing Derek here tonight.

And Derek said, You know what, man?

I’m gonna go to bed. I got a game tomorrow.

Woman: Combs and his girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez,

were inside the popular Midtown Dance Club

when an argument broke out and gunshots were fired.

We just missed going by an inch, so that’s what I mean.

If we would take a bite of the apple,

just that little bite right there

we’d have been the thick of it. We got lucky.

Woman: All were arrested after police

found the gun in the sport utility vehicle.

Combs and the others were charged in connection

with the shooting.

Derek: We would have been right there,

so my name would have been a part of the story.

Sharlee: Everybody says when someone

becomes a celebrity, they change.

but 99 percent of the time

it’s the people around them that change.

So I’m sitting back watching everyone around him change.

When I meet someone, first thing that goes through my mind is,

What do they want? It’s not a good thing, right?

I wish that didn’t go through my mind,

but that’s one of the first things, like what’s the angle?

And I go into protection mode.

-Three home runs last night. -Look, I had fun in New York.

We won, I had a lot of fun, but I’ll tell you what.

When it came to doing my job, I was disciplined.

You know, I knew what I had to do in order to be successful.

Announcer: Derek Jeter rips it inside the lines.

Williams: What would probably cause many problems

for a lot of people

wouldn’t cause as many problems for him

because he was never chasing stardom.

He was chasing success in regards to winning.

Announcer: So Joe Torre has gone to

the bench, and he’s got plenty of players.

Announcer #2: Ricky Ledée in left

and Chad Curtis in center.

Olney: You know, the Yankees are rolling along.

Torre starts to take a lot of his regulars

out of games at the end.

That’s inside, and Cliburn reacts,

but it’s going to fall in front of Ledée.

A pop up fell between us three, okay?

And Boomer threw his arms up.

Gator went way out there.

And he spread his arms out like this,

like, "What are we doing?"

And nobody wanted a part of the ball.

Now, knowing David Wells, he didn’t mean anything by it.

That’s just him. He’s animated, right?

So I told him, "We don’t do that shit around here.

We don’t do that shit around here."

And that was pretty much the extent of it.

Olney: So the next day, I was near the umpires’ room.

The late Ernie Tyler was the person

who ran baseballs out to the umpires.

He goes, "Wow. The umpires after the game were

talking about how, like, Derek got in David Wells’ face.

Jeter: Buster Olney comes over to me and he says,

"I heard you challenged David Wells

to a fight on the field."

Now, the way I asked the question was,

"I heard you got into a confrontation with him,"

and I might have even said that he shoved him.

And what I was so amazed by was how it was like a wall

came up in that moment.

And Derek was immediately like, "That never happened."

And I said, "Well, who’d you hear it from?

He’s like, "Well, someone on the field."

So I brought over our first baseman, second baseman,

and third baseman, asked them all,

"Did you say that I challenged David Wells

to a fight on the field?" All of them said no.

Man: Thank you, Derek.

Olney: Derek did not want that story to interrupt

with what was going on with the Yankees, which was greatness.

Derek: Their job is to get a headline,

and I wasn’t going to give it to him.

My job was to make sure our team was prepared

and our team was ready,

and the only thing that mattered to us was winning.

I looked at it as a distraction.

Olney: And to me, the story told more.

I thought it was remarkable that at 24 years old,

that Derek was enough of a leader on that team,

that he could go to a veteran pitcher on the field

and tell him to knock it off in the way

that he did with David Wells. Because at that time in ’98,

Derek was emerging as a leader on that team.

Announcer: One strike away from win number 114.

Short shortstop, high hop to Jeter.

[ Cheers and applause ]

Got him by a half a stride.

Announcer #2: There they are, your 1998 record-setting

New York Yankees.

Congratulations on a banner season.

Unforgettable season.

Torre: You want pressure?

You know, win 114 games and understand

what the pressure is, that you better win.

You start even when you get the postseason.

Announcer: Getting to the World Series,

the Cleveland Indians are going to have something

to say about that.

Announcer #2: Hit toward the hole.

Jeter backhands from the outfield grass!

Got him!

[ Cheers and applause ]

Man, what a play!

Jeter: We knew we had set the record.

We all knew we had to win a World Series,

otherwise it didn’t mean anything.

♪

Announcer: Fryman squares the bunt

and gets it down nicely.

Martinez with the flip to first.

Safe.

Now the Yankees are going to contend

as the ball rolls away.

Pick the ball up! What are you doing?

Pick it up, man! The guy’s running around

the bases. [ Laughs ]

And Wilson’s being waved home.

He stumbles.

He slides in safely, then the Yankees are going

to contend that Fryman was in the baseline.

But that was a very poor play.

You have to go after the ball.

You can’t let the ball roll 10 feet

down the right field line and no one go pick it up.

Called strike three.

That is a fitting punctuation to the game.

And Torre sits motionless on the Yankee bench.

And all of a sudden you realize, "My God, this team

is now in trouble."

Announcer: And look at that!

There’s your example.

Quarter of the inning, goodbye.

Olney: They’re down two games to one to the Indians

because they lose game three.

There’s some panic setting in.

We need to get back on the stick.

Torre: Game four, Duque is scheduled to pitch.

We were in the hotel in Cleveland.

A lot of us were down there having

our late breakfast, early lunch. Weren’t enough servers

in the coffee shop, and it was crowded.

I look over and there’s Duque helping serve tables.

He’s cleaning dishes off,

helping the waiters and waitresses.

I had a call from George Steinbrenner and he says,

"What do you think?" I said,

"Well, the only thing I can tell you is

Duque is not going to be nervous."

Announcer: Well, he has a lot of pitches,

a variety of pitches, and he throws them

from a lot of different angles.

Posada: When I look back now,

I get nervous now, you know, watching games.

But back then, it was just -- we were so focused on the things

that we needed to do.

Announcer: Has a high leg kick.

He hides the ball.

Posada: El Duque was very focused.

He had a style of pitching.

He knew he can get certain hitters out,

and he knew we had to pitch careful to certain hitters.

Announcer: Ramirez likes the ball out over the plate.

Posada: I remember Manny Ramirez hitting,

and he didn’t want to pitch to Manny Ramirez.

Ramirez walks.

Posada: He wanted him done.

So Vizquel from second and Ramirez from first

will be running on the pitch.

You’re talking about a guy that has some balls.

This guy had balls.

Here it comes. And a long drive to right.

O’Neill. Back to the wall

with just enough room.

♪

Olney: From that game forward, they just steamrollered.

Approaches short stop and throws to Sojo.

Rivera works a quick and perfect ninth.

But Rivera shuts him down,

and the Yankees win game five.

[ Cheers and applause ]

A bouncer out in front of the plate.

Rivera pounces on it.

Onto the World Series!

[ Cheers and applause ]

[ All cheering ]

Reporter: For you, it’s, like, almost matter-of-fact.

This isn’t even -- You don’t seem that excited.

I don’t seem that excited because you guys

won’t let me celebrate.

[ Laughter ]

[ Indistinct conversations ]

Announcer: Autumn in New York. October baseball.

Announcer #2: The New York Yankees’

114 victories during the regular season

against the San Diego Padres. Knoblauch.

♪

Down the left field line.

Going in the corner at the wall.

Gone!

Olney: The Padres were like a fly

standing in front of a freight train.

Announcer: Bases loaded in a tied game, 7th inning.

Martinez: It was bases loaded, and I was just up there,

you know, two outs, just telling myself,

"Hey, you gotta get this to hit and hit it."

[ Cheers and applause ]

Just missing to the run count full,

three and two.

Martinez: It’s one of those borderline pitches at the knees.

It could be called a ball or a strike.

I thought it was low at the time.

And next pitch, I got up in the zone a little bit.

Martinez down the right field line!

Grand slam!

[ Cheers and applause ]

Kay: As the ball’s going into the upper deck,

the camera catches it,

and you see the people throwing their beer in the air.

Just utter joy.

Derek Jeter with his reaction.

Kay: The Yankees didn’t look back from that point on.

They crushed the Padres. They just crushed their spirit.

Trevor Hoffman with that high leg kick.

Trevor Hoffman was a great Hall of Fame reliever,

their best reliever on the mound.

They had a lead, and Brosius just rocked their world.

Now the 2-2 to Brosius.

In to center field Well hit!

Finley back, at the track, at the wall!

A 3-run home run for Scott Brosius.

Torre: He threw up both arms as hit first base.

I said to them,

I said, "That’s the cover of Sports Illustrated

right there."

And just like that, the Yankees take a 5-3

8th inning lead. Brian Cashman

trying his hardest not to root.

Swing, rounds to third.

Brosius, fittingly with the throw,

and the Yankees have done it again!

Number 24.

Jeter: We won 125 games.

And then to top it off with the World Series,

we realized, you know, this was a special group.

People can debate which team is better than which,

but you put that team up there with any team --

at least I would.

Cone: To me, the entire roster was the best roster

in the history of the game, in my mind.

That team deserves to be in the argument,

and I’ll take that entire roster against any team ever.

Jeter: I don’t think there’s a person in the world

that has been more spoiled than I’ve been.

[ Cheers and applause ]

I’m playing in the best city with the best owner,

the best manager, and in front of the best fans in the world.

Murti: Derek Jeter -- all the young stars,

these are players that were instrumental in leading them

to the World Series championship,

putting millions and millions of dollars in their pockets,

as an organization, are now at a point in time

where it’s their turn to earn some money.

The Yankees and Derek Jeter exchanged salary figures

today in Tampa. Jeter made $750,000 last year.

He’s asking for $5 million.

The Yanks have offered $3.2 million.

An arbitrator will decide tomorrow which figure he gets.

Murti: The arbitration hearing’s a rough place.

After helping put the Yankees brand back

where it belongs and helping win championships,

they’re now sitting across the table from you in a room

trying to tell you why you’re not worth

the amount of money you want.

That can certainly create some friction.

Jeter: It opens your eyes to now understanding

that baseball is a business.

I thought I was doing a good job.

But then for the first time, you’re hearing

that you’re not as good as you may think.

You know, they focused on the fact that I didn’t hit home runs.

So that was really the first time that I dealt with

direct conversations with Cashman

about how he felt about me as a player.

And I remember hearing, "Hey, you’re disrespecting,

you know, the player." And that’s the fine line,

because everybody has different opinions on on value.

But there’s one thing that there’s unquestionable

is the impact Derek Jeter had

on the New York Yankees organization.

Reporter: Derek Jeter won his $5 million arbitration case.

He says he’s happy with the result,

but admits the process was difficult.

Obviously, playing in New York, you’re used to criticism,

so you understand it’s a business part.

Olney: And I’ll never forget Derek,

after he won that hearing, there was a flash of a smile --

that was very satisfying for him to beat the Yankees.

And the ESPY goes to...

the fabulous boys of summer, the New York Yankees.

[ Cheers and applause ]

Murti: I think Derek Jeter remembers everything.

It’s not in the front of his mind,

but it’s going to be in the back of his mind.

When the guy who is signing your check

tells you you’re not as good as you think you are.

I think that’s going to stick in his craw.

I don’t think he ever forgot any of those.

This has been a great night and I’m very proud

of all these athletes, and I’m sure you are, too.

And this one’s for you, New York.

Jeter: You know, if someone doubts me,

okay, I hear you. But now I’m gonna turn that off

because I don’t want to think about it.

You know, I didn’t talk about it,

didn’t tell people about it,

but I have a list in my head of people who doubted.

I remember exactly what you said and when you said it

and what you were wearing when you said it.

Come on, Jeter. Let’s go.

You want to hear from Jeter?

[ Cheers and applause ]

See, once again, the boss man is being kind to me,

because I went to arbitration today.

I proved so and so wrong, right? So you check them off the list,

and then now, I’m moving to the next one.

It’s the same thing when you play a season

and you win a World Series.

For me, it’s okay. You celebrate for a week or two

and then it’s, "Bam, let’s go." It’s the next one.

It was a team that thrived on competition

and went out every day to win,

so I think there’s not a more deserving team

of this award. Thank you very much.

Jeter: I never thought, "They don’t like me as a player."

They just didn’t like me as much as we asked to get paid.

My mind then turned to me against the front office,

started down that path

of not having a great personal relationship

with some members of the front office.

You know, one thing with me, I’m very, very loyal --

very loyal. But loyalty one way is stupidity.

You know, I expect the same thing in return,

and if I feel as though you’re taking advantage

or trying to take advantage of me,

I’m done.

♪

♪

♪

How are you? Derek. Yeah. Adrian.

Adrian, nice to meet you, man.

[ Bat cracks ]

Who was your favorite team to beat?

Boston. Boston?

Yes, Boston. Yeah, I know why.

Are you allowed to go to Boston anymore?

Ever since I retired, they’ve been very, very nice to me.

Oh, really? Yes.

They softened up. [ Chuckles ]

What’s it like to lose in front of so many people?

It does not feel good. Yep.

Nice to meet you, my friend? Great job, man.

Oh, I got something to show you.

And good luck. Oh, wow.

That’s a long time ago. That’s your first card.

Yeah. Hey, thank you.

You’re my idol, bro. Thanks.

I really appreciate it, man.

Nice to meet you, all right?

Good luck.

♪