Derek Jeter

Jeter’s personal life has always been in the prying eyes of the media ever since he achieved sports stardom. He has dated Mariah Carey, Lara Dutta, Joy Enriquez, Jordana Brewster, Vanessa Minnillo, Jessica Biel and Minka Kelly.

He is the ambassador of a sports website for children called ‘Weplay’ and actively advocates a healthy lifestyle through the foundation he established in 1996 called, ‘Turn 2 Foundation’.

He has endorsed a number of brands including Nike, Fleet Bank, Ford, Visa, Skippy and Gillette.

Derek Sanderson Jeter was born to Sanderson Charles Jeter and Dorothy in Pequannock Township, New Jersey. His father was a substance abuse analyst and his mother was an accountant. He is of Irish, African-American and German descent. He also has a younger sister, Sharlee.

The family moved from New Jersey to Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was here he and became greatly inspired to pursue a career in baseball.

He studied at Kalamazoo Central High School and was selected for the baseball and basketball teams. In his junior year, he had a batting average of .508 and in his sophomore year, he had an average of .557. By the time he was in his senior year, he had a batting average of .508.

Ever since his school days, he was a promising player and was recognized for his efforts with a number of awards.

The University of Michigan noticed his talent and offered him a baseball scholarship to play for the Michigan Wolverines in his college baseball years.

During an all-star camp, the Yankees scout spotted young Jeter and offered him to turn to professional baseball. After a series of speculations as to whether Jeter would attend college or choose to be part of the team, Jeter decided to turn professional. He was signed on by the Yankees for $800,000.

He played minor league baseball for four seasons, starting 1992. His initial seasons were a struggle with a batting average low at .202 in as many as 47 games.

He was then promoted to the Greensboro Hornets of the South Atlantic League in order to enhance his at-bats. With his scraggy build, he struggled in the first 11 games and made nine errors in 48 chances. His reputation as a future baseball player at this point of time was dwindling.

Through the next off-season, Jeter focused on getting better. He debuted as a professional baseball player in 1993, where he hit five home runs with .295, 18 stolen bases and 71 RBI. Finally, after much hard work, he was ranked as the ‘Most Outstanding Major League Prospect’ by the South Atlantic League managers.

He then went on to play for the ‘Tampa Yankees’, the ‘Albany-Colonie Yankees’ and the ‘Columbus Clippers’, during the 1994 season. He made it to the top with 68 RBI, 50 stolen bases and an average of .344. He was named one of the ‘Most Valuable Players of the FSL’, during this time.

In 1992, he achieved his first honour, the ‘Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year’.

He was honoured with Baseball America’s ‘Minor League Player of the Year’, in 1994.

He won the ‘World Series Most Valuable Player’ Award, in 2000.

He was named New York Yankees ‘Player of the Year’ in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2006 and 2009.

He won the distinguished Golden Gove Award in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2010.