Fourteen-time All-Star.  Five-time World-Series champion.  Winner of the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards five times.  In his 20-year career, these are some of Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter’s achievements.

Known to many baseball fans as “The Captain,” Jeter is a member of the 3,000 hit club and is universally respected by fans of all teams. Now, it’s time to say farewell.

“I think he’s had a great career,” Nathan Panzer ’16 said. “He’s the best shortstop to ever play the game.”

This marks the end of an era for Yankees fans.  With Jeter’s retirement, the time of the “Core Four” comes to a close.  These four players, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettite and Jeter, led the Yankees to five World-Series titles, and were the main players on the Yankees during Staples’ students’ childhoods. Today, all four of them are retired.

“I’ve watched these players for years,” Madison Malin ’17 said, “and it’s tough seeing them leave.”

With Jeter’s retirement, Major League Baseball will not only lose one of the best players in history, but also one of the most respected.

Teams all across the league have presented Jeter with gifts, ranging from a pair of cowboy boots from the Houston Astros, to a paddleboard from the Los Angeles Angels, to a custom kayak from the Tampa Bay Rays.

These teams acknowledge that baseball would be a far different place than it is today had the Yankees not drafted Jeter.

Among these fans is Mitch Payne ’17, who believes that professional baseball players would have less respect from fans because there was no one like Jeter to show that some of the best players in history played without steroids.

While students may or may not like Jeter, most students respect him. Panzer respects Jeter for his hard work, but Griffin O’Neill ’17 respects him for something else.

“I respect him because he’s done so much for the sport, as well as given the sport a good, classy image,” O’Neill said.

And while some students have recognized Jeter as the hero, or as the villain for the over 2,000 games that he has played, most students can agree on one thing.

“Jeter’s a great player and a great guy,” Jackson Delgado ’18 said. “And it’ll be sad to see him go.”