TORONTO — “I wasn’t here last year,” Derek Jeter said a couple of times Sunday, which was strange, because I could’ve sworn seeing him a few times — if not anywhere as frequently as in the past.
Yet as we take one more lap around the Riddle of the Sphinx that is the Yankees’ captain, there’s one easy, early read to make on how he’s getting through the pomp and circumstance surrounding his announced retirement, the latest of which will occur Monday afternoon at the team’s 2014 Yankee Stadium opener:
While most view this year as a Jeter farewell, he prefers to see it as a comeback. This’ll be his last home opener? It also will be his first since 2012.
“At the season opener in Houston, I was asked, ‘Does it make it any more special [that it was my final season opener]?’ ” Jeter said Sunday, before the Yankees defeated the Blue Jays, 6-4 at Rogers Centre.
“l think it’s more so that I wasn’t here last season.”
Jeter knocked a pair of singles Sunday to tie and pass Paul Molitor for eighth place on the all-time hit list; he returns home with 3,320. A Twins spokesman said it was his belief Molitor planned to reach out to Jeter and congratulate him, although Jeter said his cellphone gets sketchy service in Canada.
Next up: Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski at 3,419.
Last year, with just 12 hits in 17 games as he never fully made his way back from the fractured left ankle he suffered in the 2012 American League Championship Series — hence his not fully accurate description of 2013 — Jeter didn’t do much damage among the greats. So getting questions like these marks another return to normalcy, just as he prepares to create a whole new normal for himself.
“Just being back and being within the game, I think he’s happy,” Sunday’s winning pitcher CC Sabathia said of Jeter. “He’s one of the guys.”
More like THE guy. On Monday, before the Yankees take on the Orioles, Jeter will take part in the Opening Day festivities. He and his best friend Jorge Posada will catch ceremonial first pitches from recent retirees and fellow Core Four members Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera.
“I think it’ll be unbelievable, if you think about what those guys have accomplished together over their careers, to have them all there [Monday],” Joe Girardi said.
“We haven’t been together for a while,” Jeter said; the last time was for Rivera’s send-off last September. “It’ll be nice to see them all together once again.”
We know Jeter will not embrace the celebration component of his curtain call anywhere as openly as did Rivera. That’s partly a by-product of their differing personalities — Rivera is far more open — and partly their job descriptions. Rivera could afford the time to meet with stadium employees throughout the major leagues, and when he participated in a pregame ceremony, he didn’t have to worry about entering the game for hours. Jeter, to the contrary, must prepare for the first pitch.
But the return to action? The thrill of the competition? The queries about legends? Jeter can embrace those components of 2014.
“It’s special,” Jeter said of passing Molitor. “I grew up watching Paul. I played against him briefly. [I have] a lot of respect for him and his career. Any time you talk about eighth in anything, it’s special. So yeah, it definitely means a lot.”
The fan reception during Monday’s pregame introductions figures to be meaningful, too. Yet Jeter, far more comfortable with knowns than with unknowns, said: “I can’t tell you what’s going to happen. I can answer it afterwards. Fans have always treated me good throughout my career. I don’t know what it’s going to feel like. I don’t know what the atmosphere is going to be like.”
The Yankees return home 3-3 after taking two of three from the Jays, and Jeter’s strong showing Sunday gave him a .250/.476/.250 slash line on this young season. It’ll take months to fully determine both his value and his durability as he approaches 40.
Such obstacles reside in his wheelhouse, though. We know for sure he’ll go out fighting. And he’ll bow, too, even though he doesn’t enjoy that part anywhere as much.