Joel Sherman

Joel Sherman

MLB

One thing matters most to Jeter’s farewell season

TAMPA – Derek Jeter established the ground rules from the beginning – not just for his press gathering Wednesday, but also for an entire season.

He definitively stated: “This is not a retirement press conference.” He wanted the more benign “media availability.” When, in truth, it was a message. And lookie here; how fortunate, the desired audience for that message had gathered – en masse – just to the right of his podium.

In row upon row of seats and then standing room only, there were the 2014 Yankees. All the players in this spring camp, three Steinbrenner children, every executive, manager and member of the support staff.

In the late morning of the first day of his last professional season, Jeter eschewed retiring icon embarking on a farewell tour. Instead, he played the role of his lifetime: Yankees captain. Did it in that shrewd way he has perfected over the years. He was not overt. Not Knute Rockne. He did not say, “here comes the message” or “listen up, Yankee teammates of mine.”

But it was unmistakable what he was trying to get across. Yes, 2014 is his last year. However, it will be — must be — like every other year. All that matters is the winning. Not just for him, as the sentimental fervor is now demanding, but for everyone on the squad.

He said he decided to announce this was his final year as a way to avoid the day-to-day inquisition that could distract the team. He implored reporters to get the questions out of the way with his teammates and be done with it. Jeter went as far as to tell the players if they had work to do, go ahead, skedaddle, get going, that is more important than listening to him.

Of course, no one moved. They sat frozen in respect, admiration, attention. Masahiro Tanaka actually had his interpreter translating every word to him in real time.

And just in case anyone did not fully grasp what he was doing, Jeter responded to a question about how he wants to be remembered thusly: “Being a Yankee is good enough for me.”

Get it, guys? Get it, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury and Tanaka? Sure, you got the big paydays. But you are here for bigger reasons. This uniform implicitly offers the mission statement of championship or bust.

This is your captain speaking: This was about Jeter being preacher and teacher, his pinstripe sermon a challenge, a call to action. A reminder that the season is bigger than even Derek Jeter’s final season.

Joe Girardi called it “vintage Derek,” wherein the shortstop turned the focus from himself to “winning a championship and going back to work.”

There were no tears. In fact, at one point, Jeter had to assure a room packed for his non-retirement retirement announcement that he actually has emotions. That he is just expert at masking them, calculated in understanding that for him to “survive” — his word — New York all these years he had to offer a poker face publicly.

It puts him on a strange tightrope this season. He admits he wants to smell some of the roses, soak in the last go-around. But not at the expense of preparation, game, winning. Girardi conceded, “I think it will be hard for him.”

Jeter, though, will have none of that. At his retirement press conference that wasn’t — though it was broadcast live nationally by two networks, something you don’t get for just a “media availability” — Jeter stripped away excuses. He said he never worked harder in an offseason. Said his left ankle had nothing to do with his retirement. Quite the contrary, he said he felt great, actually said he has never felt better. Said he plans on playing shortstop daily.

His baseline remains the same — he expects to perform well and be a reason for, yep, winning. Even here. In 2014. A few months shy of his 40th birthday.

“If my expectation levels ever changed, I would have gone home a long time ago,” he said. “I plan on having a good year.”

His teammates watched, silently; it actually felt reverential. Who knows how it will really play out? Jeter has a long way to go from here to even Game 1 to prove that his body — that ankle — will hold up, much less for 162 games at such a high-stress position at his age. The storybook scenario is he can do just that, thrill his fans one last time, get one last parade.

Jeter began Day 1 of his last season with that parade as a subliminal part of his words. He wasn’t saying goodbye, not with a full season left. He shunned announcement for pronouncement, delivering this message to an entire organization – his final year will only be great if it has nice ring to it.