The “flip play” may be the most famous play in Derek Jeter’s Hall of Fame career, but former Yankees manager Buck Showalter wasn’t as impressed as everyone else.
Showalter thinks Jeter should have been in better position on the career-defining play that preserved a Yankees lead in Game 3 of the 2001 ALDS in Oakland.
“Everyone’s saying it’s a great play, but that’s where he’s supposed to be,” Showalter said, according to ESPN. “But at the time, I remember [former Yankees first base coach Brian Butterfield] and I talked about it, and Butter said, ‘He’s actually two steps tardy.’
Showalter added, “I won’t tell him that until after [his retirement].”
The Orioles manager, who was Jeter’s first manager when Jeter first broke into the big leagues in 1995, recounted the moment lovingly during a press conference before Monday’s Yankees game.
Looking back on a career he watched start with a first-round draft pick in 1992 and develop into a promising rookie three years later, Showalter said he couldn’t imagine how incredible Jeter’s legacy would become.
“I don’t think anybody is that good at projecting,” Showalter said. “But I did know I felt like, after being around him, that he was going to be as good as he was capable of being. You were confident to know he was going to reach his potential.
“He had very alert eyes. Was aware of things off-field. He was alert to things. I guarantee you he always saw the cutting guard on a fast break. He had peripheral [vision]. He always had a great clock. If the game speeds up, he could slow it down.”
Now, with likely less than two months remaining in Jeter’s legendary career, what should the Orioles give their longtime adversary for a retirement gift?
“I’d get him a big picture of that home run that wasn’t a home run, we know that,” said Showalter, referring to the game-tying home run aided by 12-year-old fan Jeffrey Maier in Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS against the Orioles. “That’s what I’d get him, a big picture and have the whole team sign it. We could do that cheap too, I guess, and make it in bronze.”