The Greatest Shortstop Of All-Time

I was talking with a friend of mine the other day.

"I hate baseball," he said. "But I gotta' tell you, I love Derek Jeter. I have held him up as an example to my son of how to handle himself whether he's playing sports or not."

"That's because he's the greatest ever," I said.

"I ain't kissing a Yankees ass," he said. "But he is something else."

And my son was in the other room watching the lead up to the home run derby.

"They just interviewed Jeter," he said, "And when the guy mentioned something about being one of the all-time great ballplayers...

...Jeter said, "'I don't know if I consider myself great.'"

Sam was nodding his head as he made a very astute statement:

"Can you imagine how great LeBron would've told that guy he was?"

And that truly is the greatness of Derek Jeter.

Forget the five World Series Titles.

Forget the World Series MVP

Don't even mention the gold gloves.

Or the 3,400 hits.

Or the Rookie of the Year.

Or the All-Star Game MVP's.

It isn't about the awards.

It's not even about the great plays:

The flip play against the A's (Which is still the most amazing thing I've ever seen on a baseball field).

Or the dive into the stands.

Don't even mention all the beautiful girls he's dated.

You know what is great about Derek Jeter?

My mother got tears in her eyes when we talked about his retirement.

That's greatness.

And then this:

"He's never once, in all the years, ever taken credit for anything," I told my boys. "Never. Even. Once. He's always talked about his teammates, his parents, the fact that he was 'lucky to beat the pitcher to the spot'. He's never once showed up a teammate or really argued with an umpire."

"We know!" said the non-Yankee fans in my house.

(Which I swear to God is my biggest failure as a father).

"WE KNOW HOW GREAT HE IS."

Everyone does.

Except Jeter, that is.