CHAPTER 1 THE STORY OF DEREK JETER erek Jeter born June 26 1974 in Pequannock N J learned a lot about discipline from an early age His parents had met many years earlier during their time serving in the United States Army Derek's father and mother constantly encouraged their son to achieve and told him that he could NEW OR do anything if he worked hard enough and behaved well Every year his parents made Derek sign a contract that set out acceptable forms of behavior and banned him from using the word can't As a result Derek consistently focused on working hard and achieving his goals Determination to succeed won Derek his place as a professional baseball player with the New York
THE STORY OF DEREK JETER When Derek was four years old his family moved to Kalamazoo Michigan During summers spent with his grandparents in New Jersey Derek made a number of trips to watch the New York Yankees Inspired by the team's performances Derek set himself the goal of becoming a professional baseball player and winning the World Series with the Yankees STAR STATS Derek's father Sanderson Charles Jeter was a promising college baseball player He played for Fisk University in Tennessee as a shortstop the position Derek would later play for the
DEREK JETER IN THE COMMUNITY I A In I KHALLUJR H ET It was during his days at Kalamazoo Central High School above that Derek Jeter first began to show signs of potential baseball greatness HIGH SCHOOL GREAT In high school Derek consistently held his team's highest batting average and was widely thought of as one of the most promising young players in Michigan In 1992 during his senior year at Kalamazoo Central High School Derek received high school player of the year honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association Gatorade and USA Today Derek seemed set for
THE STORY OF DEREK JETER At 18 years old Derek faced a tough choice He could either continue his studies while playing baseball for the University of Michigan or take his chances in the 1992 Major League Baseball MLB draft In the draft professional teams compete to sign the best high school and college players Derek chose to enter the draft and his gamble paid off when the Yankees chose him in the first round Derek's childhood dream of playing for the New York Yankees had finally come true STAR STATS In baseball batting averages are figured out by dividing the number of a player's hits by his number of at bats In his final year of high school Derek Jeter had a batting average of 508 meaning he got a hit in slightly more than half of his at
