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
DEREK JETER IN THE COMMUNITY MINOR LEAGUE STAR Despite achieving his childhood dream by signing with the Yankees it would be some time before Derek Jeter would make his first appearance at Yankee Stadium in New York As a youngster signed to the Yankees he spent an extended period in the minor leagues to develop as a player and prove his ability Derek's minor league career did not start well He performed poorly in his debut for the Gulf Coast Yankees a rookie league farm team of the Yankees based in Tampa Florida He failed to make a single hit in his first game STAR STATS Is In 1994 Derek Jeter was named Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America magazine the Sporting News USA Today and Topps National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues NAPBL Io
THE STORY OF DEREK JETER re Derek's minor league career began at Legends Field pictured here renamed George M Steinbrenner Field in 2008 in Florida By the end of his season with the Gulf Coast Yankees Derek found himself struggling at bat and doubting his ability Derek recovered from his shaky start in the rookie league working his way up the farm system to become a star with the Triple A Columbus Clippers which is the minor league team closest to the major league Yankees He finished the 1994 season with a superb batting average Derek was ready to join Major League Baseball II
