Source: No decision yet about when Derek Jeter's No. 2 will be retired
The Yankees' Derek Jeter walks to his position after the fifth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014. Credit: Jim McIsaac
When will the Yankees retire Derek Jeter's uniform No. 2?
The decision has not yet been made.
Derek Jeter Day will be held Sunday and a source familiar with the team's plans said the original idea was to retire Jeter's number that day. As of Wednesday night, that decision had not been finalized, the source said.
Jeter, in his 20th and final season, will eventually become the 19th Yankee to have his number retired. His final home game, if the Yankees do not make the postseason, is scheduled for Sept. 25.
The Yankees were pondering whether to follow the same script they did last September when they retired Mariano Rivera's No. 42 during a ceremony honoring their closer, who is baseball's all-time saves leader with 652. Rivera's number is retired throughout the major leagues in tribute to Dodgers great Jackie Robinson.
When Joe Torre's No. 6 was retired last month, the former manager addressed the Yankee Stadium crowd and at one point, turning toward Jeter in the Yankees' dugout, said, "There's still one single digit out there," referring to the last available number yet to be retired.
The other retired single digits: No. 1 Billy Martin, No. 3 Babe Ruth, No. 4 Lou Gehrig, No. 5 Joe DiMaggio, No. 7 Mickey Mantle, No. 8 Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey, and No. 9 Roger Maris.
Torre will be one of the many guests invited to Derek Jeter Day. Jeter's former fellow Core Four members Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada also are expected to attend. Commissioner-elect Rob Manfred will represent Bud Selig, who has a prior engagement and will visit Jeter at Yankee Stadium toward the end of the season, a spokesman for Major League Baseball said.
Several stories have circulated over the years as to how Jeter got his number. "The true story, they gave it to me," he said before Wednesday night's game with the Red Sox. "I didn't say I wanted this number or wanted that number."
Jeter said at the time he was assigned No. 2 he was unaware of the significance of the single-digit number in Yankees history. "I always assumed," he said, "it was the smallest jersey."
