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Remembering ‘The Flip’

The Wild Card playoff games and Division Series kicking off this week got me jazzed up and craving Yankees October baseball. To supplement, I decided to take a trip down memory lane and remember some of Jeter’s greatest postseason moments.

As we all know, the Yankees are not in the playoffs for a second straight year. No season in memory has ended with such bitter-sweet solemnness as this one – which saw the iconic face of the franchise for two decades retire. Since the mid-90s Derek Jeter has been at the center of countless Yankees playoff moments. He signified greatness and consistency in October, and it became expected that he would do something every night to help the Yankees win. And – most of the time – he did.

Jeter has 96 hits in 66 career Division Series games.
Jeter has 92 hits in 66 career Division Series games.

Over the next few weeks as the playoffs progress I’ll recount some of the great Jeter postseason moments. Let’s kick it off with his greatest Division Series moment – and perhaps the greatest DS moment in league history: The Flip.

In 2001 the country was rocked by the events on September 11th and the MLB postseason was delayed, but the Yankees still found themselves in familiar territory – entering the playoffs with the expectation of winning a World Series. The Yankees were facing an Oakland A’s team that took them to five games in the DS the previous season, and in 2001 the A’s were just as strong. Billy Beane built a 102-win powerhouse led by Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson, Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada, and steroids. The Yankees had home field advantage despite winning 7 fewer games because the surprising Mariners won a record 116 games, and left Oakland with the Wild Card.

The Yankees shockingly dropped the first two games at home and were going up against Zito, a 17 game winner, in Oakland for game 3. The Yankees offense struggled in the first two games – scoring just three runs total. The offense did not fare much better against Zito, compiling just two hits. But one of those hits was a 5th inning solo home run by Jorge Posada, which gave the Yankees their first lead of the series. Mike Mussina pitched equally as well, shutting out the A’s over 7 innings.

The Yanks took the 1-0 lead into the bottom of the 7th. With two outs, Jeremy Giambi was on first when Terrence Long hit a ball down the right field line. After digging it out of the corner, Shane Spencer’s throw sailed over two cutoff men and was heading off-line, which would have allowed Giambi to score the tying run. Jeter then raced from short to cut off the throw and flip it to Posada to get the final out of the inning. Joe Torre then handed the ball to Mariano Rivera who shut the door on the A’s, and the Yankees never looked back; they went on to beat (the late) Cory Lidle in game 4 and Mark Mulder in game 5 to win the series and complete the comeback.

The Flip play is perhaps the most iconic play of Jeter’s career. It signifies what type of player he was for the Yankees since the day he stepped in the league. Had Spencer hit the cutoff man then Giambi would have been out by a step or two, and the Yankees would have preserved their one run lead on a nice play from Spencer and Tino. Or if Jeter had not run from short to grab the errant throw and Giambi had scored, nobody would have blamed Jeter for not making a play. But Jeter recognized the throw was off target and knew the only chance for the Yankees to keep their lead was for him to do something – and he saved their asses once again when they needed him most. It wasn’t a walk off hit or a home run, or even a diving catch. It was a play that nobody expected, but only he could make. And that is why his legend formed as a clutch performer.

 

Other notable Division Series moments:

Tumble into the stands: Jeter caught a Terrence Long pop-up while falling into the camera well behind third base in Game 5 of the 2001 ALDS. Quick note – the ’01 ALDS vs Oakland might be the best series anyone has ever played. Jeter made two spectacular game-changing defensive plays and he batted .444 in the series. Almost single-handedly beat the A’s that year. Billy Beane probably still has nightmares about Jeter.

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5 hits vs Detroit: Jeter went 5-for-5 with a home run in Game 1 of the 2006 ALDS vs Detroit, becoming only the sixth player to record 5 hits in a single postseason game.

 

Jeter’s career numbers in the Division Series are silly. In 66 games he has 92 hits, amounting to a .343 average. Just further proof he’s one of the all-time great pressure performers.