Yankees: Derek Jeter’s Hall induction only a few days away; he’s still working on his speech

New York Yankees’ legend and current Miami Marlins’ CEO Derek Jeter had to wait a little longer than expected to get to the Hall of Fame. He was, after all, elected a little more than 19 months ago with the second-highest percentage ever (99.7%.) The pandemic got in the way in 2020, and the induction ceremony had to be suspended for obvious reasons.

This time, however, everything is set for the former Yankees’ captain to enter the Hall and be on the same level as some of the legendary players in the sport. He will officially be a Hall of Famer on September 8, when the ceremony in Cooperstown takes place.

Jeter is trying to remain calm, even though he is obviously anxious. He has waited long enough.

“I don’t want to jinx anything,” Jeter said to MLB.com. “It’s been postponed, so I’m hoping that it happens next week. There were so many things going on in the world that for the first year or so, I really didn’t think about it much. Early on, I was getting excited for it, then it was canceled and then your mind goes in other places. I am looking forward to getting up there next week, hopefully — I’m knocking on wood. It’s been a long time coming,” he said to MLB.com.

The Yankees’ legend is still fine-tuning his speech

Jeter was able to attend his Yankees’ teammate Mariano Rivera’s induction ceremony in Cooperstown two years ago. As a result, he knows what to expect.

“As strange as this sounds or may sound, I’m trying not to think about it because I just want to go there and experience it for the first time,” Jeter said. “I’m looking forward to getting up there, going to the museum and meeting with all the Hall of Famers and spending some time with them. Obviously the ceremony and the speech, those are things that I’m trying to keep out of my mind because I want to go in there with no preconceived notions of what may happen. I want to experience it and try to enjoy it.”

The Yankees’ captain, who finished his career with 3,465 hits and a .310 batting average, says he is still working on his speech. He’s keeping it private.

“In terms of addressing the crowd, I’ve done that before, but this is a little bit longer,” Jeter said. “You’re talking about a speech that’s 10-15 minutes. It’s kind of hard to cover your entire career in that short period of time, but I’m still working on it.”