May 29, 1995: Derek Jeter's 1st Major League Game

May 29, 1995: The New York Yankees played the Seattle Mariners at the Kingdome in Seattle. Making his major league debut was a player originally from West Milford, New Jersey, but growing up in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and a student at the University of Michigan, a month short of his 21st birthday. His name was Derek Jeter.

Reflecting his publicly-stated desire to reach the Yankees while they still had a single-digit uniform number available, he wore Number 2, started at shortstop, and batted 9th.

The Mariner starter that night was Rafael Carmona, and if you've never heard of him, don't worry about it: He, too, was a rookie, making his own big-league debut just 11 days earlier. He made a grand total of 81 major league appearances, all for the Mariners. Despite the M's making the Playoffs that year and in 1997, he made no postseason appearances for them, and made his last appearance for any major league team just 4 years later, almost to the day. His opposition of Jeter that night is the only truly remarkable thing about him.

Jeter led off the top of the 3rd for his 1st at-bat, and flew out to right field. The right fielder was Darren Bragg -- not the ex-Yankee Jay Buhner. He led off the top of the 5th, and grounded to shortstop Félix Fermín -- whom the Yankees wanted to trade Mariano Rivera to the Mariners for the following Spring, as they didn't think Jeter was ready. (No, I'm not making that up. It could have been the worst MLB trade of the era.) In the 6th, he hit a line shot to right that was caught by Bragg. In the 9th, he grounded to 2nd.

The game went to extra innings, and he struck out to end the 11th. The Yankees lost in 12 innings, 8-7, when Rich Amaral hit a home run off Scott Bankhead. Jack McDowell started for the Yankees, and Randy Velarde and Dion James hit home runs for them.

Yes, Jeter went 0-for-5 in his big-league debut. If 0-for-4 is "the horse collar" (or just "the collar"), then 0-for-5 is "the collar plus one." Only 18,948 fans saw it, having no idea that they were watching the beginning of a legend.

Mariano Rivera had made his major league debut on May 23. Andy Pettitte had made his on April 29. Jorge Posada went on to make his on September 4. And that was the Core Four.

The next day, May 30, Jeter led off the top of the 5th, against Tim Belcher, and hit a ground ball through the hole for a single to left field, the 1st hit of what turned out to be 3,465.

Think about that total for a moment: Only 5 human beings who have ever lived have collected more major-league hits than Jeter: Pete Rose, Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial and Tris Speaker. Of those, only Rose is still alive. So Derek Jeter has more hits than any living person under the age of 81. 

He has also reached the postseason more times than any other player, 17 times. He played on 7 Pennant winners and 5 World Championships, easily more than any active player. He was voted onto 14 American League All-Star Teams. He was the 1996 AL Rookie of the Year, and while he was never awarded the Most Valuable Player, he finished in the top 10 in the voting 8 times, and in the top 3 on 3 occasions. He was truly robbed of the MVP in 1999 and 2009, and possibly in 2006. Contrary to the opinions of people who hate the Yankees, he was a great defensive shortstop, winning 5 Gold Gloves.

Derek Jeter surpassed Cal Ripken Jr. as the greatest shortstop in AL history, and is behind only Honus Wagner among all-time shortstops. No, Ernie Banks isn't ahead of him. Neither is Luke Appling, nor Luis Aparicio. Remember the debate about whether Nomar Garciaparra and Alex Rodriguez were better? Well, now, nobody remembers A-Rod as a shortstop anyway (and who would want to put him ahead of Jeter, knowing what we now know?), and Nomar's career flamed out due to injury and diva behavior.

In 2017, the Yankees retired Jeter's Number 2, and dedicated a Plaque for him in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. In 2020, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, in his 1st year of eligibility: Out of 397 voters, he got 396 votes. The one writer who voted against him has never been publicly identified, nor has he ever, even anonymously, divulged his reason. In 2022, ESPN named its 100 Greatest Baseball Players. They ranked Jeter 28th.

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May 29, 1995 was a Monday, Memorial Day. Once a holiday with doubleheaders, not a single twinbill was played that day. These other games were:

* The New York Mets lost to the San Diego Padres, 3-2 at Shea Stadium. Melvin Nieves won it for the Padres with a home run in the top of the 13th inning.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Montreal Expos, 11-6 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Barry Bonds went 2-for-5 with a home run and 4 RBIs.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-6 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Houston Astros, 9-7 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. (The stadium has been renamed several times, and is now Hard Rock Stadium.)

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-4 at the SkyDome in Toronto. (It was renamed the Rogers Centre in 2005.) David Cone was the winning pitcher.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-6 at Jacobs Field in Cleveland. (It was renamed Progressive Field in 2007.) 

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-5 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Colorado Rockies, 6-5 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Gerónimo Peña singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 11th.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers, 12-0 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Gary Gaetti went 4-for-5 with 2 home runs and 6 RBIs, and Vince Coleman went 3-for-4 with ah RBI triple (but, oddly, no stolen bases). Tom Gordon, later better-known as a reliever, pitched the 1st 6 2/3rds innings, and 2 relievers helped him finish a 6-hit shutout.

* The California Angels beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-5 at Anaheim Stadium. (It was renamed Edison International Field in 1997, and Angel Stadium of Anaheim in 2004.) Cal Ripken went 1-for-4.

* And the Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 9-6 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rickey Henderson went 2-for-4.

Football was out of season. The Stanley Cup Playoffs were somewhat delayed, due to the lockout that delayed the start of the season. Now, they were between the Conference Semifinals and the Conference Finals. The New Jersey Devils went on to win the Cup.

In the NBA, Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals was played. At the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. The Indiana Pacers beat the Orlando Magic, 94-93. But the Magic would go on to win the series. The Western Conference Finals was between games, and the Houston Rockets would beat the San Antonio Spurs, and then the Magic for the title.