In the whole 20 years career span of the baseball legend Derek Jeter, he has been called many names. While most of them were reminders of his greatness, once he was labeled ‘number 2.’ But, what does that mean?

Well, something like that did come up in the book ‘The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter,’ written by Ian O’Connor. Jeter is one of the most heavily marketed athletes of his attention. But there was always one person with whom the shortstop was continuously compared. He once was Derek’s best friend and then joined the New York Yankees while being the shortstop’s mortal enemy.

Many rarer things have happened in baseball. This was just one of those cases where the Hall of Famer came second. The person who ranked the shortstop second was none other than the agent Steve Caruso who helped Jeter in landing his dream team – New York Yankees.

Who was the player that came before Derek Jeter?

One of the most famous friendships in Major League Baseball is between the icon Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. Their friendship and whatever was going on between them was pretty open and always in the headlines.

Therefore, these two also got compared often by analysts. 

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“Derek’s the second-best high school player I ever saw, and Alex was easily the best,” Caruso said.  It can be easily said that after hearing Caruso’s words, the captain would be obviously shocked. 

Furthermore, Caruso added, “Alex was the same height as Derek, but his body was much more developed. With Derek, you sensed he could be a star. With Alex, you knew he’d be a star.”

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Some people might agree with Caruso. But if someone looks at the career the two athletes had, they have major differences. The biggest one of them is that the shortstop is a Hall of Famer, while A-Rod may never get inducted because of his PED indulgences.

What are some of the accolades won by Jeter?

Aside from being a Hall of Famer, Derek Jeter is one of those players whose jersey number is retired too. Therefore, now whenever anybody thinks or talks about the number 2 in baseball, it will, probably, be about Derek Jeter. 

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Other than this, the shortstop has helped his team in five world series. That is not something most players can say. During his 20-year-long career with the New York Yankees, the shortstop has won many awards, including World Series MVP in 2000.