Review of "The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter," by Ian O’Connor

 Review of

The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter, by Ian O’Connor ISBN 9780547327938

Five out of five stars

Book, like the subject, is a throwback

 In many ways, the tone of this book is very pre-Bouton. Before the publication of the now classic “Ball Four” by Jim Bouton, books about sports figures tended to be laudatory and lacking in any semblance of dirty laundry about the players. After that book was published, the authors felt free to expose all the faults of the athletes along with their successes. Sometimes, there seemed to be an emphasis on the negative.

 The subject is of course the longtime Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter. In many ways, Jeter was a throwback to the old days. He spent 20 years in the major leagues and every single inning he played was as a Yankee. Jeter also played nearly every day and was as close to a model citizen as is possible in the modern world.

 This is the story of his life and either by choice of the author or because there was very little to report, there was almost nothing negative in the descriptions of how Jeter conducted himself, both on and off the field. At a time when steroids were rampant in baseball, there was never a hint that he was a user of anything in the way of a PED.

 An all-time great baseball player, Jeter deserves the accolades, as in many ways he was a role model for people in all areas of sports. Despite his incredible talents, he had an unbelievable work ethic. Unlike so many other players with comparable talent, there was not an inkling of tendency to self-destruct.