Blog 5

When Derek was a child, he didn’t only play baseball. He loved many other sports, and played basketball. He played for a local team and is church, St.Augestines.  After one season with the team, he told his mom that he wanted to play with an AAU team that got players from all over Michigan.

                His mom called the coaches to get the information about the tryouts, but the coach blew him off when she said he was from St. I’s. Derek’s mom didn’t take this, because she thought that he should get a chance. This shows the stubbornness of his mom, and how she would fight for what her son wanted. Parents are a big part in how our life develops, if they do what you want, and support you through it, you should do well if you do what you want. If you do what your parents want, you will not be happy, even though your parents might be. Derek stresses that parents should play a big part in your life, but they shouldn’t determine your life.

Blog 4

Derek has already changed a lot in the book, even if i'm not that far into it yet. At first, he was a cocky high school prospect, who had expected to get drafted this year. But when he got to the Yankees, he saw a professionalism about the organization, that this was a business and not just fun and games. He said that when you were in the Yankees clubhouse, you pulled your hat down tight on your head, instead of letting it barely sit on top.

But when he first started playing for them, he probably expected to do very well and to get moved up quickly. But when this didn't happen, you still see the high school kid inside him, calling back to his parents 5 times a day, and asking the Yankees if he could stay with his girlfriend a little longer before coming back.

Then, he started to grow up very quickly and ask help from his elders, and to try and work on his game instead of expecting that he would get better. After his first season in the Rookie League, he grew up a lot, but not nearly enough if he wants to play professional baseball.

Blog 3

On Derek's road to success he had a lot of set-backs on the way, and had to get a lot of help from other people. His parents, former players, coaches, and people in the Yankees organization. He had to overcome a lot of things in order to become great.

His first baseball card in the Rookie Leauge.

He thought at first that rookie ball wouldn't be that difficult to hit, and he was wrong. His batting average dropped his first season and he had over 50 errors. He was very stressed and made a lot of calls home, he said his phone bill was around $400 to $500 dollars a month. However, the Yankees organization helped him through this internal conflict between him, his mind, and the ball. They told him to stick with it and his talent would carry him through.

After the 50 errors in his first season, he studied other great shortstops that had played in the majors, and he had seen that there footwork was always consistant and that they had made the same arm motion with every throw, unlike Jeter. He had improved by his second year by a lot in batting, keeping his average around .300 and his errors got a little better, but he still made a lot. The Yankees said that even though another bad season in the numbers, he was improving constantly and this was a good sign.

Blog 2

     When Derek Jeter turned 18 he had signed a contract with the New York Yankees and they had invested almost a million dollars in him. Derek stresses in his book that in life, you will have set-backs and that you need to remember why you are where you are and that you made it there for a reason. In his first 14 at-bats in the minor leagues he didn't have a hit. But, he rebounded and made it to where he is today, getting payed millions of dollars and starting everyday for the Yankees.

Derek with his family, Mom, Sister, and Dad.

       Derek sounds a lot like my parents. Saying that you must work hard and that you can do anything you want in life if you are committed. His parents also stress these key parts and Derek says that they would have supported him 100% in anything that he did in life weather it was baseball or chess or writing poetry. This also reminds me of my parents. They say that they will support me in whatever I do and that it just-so-happens that it will be sports. My sister will eventually be more focused in school than sports. I see this when she gets home from school and automatically wants to do school stuff, while I want to watch the soccer match and shoot outside in my yard. Whatever we chose, our parents will support us in whatever we do no matter what. Like Derek's. He says that it is important that our parents support us and I am happy he says some of the same things that mine do.

Blog 1

The Life You Imagine 

Post 1

      The Life You Imagine, by Derek Jeter, is so far, a very good book. He starts off by telling you that you need to set your goals high in life if you really want to be successful. As a kid he tells his parents that he wants to play baseball for the New York Yankees and they told him that he could do anything that he wanted to and that they would support him in whatever he did. He set small goals for batting average, and errors, but he set high goals like get the high school player of the year when he was a senior in high school, he made that goal when he was a junior. But he slowly makes all of his goals and is put in the minor leagues by the Yankees, and starts to move up through A to AA to AAA faster than most. He gets called up and on his first game, he looks back when he was 6 and realizes he made his goal to play for the Yankees.

The Life You Imagine

The book I chose was The Life You Imagine by Derek Jeter. I chose to read this book because he is a very successful person, a great athlete, and a great role model. In the book, he tells you life lessons for achieving your dreams. He tells you why he wanted to be a baseball player, and how he got to the major leauges. Other people that I know have read this book and have liked it a lot and have said that I would like it.

I have not read a biography in the past and I don't even play baseball anymore but he is a great role model and a great baseball player. He talks about his childhood and how his parents play a role in his life throughout the book, and the people he met that made him the baseball player he is today. I am really excited to read this book and to start blogging about it.


http://www.travel-watch.com/lifeyouimagine.htm