Blog 12

As it gets later into the book, Derek starts to talk about role models. How his dad and his mom were two of his biggest, as well as older professional players and how they played the game. 

His dad helped him become the player he is, and used to play baseball too. Thats why he is one of Derek's role models. Also, because he was his dad, and he was a very good dad too.

But Derek watched professional, successful short-stops when he was working on his game so that he could be as good as them. Like working on grounders, hitting, and making routine plays on a consistent basis. Derek had a lot of role models, and you can see that they shaped his game, and his life.

Blog 11

Derek eventully starts to talk about his dad, and how he used to be very good at baseball too. He explains how this is a reason for why he is so good, and he is where he is today. Derek's dad could have been a pro player too, Derek says, and the only reason why he didn't go pro, was becuase he didn't have the exposure and the determination to get to where he wanted to go. His parents didn't sugarcoat what he was going to have to do to play professional baseball, they were very realistic with him, and made sure that he was serious about putting hard-work in, and being fully committed to becoming a spectacular baseball player. When Derek speaks to kids and to schools, he doesn't tell them that the road was easy and that he got their on pure talent, he tells them the truth, and how hard it was for him to go pro. Explaining that he had to out in hard-work and a lot of hours to get where he needed to be. This was because his dad supported him, and pushed him the right amount so that he would get better, and succed. His dad was like this, because Derek's dad, didn't have a dad. He explains that this is another reason for why he didn't make it father than college baseball. Derek's dad learned how to be a dad, becuase he didn't have a dad. If that makes any sense. But, im happy that Derek explains that the road wasn't easy and how his dad supported him through the way.

Blog 10

When Derek made his travel baseball team, he was a sophomore. I guess this baseball team was college and under, becuase he says he was the youngest ever to make the team, and that he was starting with other college kids.

Derek, going back to his highschool, to speak at an assembly.

He explains that when he made the team, there was this college junior, who played short-stop, like Derek. The Maroons coach, moved him over to second base, so that Derek could start where he wanted. He explains that the junior was fine with it, even though he was a lot older, and had been on the team for 3 years now. If I was Derek, I would be very glad that he was fine with it and didn't hold a grudge. But, if I was the junior in college, I would be furious that the coach made me move for a highschool sophomore, even if he might be good. Derek says that he was very grateful for him to be okay with the move, and that he might not have made it where he is today if he didn't get that starting spot, at short-stop.

Blog 9

Derek's coaches, from when he was very young, to his Yankees coaches, they have all said that he was an extraordinary player. I assume, that he played up when he was a kid, so he could play against better competition, and get better. But, his highschool JV coach, when he was a freshman, said that he new Derek wouldn't be on JV for long, just because of how good he was. The Yankees summer leauge coaches said, that with work in different areas of his game, he could potentially be a very good baseball player long-term. I think they were right.

Derek's Stats, from when he was in the minors to the majors

People probobly had very high expectations for Derek, but he did a very good job in focusing on his goals, and what he needed to do; instead of trying to please everyone else's goals for him. He stresses that you need to set your goals high so that they are a challenge, but not to high so that there impossible.

Blog 8

The book, The Life You Imagine, by Derek Jeter, is a very good book so far. It teaches you life lessons and guides you to where you want to go in life, while explaining how and why Derek did what he did. It also says that he did make mistakes along the way, and looking back on it, he says that he would do it differently, and that you should learn from your mistakes.

Right now, Derek is in his 3rd year playing professional baseball, and he is doing decent. Im glad that they explain how he did it, and makes him look human. By that I mean, sometimes celebraties look larger than life, and that they just got there because they were good, and they didn't have any problems and its the perfect hollywood story. But with Derek, he struggled his first few years, and he made a lot of mistakes, and probably questioned why he was doing this, but he stayed with it and never quit. It really lets me relate to it, and it makes me love the book even more.

Blog 7

This is a picture of the Kalamazoo Maroons, the travel team that Derek played on.

So far in the book, it has me asking some questions, like, why did he play basketball? Why did he tryout for a travel baseball team? Will he win state for baseball? There are also a lot more.

I predict that he will win state for baseball, because he was so good, that he would put the team on his back, and lead them to win. I can relate to this feeling of trying to lead your team through a long tournament, because of high school soccer, and other tournaments that I have played in with my teams.

I infer that he played for a travel baseball team, so that he could travel across the nation playing and getting more exposure, because he wanted to play professional baseball. Many others have done this in baseball and other sports. Some even quit playing high school so that they can travel around 24/7 and play across the country. Personally, I think thats crazy, but if you want to go pro that bad, I can see why someone would want to do it.

Blog 6

Now, Derek is starting to grow up and to figure out that he is really good at baseball, and that he wants to get better at baseball. He did end up making the AAU basketball team, and that was because he used hardwork and effort to do it. He hustled every play and ran his hardest in suicides. He said that because he made the team being a small school kid, it showed him that he could to anything.

His sophomore year in highschool, he tried out for a big travel baseball team, the Kalamazo Maroons. He says that he was playing with older kids, and that he was one of the youngest ever, so im not sure if it was a team who took all ages, or that he was playing up. But, he did make the team and he ended up taking a college kids spot at shortstop, and pushed him to second base, even though he had been on the team for 3 years. This showed me that Derek was very humble, because he didn't come out and say that he was very good and the best in Michigan, but he was very good, and most likely was. He started to talk about his highschool team tryouts, but i didn't read that far and im going to assume that they went well.