The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter

Rating:4 of 5 stars (very good)Review:While I cannot consider myself a fan of either the New York Yankees or of Derek Jeter, I respect the consistent excellence that both of them bring to the game of baseball. When I found this book when looking for a good biography, I picked this up. I then let it sit on my “to be read” pile for over a year until the 2014 regular season ended and I decided to read it after Jeter played his last game. I was able to obtain the audio version of the book at no extra cost, and now that I have a longer commute, I decided to listen to the audio book and this review is based on that version.This is a book that truly lives up to the title. Ian O’Connor does take the reader on a journey of Derek Jeter’s life and career. In the opening notes, O’Connor does state that he did not obtain interviews with Jeter and that the book was a result of research and interviews with other people. \That is the strength of this book as O’Connor tells the complete story of Jeter’s baseball career from his days in Kalamazoo, Michigan to the 1992 draft when Jeter was unexpectedly available for the Yankees (my favorite chapter in the book) to his struggles in the minor leagues and finally his adventures in pinstripes at both the old and new Yankee Stadium.O’Connor covers many sports in the New York metropolitan area, including the Yankees and his knowledge of the game and the team shows in the book. He writes not only about Jeter’s ride through the Yankee dynasty of 1996-2000, but also has many stories about the team itself and some of the players in those years such as Scott Brosius and Mariano Rivera. The reader is taken through those seasons, as well as the more frustrating seasons as the Yankees waited nine years before winning another title.Not only is Jeter’s baseball career covered in the book, but O’Connor also does a fine job writing about Jeter’s biracial roots, the values his parents instilled in Jeter and his sister and also the type of lifestyle that many men can only dream of. What I really liked about this aspect of the book is that it did not turn scandalous, as many other biographies do on this topic, nor did it come off as too admiring. Sure, O’Connor states at times that Jeter seems to be living a charmed life. But he didn’t overdo it by letting the reader know that Jeter worked hard at keeping that portion of his life as private as possible, therefore it didn’t turn into tabloid material.This isn’t to say there weren’t problems with the book as well. Because I listened to the audio version, it was clear that the narrator, Nick Polifrone, was not familiar with some of the players mentioned in the book as there were several mispronunciation incidents of player names. Two examples are Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia – the second syllable was pronounced with a long A sound instead of the correct short A sound. Also notable is Robin Yount’s name was pronounced with the first syllable sounding like “You” instead of the proper “Yow.” Of course this is not an issue for readers of the paper book or the e-book, but I was disappointed to hear these names not properly pronounced.I also felt that at times O’Connor’s writing came across as an admirer of Jeter instead of an objective author. That came across when Jeter would be struggling – he would always find a way to overcome it. Those were written in a way that it seemed like the man could do nothing wrong and if he did, he would correct it. I also felt that O’Connor was critical of players not on the Yankees and other teams when it wasn’t called for. This was especially true when the book would need to include the other New York baseball team. The accounts of the 2000 World Series when the Yankees defeated the Mets and also the comparisons to responses by both teams to the 2001 terrorist attacks felt like O’Connor was trying to show just how much better the Yankees were than the Mets. I am sure that he did not intentionally do this, but that is how it felt, especially when listening to the book instead of reading it.Despite these minor issues, I felt that the book was a very good recap of Jeter’s career and life up to the middle of the 2011 season, including the day Jeter got his 3000th base hit. This book is well worth the time to read for learning more about Jeter and what lead to his Hall of Fame- worthy career.Did I skim?NoPace of the book:Excellent. O’Connor keeps the book moving with interesting tales on each portion of Jeter’s career. This is not only for his time with the Yankees but also during his high school days and his struggles in the minor leagues.Do I recommend?Yes. Whether the reader is a Yankees fan, a baseball fan in general or enjoys well-researched biographies, this book is a good choice. If the reader is someone who believes too much attention was given to Jeter during his playing days or strongly dislikes the New York Yankees, then pass on this one.Book Format Read/Listened:Audio book

I'm a long time NY Yankees fan. I wanted to read more about one of my Yankee heroes playing today.Ian O'Connor wrote a very good book about Derek Jeter the latest captain of the Yankees. Its a 400 page burner I read in 3 days. Some nice B/W pictures too. The book reads smooth with no boring parts.We see Derek growing up with his white mother and black father and sister. His entire family was super against drugs and his father was a drug counselor. This had a huge impact on Derek staying "clean" and not taking steroids in baseball.WE see his natural ability and his dream of playing SS on the NY Yankees and marrying his idol singer Mariah Carry. He does date Mariah but does not marry her. He does become the greatest Yankee SS of all time.We see him selected in the 6th round by the Yankees and going into the minors for a short stay and then brought up to Yankee MLB.Originally we see the rookie as not very good both on defensive or offensive. However the Yankees stick with him allowing his confidence to increase and his skills to get better. WE see his golden gloves, silver bat and other awards as he gradually becomes one of the premier SS's. We start seeing his mega million dollar contracts.Jeter is the professional with a nice disposition and courteous, trying to get along with everyone.We see many of his teammates and becoming an experienced player helping new rookies. We see him given the job and honer of Captain of the Yankees. We see Alex Rodriguez signed (with a bigger contract than Jeter's mega million $ contract) by the Yankees and having to play third base and fit in. We see the huge ego of Alex and the pride of Jeter conflicting. Later in their carriers Alex and Derek put aside their differences and Derek gets his fifth WS ring and Alex gets his first. We see Derek becoming the Yankee with the most hits over 3,000 and gaining on other Yankee records.We see all the many beautiful woman in Derek's life...many supermodels and more. Plus we see Derek's great wealth including his gigantic multi million dollar home on Davis Island, Fl and his multi million dollar apartment in NYC. Derek becomes the prince of NY and one of America's most wanted bachelors. He has it all, a great job. extreme wealth, friends, lots of beautiful women and more.Here is a non boastful man, who did his job and led others by his playing skills. A great ball player. Many compare Derek Jeter to Joe DiMaggio. INMO NOT, NOT! After reading The Captain The Journal of Derek Jeter book and the bio of Doe DiMaggio they are nowhere the same. Both men baseball champions with many records. Joe DiMaggio a HOF and Derek Jeter will be HOF on first ballet as soon as eligible. However I learned Joe DiMaggio was a huge egotistic ( had little use for Mantle and others) who thought people, even many of his friends were constantly trying to make money on his name. INMO Joe was an egotistical peacock to many men and women while Derek is a much nicer, much more lovable, much lower ego person.I've been lucky seeing Derek Jeter play in the Tampa Rays stadium, wore my Jeter jersey and saw him get hits each game I viewed. A great player, future HOF and a nice person. The book 4 1/3 stars

This book tells an encompassing story of Derek Jeter’s childhood & career.

Livraison rapide; exemplaire semblant sortir directement de l'imprimerie: les coins sont presque coupants!

A good news account of D.J.'s career with a lot of inside views but lacking the passion of an Autobiography

I really enjoyed this book, I love Derek Jeter and I love reading about him. It was interesting to learn thing that I didn't already know about his journey. If you're a fan of his like I am, you'll enjoy it!

The best part of the book is his picture on the cover. Some interesting information but bored me for the most part. It was a little overkill on the stats.

This was a very good look at how the Yankees operated under George's rule. It is also very well written.