Recap and Review of The Captain (Derek Jeter Documentary Series)

As a sports fan, it’s very hard to find a documentary series that captures your attention and keeps you intrigued. In the past few years, we’ve seen great series like “The Last Dance” which focused on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. If you’re a pro wrestling, you got to see “The Last Ride” which focused on The Undertaker. The one thing Derek Jeter, Michael Jordan, and The Undertaker all have in common is that they all tried to be very private people away from their professional lives. Jeter came across very brutally honest about all aspect of his life while he played. It was also great hearing from so many of Jeter’s teammates, members of the media, and other professional athletes who had an impact or influence on Jeter’s family. Throughout each episode, I wrote five things that I took away from each episode. Here is are my takeaways from The Captain.

Episode 1
1. I loved that Derek Jeter was taught and believed that hard work is how you earn things. Nothing should be given or handed out. It is crystal clear that his parents raised with him great morals and values.
2. It’s incredible that Derek was a Yankees growing up and he had his heart and mind set on playing for them. I also found it funny that he had no idea that the Yankees were picking sixth when he was supposed to be picked first or fifth.
3. I think Derek’s struggles early on during his minor league days shaped him into the player he would become at the major league level. After that first year, he turned flipped a switch and became a different player.
4. I felt like Derek coming up in 1995 was a passing of the torch because Don Mattingly’s era came to an end after the 1995 season. Mattingly played for the Yankees from 1982-1995 and had numerous accolades and awards while in pinstripes.
5. It’s crazy to think all the events that took place when Derek was drafted. George Steinbrenner had been suspended for over two years and MLB went on strike. Even after the 1995 season, many changes were about to take place for the New York Yankees.

Episode 2
1. There was a lot of tension going into the 1996 season because Joe Torre was hired after Buck Showalter left.  Many considered a questionable move. Upper management also wasn’t convinced that Derek Jeter was the guy they wanted for the future
2. There weren’t a lot of expectations for the Yankees going into the 1996 season, but Jeter was the catalyst that helped the team gain success and popularity during the season. That success propelled them to the World Series.
3. The Yankees gained a lot of notoriety after the 1996 season with how the media covered them and the spotlight started shining heavily on Derek Jeter. He also became acquainted with the hip-hop culture in New York and became a huge celebrity that everyone wanted to be around.
4. In 1997, the Yankees had a mindset that they were going to beat everyone down. I think Derek’s attitude of not
liking to lose played a huge part of the mindset. He also became more disciplined and didn’t allow any distractions to take away from what they team was doing that year.
5. I love Derek’s confidence in himself, especially when it came to the arbitration battle after the 1997 season. It’s almost reminiscent of something similar that’s going on today with the New York Yankees. I love that he doesn’t talk about it, but he also never forgot who doubted him.

Episode 3
1. Derek is a very private person whose inner circle is very small. He wants to be around people he can trust. He wanted to associate himself with people like minded morals and values. Sometimes that’s hard to find, which is why he found out that in life you’ll have more acquaintances than friends.
2. Derek commanded respect and if you weren’t respectful to your Yankee teammates, Derek took exception to it and called you out. His issues with Chad Curtis were well documented and it took him a while to have respect for Roger Clemens when he became a Yankee.
3. Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez had a very interesting relationship. Many considered them friends, but every time A-Rod talked to the media, he made very disparaging remarks about Jeter. A-Rod was one of the few in his circle of trust and he broke that trust by what he said in the media.
4 . The vibe I get from Derek is that he respected his rivals but wasn’t worried about losing to them. You saw it in the way he talked about it in the Braves, Mets, and Red Sox. He had respect for his fellow Hall of Famers but in his own way.
5. One thing I’ve noticed so far in the series is that Derek is very confident and all he cared about was winning. He was always a team first player and never seemed to care about his individual accomplishments.

Episode 4
1. You could tell that 9/11 had a huge impact on Jeter and the Yankees. They were able to help bring some peace and comfort to the families of the victims. A lot of people rallied around the Yankees after 9/11.
2. Representing New York became very emotionally taxing for the Yankees going into the playoffs in 2001. Many thought that the way they were winning through the playoffs it was their destiny to win the 2001 World Series. Derek was very angry about losing that World Series and stayed pretty quiet through that offseason.
3. Not a lot of people ever got the best of George Steinbrenner, but Jeter had no problems going toe to toe with the boss. I think Jeter gained a lot of respect from Steinbrenner, because Jeter never changed his ways for anyone.
4. You can’t talk about the Yankees without talking about the Red Sox. It seemed for the longest time that the Yankees looked down on the Red Sox, but I think in the back of everyone’s mind they knew the Red Sox were building a team that could compete overtake the Yankees. It didn’t happen in 2003 like it was supposed to, but it would be a different story a year later.
5. I am still intrigued by the relationship between Jeter and A-Rod. I still think their friendship was ruined by the media, but Jeter had enough respect for him to know that he was a great ballplayer and would help the Yankees win. It seemed both of them felt very uncomfortable playing together at first.

Episode 5
1. You could tell that the 2004 American League Championship Series still has an impact on those who were with the Yankees that year. They were the first team to blow a 3-0 lead in a Championship Series in baseball. Derek also took exception to Manny Ramirez holding up a sign at the Red Sox parade throwing shade at him.
2. I loved how Derek and the media talked about how difficult it was to play in New York. Even the media admitted they’re ruthless, aggressive, and competitive. There are a lot of people who couldn’t survive playing in New York. It’s that way with the Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Giants and Jets.
3. Derek knew his role as the captain. He always made himself available to the media, but he always had calculated answers to make sure the media couldn’t stir up controversy. He also didn’t want distractions that took away from winning. The media tried everything to get something out of Jeter, but it never worked. He tried not to say anything bad about anyone because he was about the team rather than the individual.
4. Many tried to dig up things on Derek’s private life. The story about him giving gift baskets to his dates took on a life of its own. I enjoyed hearing Michael Jordan’s perspective about wanting to be as private as much as possible. Michael and Derek have a friendship where they can be themselves around each other, and that’s why they related to each other as much as they did. They had to keep themselves guarded except for when they’re around their close inner circle.
5. For whatever reason, the fact the Derek Jeter is bi-racial made a lot of the media very uncomfortable on how to approach him and what topics to talk to him about. There was one media member who called Derek “colorless” and that bothered me. It bothered Jeter’s family as well. No one knows how Derek felt about certain topics because no one every really asked him.

Episode 6
1. During the Mid-2000s, there seemed to be a disconnect between the players who were there during the dynasty years and those who came in. From 2004 to 2008, the Yankees did not go to World Series and It weighed on organization heavily. Old Yankee Stadium closed at the end of 2008 and the Yankees failed to make the playoffs. That seemed to be precursor for what was to come.
2. In 2009, new Yankee Stadium opened and the Yankees signed some major pieces that had the mentality of being team players wanting to win. They got Burnett, Damon, Swisher, Sabathia, and Teixeira. All of it came together for them to win the World Series
3. In 2010, Derek Jeter and the Yankees got into some heated negotiations when it came to free agency. Brian Cashman felt that Derek didn’t deserve the money he was asking for and he made it public which made Derek furious. It’s very eerily similar to another Yankee whose up for a new contract at the end of the 2022 season. Fortunately, Derek remained a Yankee but his relationship with Cashman was never the same after that.
4. I loved how Derek met his wife and how she didn’t know who he was at first. I appreciate his honesty about how he wasn’t ready for a serious relationship because there was no way they were ever going to have any privacy as long as he was playing. He didn’t want his family, close friends, or his significant other to be caught up in the media because of who he was.
5. Bernie Williams said it best. “There is no loyalty towards aging players.” The Yankees had a history of forcing players out, which dates all the way back to how Babe Ruth was handled towards the end of his career. Derek knew it was getting close to the end of his playing days when he broke his ankle. He saw how Bernie was treated and didn’t want to be treated the same way. He got the last laugh and got to go out the way he wanted to.

Episode 7
1. I loved that Derek’s parents made him and his sister sign a contract before each school year that laid out the expectations of how they would perform in the classroom and how they would treat others.
2. It was weird seeing the emotions from Derek during his last game because he never showed that much emotion throughout his entire career. You could tell it he left everything on the field and soaked it all in his last time playing at Yankee Stadium.
3. As mentioned in a previous episode, Brian Cashman and Derek had some issues due to contract negotiations. It was really cool to see Derek and Brian burying the hatchet during Derek’s Hall of Fame weekend and having an understanding of each other. I think a lot of it had to do with the role Derek had the Miami Marlins.
4. One of the things I respect about Jeter is his community presence. He’s always been charitable and has always given back to the community. He always wanted to give back to make the community and sport better then when he played. It reminds me of the idea of leaving a place better then it was when you first arrived. That’s what Derek is trying to do in his post baseball ventures.
5. It was very brave of Derek’s wife Hannah to share some of the physical health issues she went through, but it was also great to see Derek the family shine through. Derek the father and husband is much different than Derek the baseball player.

I thought this series was amazing because Derek was never really outspoken and never said things that would make headlines. In fact, he was always trying to stay clear of making the headlines. I loved that he shared his real and authentic thoughts about winning, losing, trusting people and his inner circle. It’s also very interesting to see the evolution of Derek from baseball player to family man and friend.  Derek may not have had crazy power numbers, but he was a consistent hard-working player who did things his way. I am not sure what’s next for Derek Jeter, but I have no doubt he will be successful at it.