Derek jeter quotes

Yankee Stadium is my favorite stadium; I'm not going to lie to you. There's a certain feel you get in Yankee Stadium.

You can't be sensitive, because you're going to get criticized. I don't care who you are, you're going to get criticized.

You have to be confident, if you're not confident you might as well go home.

I looked up to my parents because they were very successful in what they wanted to do. I was lucky; I didn't have to look far for role models.

The draft is a crapshoot, so I've been very fortunate to be drafted by the Yankees, and to have spent my whole career here.

Everyone fears rejection.

Winning is one of the most special moments. Every time I take the field it's a special moment. The fans are the ones that make it special. Because that's what we do it for.

I try to sign for as many kids as possible. Kids come first, and I'll always sign for a kid before an adult.

It took him 75 steps to get from third to home. I thought we were going to have to go out there and help him. A lot of players start thinking double then maybe wind up with a triple because the outfielder slips.

Good teams make the playoffs, hot teams win the playoffs.

You've got to make adjustments as you get older.

My dad had been shortstop when he was in college, and you know, when you're a kid, you want to be just like your dad.

I just think that your private life is private. What I do is obviously public, I get that. I get the fact that people are interested. I'm interested in a lot of people as well. I've just chosen to stay as private as possible.

I can have fun anywhere, as long as I'm with good people. But in the offseason, I like to go somewhere warm, a nice spot in the Caribbean.

During the off-season, I go to the movies almost every day.

You know what I want to do? Wake up one weekend and not have to go anywhere and do nothing.

You know, what is team chemistry? My opinion is when you have enough people who care about winning and enough people who losing affects. That's what chemistry means to me. It doesn't necessarily mean you're going to win, but you're going to have enough people on the same page. It's almost impossible, I think, to get everyone on the same page, but it's gotta mean something to you.

It doesn't take talent to work hard.

That's how you win - pitching and defense.

Sneak out when things go good. It bothers me when people have good games and stand in front of their locker waiting for the media, then they have bad games and sneak out the back.

In my opinion, I've had the greatest job in the world. I got a chance to be the shortstop for the New York Yankees, and there's only one of those. And I always felt as though it was my job, was to try to provide joy and entertainment for you guys, but it can't compare to what you brought me. So for that, thank you very much.

I want to own a team one day. You know, that's my next goal.

Surround yourself with good people. People who are going to be honest with you and look out for your best interests.

There may be people who have more talent than you, but there's no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do - and I believe that.

I'm not perfect; no one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. I think you try to learn from those mistakes.

You gotta have fun. Regardless of how you look at it, we're playing a game. It's a business, it's our job, but I don't think you can do well unless you're having fun.

Athletics keeps us healthy, gets us up and running around. It also gives you an opportunity to meet a lot of different people, which is very important.

During the offseason, I go to the movies almost every day. You hear about women buying shoes? I buy DVDs. I definitely have a problem.

If you're going to win games, you're going to have to come up with the big hits. That's the bottom line.

The Yankees have twenty-five heroes.

Our fans don't want to see us win the Wild Card. They want to see us win the division.

It doesn't seem like the season really gets under way until you have your home opener

My grandmother asks me to race down the street, I'm going to try to beat her. And I'll probably enjoy it. Competitive to a fault, sometimes.

You have to take the good with the bad. Some players only talk to the press when they are doing good. When you're doing bad you shouldn't shy away from them and when doing good, don't run up to them.

Defense usually doesn't make many headlines, but it goes a long way towards winning baseball games. There are a number of ways to make an impact during the course of a game, and playing solid, sound defense is one of them.

You're playing a game, whether it's Little League or Game 7 of the Word Series. It's impossible to do well unless you're having a good time. People talk about pressure. Yeah, there's pressure. But I just look at it as fun.

I always try to take from past performances. You never try to get too high or too low. Just play every game, just treat every game like it's the same.

This is why you play - to get an opportunity to play in the playoffs.

I play in New York, man. Criticism is part of the game. You take criticism as a challenge.

Obviously, you're known for what you do. But you still want to be known as a good person. You're a person a lot longer before and after you're a professional athlete.

It doesn't take any talent to play hard.

I try to sign for as many kids as possible. Kids come first, and I'll always sign for a kid before an adult. It's funny, because I was never big into autographs as a kid. The only player who I ever wanted an autograph from was Dave Winfield.

We just want to win. That's the bottom line. I think a lot of times people may become content with one championship or a little bit of success, but we don't really reflect on what we've done in the past. We focus on the present.

The only legacy I want is to be thought of as a winner.

I have the greatest job in the world. Only one person can have it. You have shortstops on other teams - I'm not knocking other teams - but there's only one shortstop on the Yankees.

I'm not one to sit around and be satisfied about something. I can always get better.

So is work ethic. You do things over and over again, and when you get in a situation you like to think it comes natural. I think there has to be a mind-set that you’re not afraid to fail. I’m not afraid to fail. I’ve done it quite a bit. The calmer you are, the more the game slows down for you, and I think part of that is controlling your emotions.

The longer you wait to decide what you want to do, the more time you're wasting. It's up to you to want something so badly that your passion shows through in your actions. Your actions, not your words, will do the shouting for you.

Nine games? It's too long.

I want to play every day. This year will be absolutely no different.

If I'm shifted two steps toward third base and the ball goes up the middle, people say I have no range to my left. That's why those statistics aren't accurate. You're changing for every batter, sometimes with every pitch. You really can't make one statistic for every shortstop. You have to go by what you see.

If you're going to play at all, you're out to win. Baseball, board games, playing Jeopardy, I hate to lose.

When you put a lot of hard work into one goal and you achieve it, that's a really good feeling.

I always take criticism as a challenge. It's the way I've always looked at it.

I get nervous watching teammates. I get nervous for them. Late in the game, pressure situation, I'm nervous for them.

I go into every game thinking I'm going to be the hero. I have to, or I wouldn't enjoy it.

When I was younger, I was always taught not to make excuses.

Work hard, love what you do, put your best foot forward and never forget the kid in you.

One of the best things about being a Yankee is that you have guys like Whitey Ford, Phil Rizzuto, Ron Guidry and Reggie Jackson wandering around the locker room offering you advice.

I'm a New Yorker now, and believe me, there's no comparison between the Big Apple and Kalamazoo, no similarity at all. New York City's hectic, always in fast-forward, and Kalamazoo's more laid-back, smaller, slower.

I like to hit the gym early in the morning. I feel better throughout the day when I get in a workout first thing in the morning.

The guy's (Shane Spencer) ridiculous. No one hits home runs like that. I'm telling you, man, it's ridiculous.

I love it when people doubt me. It makes me work harder to prove them wrong.

The great thing about being a Yankee is that youre always a Yankee.

I think everyone is ticklish. You just gotta find the right spots.

I never think about my own stats, as long as I'm contributing to the team.

So many people are insanely busy nowadays, and it's easy to say, 'Ah, I'll workout tomorrow.' But you have to set aside a time and stick to that schedule.

I will never brag about myself, but my family, I can go on forever.

The big difference for me is that, as I get older, I find it's a lot easier to stay in shape than it is to get back in shape.

I think it comes easy to work hard. I was always taught, don't short-change yourself. Keep working to get better.

You forget about it whether it was 15-2 or 3-2. It's still a loss. It doesn't matter what the score was if we win tomorrow.

God, I hope I wear this jersey forever.

My heroes, my dreams, and my future lay in Yankee Stadium. And they can't take that away from me.

I think there's something wrong with me - I like to win in everything I do, regardless of what it is. You want to race down the street, I want to beat you. If we're playing checkers, I want to win. You beat me, it's going to bother me. I just enjoy competition.

There's responsibility, but there's also accountability. You have to be accountable for your actions. You have to stand at your locker when things are going bad.

You don't just accidentally show up in the World Series.

The last thing you want to do is finish playing or doing anything and wish you would have worked harder.

When it was time for parent-teacher conferences, I remember that I was always embarrassed about what my parents would hear about me!

I like to dance and sing when there's no one around, but, if I'm out, I'm really shy about it. So it takes a lot to get me going, but I enjoy being around music.

The Yankees have strict rules. You can have a mustache but no other facial hair.

The first thing to know about playing baseball in Michigan is, Michigan's really cold.

I think sometimes people need to get used to an idea.

What kind of influence did my parents have on my life? Well, they had the most influence. These are the people who are closest to me. My parents are very positive people. They've been supportive. They're always there.

I've hung out and dated people I've never even met before.

If I put my name on something, I'm going to be involved. I'm not just going to put my name on it and not pay attention.

Your image isn't your character. Character is what you are as a person.

Handle yourself like a professional on the field and you have one goal-and that's to win.

I always hear people say I give the same answers or I don’t give you much. No, I just don’t give you much negativity. When people are negative a lot, it starts to creep into your mind, and then you start having doubts, and I don’t like that. If there’s another way, show me. My job is to stay positive. My job is to limit distractions. And if you get annoyed by that, I don’t expect you to understand because you’re not in my shoes.

My office is at Yankee stadium. Yes, dreams do come true.

For me, when I was a kid, volunteering was the last thing I was thinking about. When I see kids doing it now, it amazes me. It's very impressive, it gives them something productive to do as opposed to getting in trouble. For them to take time out at such a young age is remarkable. I think all kids should take a little time out to volunteer.

In order to lead people, you have to get to know them.

My parents always felt if I worked hard enough I could make any dream come true.

I went to school on Senior Skip Day.

MVP, you could have picked a name out of a hat... we have a group of MVPs. You don't rely on one guy. You have to get contributions from everyone.

I attribute much of my success in New York to my ability to understand and avoid unnecessary distractions.

It's never over. You don't want to be in the position to be down four runs in the ninth inning, but it's not over until the last out.

Sportswriters are what make sports great and fun to watch.

I've been lying to you guys for a long time, saying I wasn't nervous and there's no pressure. There was a lot of pressure to do it here.

I think when things linger, that's when they become a distraction. I don't want any distractions.

I can see how people work out to feel better.

My best vacation is somewhere I could hide, somewhere warm and not a lot of people around.

It doesn't feel different being here (at the All-Star Game) I feel like I'm on an All-Star team everyday.

I try to stay as private as possible; I know that's difficult, especially playing here in New York, but I make an attempt at it.

If you play well on the field, everything will take care of itself.

The one thing I always said to myself was that when baseball started to feel more like a job, it would be time to move forward.

A lot of teams, I think, are just happy to make the post-season. Here, you have to win.

As long as I'm having fun I'm going to play.