Derek Jeter - The Life You Imagine: Life Lessons for Achieving Your Dreams

To my parents, who gave me the best of both worlds.
To my sister, whose complete honesty helps to keep me grounded.
To my grandmother, for taking me to my first Yankee game and much more.
To my friends, who have supported me.

In remembrance
To Grandfather Connors, who taught me the value of hard work.
To Grandmother Jeter, who through my father taught us the meaning of family.
Derek Jeter

For Pamela, you are my inspiration and my infatuation.
For Mom and Dad, you are still with me every day.
Jack Curry

This book would not have been possible without the assistance of several people:

I want to thank my father and my agent, Casey Close, for encouraging me to share some of my early life lessons that will be beneficial to children and young adults.

I want to thank Jack Curry, for helping me organize my words to share my lessons in a creative manner.

To my coaches, teammates, teachers, friends, and family, who took the time to participate in this projectthank you.

And thanks to my editor, Kristin Kiser, for her patience and guidance.

Derek Jeter

I want to thank Pamela, my wife, for helping guide me through this project, as she does through my life; Rob, my brother, for introducing me to baseball and reading every word I write; Faith Hamlin, my agent, for a soothing, reassuring voice when progress came slowly; Kristin Kiser, the books editor, for a blend of enthusiasm and realism; Mrs. O. and the rest of my family, for listening and caring; Ian, Kyle, and Shane, my nephews, for always making me smile, even on deadline.

I also want to thank the New York Times for granting me the opportunity to work on this book. Neil Amdur, Buster Olney, Bill Brink, Carl Nelson, Jay Schreiber, and Fred Bierman offered advice or assistance. And, finally, thanks to Derek and Mr. and Mrs. Jeter, for their class and cooperation.

Jack Curry

had on a new, gray World Series T-shirt and a new, tan World Series cap and both were soaked as I tried wriggling through the tangle of sweaty bodies in our champagne-drenched clubhouse after the Yankees won another Championship in October of 1999. It was our second title in a row and our third in four years. Man, that night I felt like I was living in baseball nirvana. I didnt want that moment to end. I would have been content sleeping in our clubhouse.

It was steamy and crowded and loud, sort of like being in the sauna while waiting for the D train during rush hour. I couldnt dodge my teammates without getting doused with more champagne, more beer, and more hugs. Our lockers were encased with sheets of plastic to protect our street clothes from getting totally saturated. We should have wrapped ourselves in plastic, too. There were probably 200 reporters and dozens of photographers and TV camera operators moving around the clubhouse, so trudging even 30 feet without getting jostled took a lot of time and a lot of determination.

But I had the time and the determination because I was on a mission. I finally made it around the maze of bodies and bottles to the black clubhouse door, poked my head through it, and heard dozens of people hollering. They reached out for me and they hollered some more. I might have shaken some hands or slapped some high-fivesI dont remember. I know I was focused on something else. I looked left, I looked right, and then I saw them. I spotted my beaming parents patiently waiting with the other families and friends of players in the chilly hallway, minutes after their son had helped the Yankees win another World Series.

Everything was a blur and Im not sure how I got to them, but I must have climbed over a few people and nudged aside a few others. My parents eyes were moist when I reached them, still clutching a bottle of champagne. We never said anything about what had happened against the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 that night because we didnt have to. I didnt need to remind them about my childhood dream at that moment. We squeezed each other, knowing what this amazing journey meant for us, acknowledging where it had all started, without saying a word. Our hugs were real tight. They spoke for us.

I felt really lucky that night and I feel really lucky to be where I am today. I get to play the game I love in the most incredible city in the world. Im young, Im healthy, I have a terrific family, and I feel blessed that the Yankees have such great fans. New York is a great place to play baseball, maybe the best, and when I walk around Manhattan or get to the stadium in the Bronx I feel the amazing energy of this city.

I never thought about fans or endorsement deals or anything else like that when I dreamed of being a major leaguer as a kid. When I dreamed, it was only about playing on the field. The game-winning hits, the diving plays, the winning. Thats what mattered to me then and thats still what matters to me the most today. I love to play and I love to win. The other niceties that come with being a Yankee are special, but theyre window dressing compared to playing and winning. Thats what my life is about and what I want it to be about. This is the life Ive always imagined.

I wouldnt be a Yankee today if it werent for the guidance I received from my parents. Here they are with me at age 11you cant miss the Yankees cap!

Im not going to boast about being the shortstop on a team that has won three of the last four World Series Championships, but it does feel good. Im not going to tell you that as a 26-year-old multimillionaire who still has all of his hair, all of his teeth, and can get dates I have a perfect life, but its good. Im not going to tell you that you should want to be like me, because everyone should want to be their own person, but I assure you that its fun to be me.

What I do want to tell you is that Im proud of where I am and how I got to this stage in my life, and I think theres a way for everyone to benefit from all that I have experienced while making it to my dream. Im proud of the guidance my parents gave me in helping me determine the best ways to methodically move closer and closer to my dream, and Im proud of how Ive worked to reach that dream and to maintain it. For me, the dream of being a baseball player is a daily challengenot only living that dream but ensuring that it stays alive.

Now my dream might not coincide with your dreams. You may dream about being a detective, a teacher, or the president of the United States. But I think what Ive learned along the way to becoming shortstop for the Yankees are things that can be applied to achieving any goal. Were not just talking baseball herewere talking about life, about realizing goals, and about living dreams, no matter what they are.

A lot of people have wondered about how I have achieved my goals. Did I have a game plan while I was growing up? The answer is yes and no. Ive thought a lot about this and realized there were 10 guiding principles, 10 lessons that helped get me to where I am today. Of course I didnt realize while growing up that I was following these 10 lessons. I came up with the idea of these steps later in life. But though I wasnt conscious that I was following any master plan, I did take my direction from my parents, who really gave me guidance on how to live my life. I didnt have the luxury of having these steps all spelled out for me in the way Im presenting them to you. My parents are pretty organized but they werent