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Jeter's greatness on display By Peter Gammons Special to ESPN.com NEW YORK -- Watching the postseason every year, I find compelling reasons to pick Derek Jeter to be the American League MVP the following season. When you see the Yankee shortstop play everyday, you realize he's one of the greatest players of all time. Sure, Jeter hit solo home runs in the final two World Series games and earned the MVP award. But he does all the little things. Some Mets players said one amazing thing about Jeter was that when the Yankees won Game 1 on Jose Vizcaino's 12th-inning single, Jeter was the first guy over the dugout screen, on the field and out to home plate. Mets reliever Turk Wendell said, "How many superstars are the first guy to home plate?" But that's typical Jeter, who is like Ruth, Mantle and DiMaggio were for the Yankees, but in a different way. Now that the Yankees have three in a row and four in five years, it's not their last hurrah. They still have Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Bernie Williams, Roger Clemens, Mariano Rivera and Mike Stanton. Plus, every knows they will go out and get one of the biggest free agents. It might be the end of the line for certain players like Paul O'Neill or Tino Martinez. But then they can sign a player like Manny Ramirez. The Yankees will retool, but while they may have more ability next year or the year after, they may never have a team that pitched better together or has a bigger heart than this year's champions. That's what we all celebrate about the Yankees. The rest of the country would love to hate the Yankees, but except for Clemens' bat-throwing incident in Game 2, they never gave anybody anything to hate about them. They carry themselves with such dignity. When Jeter hit the home run in Game 5, he never looked up. He beat Al Leiter and tied the game, yet there was no showboating or histrionics. Jeter just put his head down and showed respect. It was almost as if Jeter were saying, "I was lucky to hit this home run." That's the team's personality, and the Yankee way. O'Neill once said this team was taught by Don Mattingly. And now the future Yankee teams will be taught by Jeter. Hopefully, they will all stay together and continue to play the same professional way. Final World Series thoughts:
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