It would be a whole lot easier to figure out what hasn’t been said about Derek Jeter over the last twenty plus years.  Countless books have been written, articles printed and in New York the television coverage was never scarce.  Everyone has opinions of Jeter for better or worse, but it really is almost impossible to deny what he brought to the table day after day.  If you take away the fact that he played for the New York Yankees, he still would be a first ballot Hall of Famer.  With all that has been written about Derek Jeter, Danny Peary has taken a unique approach at looking at both the player on the field and the man behind the legend.

Not wanting to take the ordinary approach to celebrating Derek Jeter, Peary has assembled a compilation of his life and career in quotes.  Tidbits from everyone around him or having some sort of contact with Jeter, it produces a very unique story that is weaved sentence by sentence.  It gives a better result than that of a standard biography of the player, in the fact that in the end, you know so much more about the player and understand what makes him tick.  You can always learn a lot about a person by what those around him feel about him.

The author has pulled quotes from friends, family, other players, managers, scouts, writers, coaches, teachers, celebrities, fans and critics.  It wasn’t like he was trying to pull a select few people who would give the best quotes and allow him to paint a happy picture.  He pulled from every source available and created a tapestry that shows the complete picture of Derek Jeter.  The book is broken up into different chapter that lend a natural progression to Jeter’s life and career and help the reader follow a continuous timeline.

This is by-far the most unique approach I have come across on a book about a player.  I am not sure you would call it a biography, but I don’t think it necessarily fits well in other categories.  The approach is very refreshing and honestly enjoyable, because it allows the reader to see different information about a player that we all know so much about.  I am  not sure this approach would work for many other players.  The New York media has brought so much information forth about Jeter that it has helped create the marketing machine that is Derek Jeter in our society.

Danny Peary has done a great job with this.  It was unique and a much welcomed change in the player biography arena for me.  I really enjoyed it and think those who are not fans of the New York Yankees will even enjoy it.  The quotes keep it moving at a quick pace and present information about both the man and player without getting bogged down in cumbersome details.

Check out this book, I don’t think fans will be disappointed

Baseball Immortal Derek Jeter

Happy Reading

Gregg