Derek Jeter is everybody’s No. 2

It was in the Bronx — in Yankee Stadium — that, in 1996, a rookie from Kalamazoo, down in the count, hit a line drive past Nomar Garciaparra to drive in the winning run against the Red Sox.

And where, in the first game of the American League Championship Series that same year, Jeter drove a ball into deep right field. A 12-year-old named Jeffrey Maier, leaning over the wall, snagged the ball. It was ruled a home run.

It was where, in 1999, he tied the first game of the American League Championship Series against Boston.

And, in 2000, he threw home at the end of the sixth inning to nail the Mets’ Timo Pérez at the plate.

And where, in 2001, in a division series against the A’s, he leaped and twisted his body over the left field line, catching a foul ball and falling into the crowd.

“This kid is as good as they come,” said Oakland manager Art Howe after the game.

And where, in late 2001, with the Yanks contending for their fourth straight World Series, he homered to give the team its second win of the fall classic against Arizona.

And where, in the 12th inning of a classic against Boston in 2004, he made a spectacular catch that would come to be called The Dive. He flew into the crowd, cutting up his face, but giving the Yankee faithful an immortal display of grit.

And where, in 2009, in the new Yankee Stadium this time, he passed Lou Gehrig to become the all-time hits leader of the most celebrated franchise in professional sports.

And where, in 2011, he notched his 3,000th hit, joining a fraternity more elite than the Presidents of the United States.

And the Bronx is where, in September 2013, he and Andy Pettitte walked to the mound to pull Mariano Rivera from his last game in pinstripes.

Now, it is Derek Jeter’s turn to soak in the adulation of the thousands of kids he inspires, and of the boys and girls who, in his 20 years in pinstripes, have grown up to have children of their own, and of so many more, as, weather permitting, he plays his last game in the House that Ruth Built and Jeter kept in tip-top shape.

Thanks, Cap, not only for the victories, not only for the memories, but for the inspiration all along the way.