The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter by Ian O'Connor Read Free Book Online Page B

as a scout.
    He knew a star when he saw one.
    “When you look in the window of a jewelry store,” Groch said, “it doesn’t take long to see that big ring. If you’ve been in it as long as I had, you know the difference between going to the Kentucky Derby and the county fair.”
    Groch could not help himself. The young shortstop inspired the veteran scout to empty his considerable bag of metaphors.
    “You travel so many highway miles to see players who have this flaw, or that flaw,” Groch said, “that you figure somebody’s got to be able to play this game. And then you walk into a ballpark one day and see it all, and you know it right away.
    “Seeing Derek Jeter was seeing the personification of athleticism, the dynamics of energy. The ease with which he did things, the acrobatic way he moved his feet, the hands as soft as melting butter. This was Fred Astaire at shortstop.”
    Groch thought Ken Griffey Jr. was the best high school player he had ever scouted, and he put Jeter right there with Junior, who was more physically developed when he was Derek’s age. Durability had been a question with Jeter, who did not even weigh 160 pounds, and Groch decided to see for himself if that question had merit.
    He watched Jeter play four weekend games for the Maroons in oppressive July heat. “And his body remained alive; it was catlike quick,” Groch said. “There was no sluggishness in his movements.”
    Groch tracked his blue-chipper all over Michigan. Sometimes the scout would watch Jeter from down the right-field line—“halfway in the woods,” Groch said—just to see if Derek played hard all the time, or only when he thought the big leagues were watching.
    Groch believed Jeter knew his identity, and which team he represented, even if the scout stayed clear of Zomer and avoided contact with the kid. So sometimes Groch would watch Jeter have a bad at-bat in the first inning, leave the field, and secretly watch the rest of the game from his car.
    After Jeter returned from his injured ankle, Groch was on the way to an assignment in Columbus, Ohio, when his boss, Yankees scouting director Bill Livesey, stopped him in his tracks.
    “Don’t you know Jeter’s team is playing?” Livesey asked.
    “Bill, it’s supposed to snow in Kalamazoo this weekend and Jeter’s not playing on that ankle.”
    “Well, that’s our kid, so you’d better go over and sit on him.”
    And sit on him Dick Groch did. The scout ultimately filled out a detailed report on Jeter for the Yankees to review, a report that read like this:
Long lean sinewy body. Long arms, long legs narrow waist, thin ankles. Live “electric” movements.
Above avg. arm, quick rel., accurate throws with outstanding carry. Soft hands, good range, active feet. Very good runner, 4.33 (R); 4.41 (R); Flow on the bases. Shows pwr potential. Quick bat.
Anxious hitter, needs to learn to be more patient at the plate. Swing slightly long.
“A Yankee”! A Five-tool player. Will be a ML Star! +5!!
    Groch classified Jeter as a pull hitter. He ranked Derek’s dedication, agility, and emotional maturity as “excellent”; his aptitude, habits, and coachability as “good”; and his physical maturity as “fair.”
    A scouting report score of 80 would be considered perfect, Groch said, “but getting anyone into the 60s is almost unheard of on the amateur level.” He gave Jeter a raw score of 59 and an overall future potential grade (OFP) of 64.
    But Groch preferred to focus on the narrative of a scouting report rather than the overall grade. Three scouts filed reports on Jeter to the Major League Scouting Bureau: Jim Terrell, an area scout; Dick Colpaert, a regional cross-checker; and Carroll Sembera, a national cross-checker.
    Terrell described Jeter as a “straight away” hitter. He gave Jeter an OFP score of 59.9, compared his physique to that of “a young Mark Belanger,” and was more impressed with Derek’s “tap dancer feet” than he was discouraged by an