Under the Lights and Sell-Out Crowd, The Yankee Shortstop Ends a Career Worth Remembering

He ends his last game as a Yankee in the Bronx with a walk-off single. A perfect set-up to end not only a game, but Derek Jeter's last game as a shortstop at Yankee Stadium. And he did it himself.

He starts with an RBI double in the bottom of the first, collects another in the seventh and slaps the ball the other way in the bottom of the 9th for a game-winning walk-off single, turning Robertson's blown save into the "best blown save."

For twenty seasons, Jeter has always been with Yankees, played shortstop and worn the number 2. He has never been called out of a game.

Tonight, at the stadium, it was his last time in pinstripes. The last time Bob Sheppard announced his name at-bat. The last time Yankee fans got to witness a finale so grand and spectacular.

"It feels like being in your own funeral," Jeter says. "People giving you praise, compliments and admirations. Of course I appreciate them all but at the same time it feels like a part of you is dying if you know what I mean."

Jeter admits he almost broke down to tears at certain times during the game.

"Throughout the game I thought: please don't hit it to me I don't know what's going to happen," he says. "... Had it ended the way it was, I don't how I was going to react. I would've broken into tears. But now that we won this way, I'm excited. Sorry."

When asked about what made him feel the most emotional, he refers to the fans.

"They're all saying 'Thank you, Jeter', but I want to tell them, 'For what?' I'm just trying to do my job. But it means so much.

"The feeling when people say things to you, whether it's at second or the dugout, is when I really get emotional."

During the end of the game, in addition to his current teammates, members of the core four, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, along with Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez and Joe Torre, were on the field congratulating Jeter for a tremendous career in baseball.

Jeter chooses to play in Fenway for the final upcoming games, respecting not only the rivalry but also the fans who want to see him play for the last time.

"Shortstop was his office," Jack Curry says. "[Tonight] he was closing the door to his office."