“What I appreciate the most are you fans”: Derek Jeter returns to Yankee Stadium for Baseball Hall of Fame celebration

NEW YORK — Friday was a big night at Yankee Stadium as it hosted a homecoming celebration for former Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter.

As CBS2’s Dick Brennan reports, No. 2 was still number one.

“I mean, watching Jeter play from ’96 to 2000… We won every year I was in high school, right? It was, we only knew how to win,” Yankee fan Mike Maresca said.

“He’s been on my TV since I been 8 years old. My dog’s name is Jeter,” fan Gerry Williamson said.

And leave it to Derek Jeter to make a grand entrance. Yankee fans poured on the applause for the former Yankee captain on a night he was honored for having been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

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“In 20 years playing here in New York, the thing I’m most thankful for, most gracious, and what I appreciate the most are all you fans,” Jeter said.

Jeter is admired for being a class act and a first-class winner — five world championships and a highlight reel for the ages.

There was the famous flip and the dive into the stand, all from the man whose World Series heroics made him Mr. November.

But Friday night, adorably, his biggest opponents, if you will, were his daughters as they tried to get his attention while 50,000 fans competed for his.

Later, Brennan asked Jeter how he managed the speech and the kids.

“It must have been a surreal moment for you to have your little ones right around you,” Brennan said.

“I made a deal with them. I said, ‘If you sit in your chair the entire time, I’ll get you ice cream afterwards.’ And she kept hitting me, that’s all she was saying was, ‘Tell them I’m getting ice cream, tell them I’m getting ice cream,'” Jeter said. “They lost the deal, but I’m pretty sure they’re having it right now.”

The fans hope Jeter brings the Yankees good luck. They haven’t won a championship since 2009. That, of course, was when the captain was still at shortstop.