He’s Jeter the Tweeter.
Baseball Hall of Famer Derek Jeter, known for doing things with style, made his long-awaited Twitter debut Tuesday with a blue check and a hilarious quip. The former New York Yankees shortstop, who was inducted into the Cooperstown museum in 2020, made his first tweet a response to someone named Jeffrey Guity, who tweeted, “Derek Jeter has no excuse not to have a Twitter account by now” all the back on December 9, 2014.
“Looks like I’ve officially run out of excuses,” Jeter finally replied under a profile describing himself as a “sleep-deprived father to three amazing girls.”
Looks like I’ve officially run out of excuses. https://t.co/DQwmgjU9jW
— Derek Jeter (@derekjeter) May 31, 2022
The 47-year-old Yankee luminary quickly amassed over 275,000 followers and was welcomed to the platform by fans and former teammates including Alex Rodriguez and C.C. Sabathia.
“Welcome to Twitter, Captain! #2,” tweeted Rodriguez.
“I see you bro @DerekJeter!!” wrote Sabathia.
Jeter, who joined Instagram on the same day, seems likely to have joined at least in part to promote “The Captain,” the upcoming, multi-part ESPN documentary about him. In his storied career, Jeter led his team to five World Series championships, batted .310 with 3,465 hits, and 1,923 runs scored and was a 14-time all-star. After hanging up his spikes, he was part owner and CEO of the Miami Marlins, where success eluded him. He recently stepped down from the role and sold his stake in the team.
On Tuesday, he was nearly as productive on the platform as he once was at the plate, authoring a flurry of funny tweets. When The Players’ Tribune tweeted a boyhood photo of Jeter at bat, with a question about his 1980s haircut, Jeter had his answer ready.
“Since you’re here now, can we get answers? @derekjeter,” the Tribune account tweeted. “Mullet or tree?”
Jeter answered that his youthful barbershop inspiration was R&B singer Ralph Tresvant.
It’s my hair but it’s a shag… a Ralph Tresvant shag. https://t.co/M55MMeyBVk
— Derek Jeter (@derekjeter) May 31, 2022
Jeter even engaged in some good-natured trolling, asking Hollywood star and noted fan of the Yankees’ arch-rival Boston Red Sox Mark Wahlberg for a favor.
“Hey @markwahlberg, let me know if you need an extra in the next movie,” Jeter tweeted.
Wahlberg replied with skepticism about Jeter’s ability to pull off a convincing Boston accent.
Jeter closed out the day with a clip of him in his playing days, congratulating a teammate in the dugout.
“Made it through my first day on Twitter,” he wrote.