The story of how the Yankees drafted Jeter

In advance of “The Captain”, a seven-part documentary about the career of Derek Jeter that premieres on ESPN after the Home Run Derby on Monday, we are revisiting some of the moments that defined the Hall of Famer’s legendary career. “The Captain” premieres on Monday night (July 18) on ESPN and ESPN+ at 10 pm ET, directly following the Home Run Derby.

The first time Dick Groch saw Derek Jeter on a baseball field, he knew he was watching greatness.

Groch, a scout for the Yankees, first laid eyes on Jeter during the shortstop’s junior year of high school in 1991, still more than a year before he would become draft-eligible.

On his way to Battle Creek, Mich., Groch decided to stop by a talent identification camp to see if any players stood out. Jeter had two ground balls hit in his direction, the first of which he snagged with a nice play to his left, unleashing a strong throw to first base. The second? Jeter made a play to his right, fielding the ball cleanly before making a jump throw that would later become his signature move.

“The arm strength was an above-average arm in both cases; it had good carry with a quick release,” Groch said. “It was most certainly beyond the level that you would expect for a high school junior.”

Jeter went on to take batting practice, and while the session didn’t produce any specific memories for Groch, the scout noticed the way Jeter ran out the final ground ball he hit.

“He ran 4.1 to first base, which was much above average in terms of our grading system,” Groch said. “I knew he could field, he could throw and he could run; that became very apparent very quickly.”

A coach from Michigan State was standing next to Groch at the time, telling the scout, “Boy, I’ve got to send some material out to this player.’” Groch looked at him and replied, “Save your postage; I don't think that's going to do you much good.”

Jeter, of course, eventually committed to the University of Michigan, but Groch continued to scout him, believing he was a top-of-the-draft talent.

Groch continued to scout Jeter, but always from afar, not wanting the shortstop to know he was there – and trying to protect the Yankees’ interest in the player.

• Full broadcast schedule for “The Captain”

“My philosophy is once I get a good feel for the player, I did not like for him to know that I was at the park,” Groch said. “I'm at the park, but he can't see me.”

“I knew who he was, knew that he was the scout for the Yankees,” Jeter told Yankees Magazine in 2017, “because I played with a guy on a summer team that was drafted by the Yankees, but hadn't signed. So he was following him around. But he left me alone. I never had a conversation with him.”

Already confident in Jeter’s abilities on the field, Groch wanted to know more. How did he handle failure? How did he relate to his teammates? You can’t learn those things from statistics, so Groch found himself paying more attention to Jeter in the dugout than he did on the diamond.

The smile rarely left Jeter’s face, and on at least one occasion, Groch saw Jeter apologizing to teammates after making a bad play.

“He knew something had happened, but he knew they would get through it,” Groch said. “What's the difference between that and him playing at Yankee Stadium? How many times did you seen him go out to shortstop position after popping out and have a big smile on his face? Over 162 games, you need that temperament.”

But the Yankees, who had the No. 6 pick in the 1992 Draft, had some concerns. First, would Jeter even fall outside of the top five? Second -- and at that time, more important -- was whether George Steinbrenner would allow the Yankees to select player out of high school.

“We were not high-school oriented,” Groch said. “Mr. Steinbrenner was quite tentative about voting for a high school selection. We went around the room and talked to the six evaluators; they all said ‘Jeter.’ All six of them were in concert that he should be our No. 1 pick. It’s one of those situations where you're saying, ‘I guess we better be right, because we have a consensus that this is a guy we should take.’

Then there was the college situation. Jeter had committed to Michigan, but Groch assured the Yankees on a prophetic conference call, “He's not going to the University of Michigan. The only place Derek Jeter is going is Cooperstown.

The Astros selected 3B Phil Nevin from Cal State Fullerton with the first pick; their scouting director preferred Jeter, but Nevin was going to cost Houston less money, prompting them to take Nevin first overall.

Cleveland took North Carolina RHP Paul Shuey at No. 2, Mississippi State LHP B.J. Wallace went No. 3 to the Expos, then Stanford OF Jeffrey Hammonds was selected at No. 4 by the Orioles.

The Reds were all that stood between the Yankees and Jeter, and as Groch recalled, Cincinnati “seemed to be spending the most time with the player.”

Yet when the pick came in, the Reds took Central Florida OF Chad Mottola at No. 5.

“From what I was told, it was an economic situation,” Groch said. “The high school player was going to cost him more than Chad Mottola; the scout that had that area was absolutely shocked that they did not make Jeter their choice ahead of us.”

The Yankees selected Jeter at No. 6, thrilled to have landed the guy their scouts had unanimously recommended.

“Derek Jeter was the best athlete available when we had the opportunity to select,” the club said. “We feel that in due time he will become a front-line shortstop in the Major Leagues.”

Jeter proved to be much more than that, fulfilling Groch’s prediction with a Hall of Fame career that made him one of the best players ever to wear the pinstripes.

“I was overjoyed obviously, because the type of player and the category that I put him in, I thought he was going to be special, special, special in a number of categories,” Groch said. “I was elated.”

BROADCAST SCHEDULED FOR THE CAPTAIN

Premiere on ESPN & ESPN+

Ep. 1: Monday, July 18, 10 p.m. ET after Home Run Derby

2: Thursday, July 21, 9 p.m. ET

3: Thursday, July 28, 9 p.m. ET

4: Thursday, July 28, 10 p.m. ET

5: Thursday, August 4, 9 p.m. ET

6: Thursday, August 4, 10 p.m. ET

7: Thursday, August 11, 10 p.m. ET