Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Captain’ on ESPN+, Yankees Legend Derek Jeter’s Version Of ‘The Last Dance’

Sports stars always seem bigger in the bright lights of New York City, and for two decades few shone as bright as the Yankees’ shortstop, Derek Jeter. In The Captain, a new seven-part documentary miniseries debuting on ESPN and ESPN+ this week, Jeter gets his chance at the in-depth biography film treatment some of his superstar peers have gotten lately. With interviews from some of the biggest names in his career, we get a close look at the Yankees’ captain on and off the field.

THE CAPTAIN: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A 4 train rolls overhead on the subway tracks near Yankee Stadium, and we see fans trekking in to the ballpark. In voiceover, Derek Jeter talks about how baseball’s felt important to him ever since Opening Day parades in Little League. We see a roaring Yankee Stadium crowd both tearfully and joyously greeting him as he prepares to come to bat in the final game of his career, coming to a roaring crescendo as a recording of longtime Yankees PA announcer, the late Bob Sheppard, heralds “number two, Derek Jeter”.

The Gist: Derek Jeter’s baseball career is impossible to ignore. Over the course of 20 seasons with the New York Yankees, Jeter played an integral part in five World Series titles, was named to fourteen All-Star teams, broke 3,000 hits and finished as the Yankees’ career leader in hits, doubles, stolen bases, games played, at-bats and time on base. He became synonymous with postseason clutch play, and his face was as recognizable as any in baseball for a generation–but how much do we know about the man behind the accolades? In The Captain, ESPN’s top-notch documentary filmmakers give Jeter’s life and career the in-depth treatment only a few other athletes have earned.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? There’s no discussing a multi-episode athlete documentary without discussing The Last Dance, ESPN’s 2020 love letter to NBA superstar Michael Jordan. While that remains the gold standard of the genre, others have gotten the treatment, including Man In The Arena for the NFL’s Tom Brady. This is Jeter’s turn to get that same kind of straightforward, in-depth hagiography.

Our Take: It’s hard to remember a time when Derek Jeter wasn’t a household name, but we have proof that there was one.

Growing up in a cold-weather town in Kalamazoo, Michigan–not exactly a hotbed of major league talent–the scrawny young Jeter’s proclamations that he’d one day play shortstop for the New York Yankees could’ve been easily written off as the head-in-the-clouds dreaming of a unrealistic kid. Supported by his parents, who pressed on him to work harder and stick to his plans, Jeter rose to the top of the high school rankings, but was overlooked by the first five teams in the MLB amateur draft in favor of college players. Once his name was finally called by the Yankees sixth overall, the official reading off the pick mispronounced his name. A few months later, in a news report covering his first workout at Yankee Stadium, his name appears in a chyron as “Derrick Jeter”.

Fresh out of high school, Jeter struggled in his first season in the minors–recalling arriving in low-A Greensboro and getting the cold shoulder from Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada, future teammates and (along with Jeter and Mariano Rivera) members of the Yankees’ dynasty “Core Four.” He committed an astonishing 56 errors his first season in A ball, but Yankees GM Gene Michael–handed control of the team thanks to MLB’s suspension of notoriously-meddlesome Yankees owner George Steinbrenner–remained patient, faithful in his assessment of Jeter’s potential.

People would learn to pronounce and spell his name soon, and Michael’s confidence would prove well-founded.

He quickly tore through the minors, and was named minor league player of the year in 1994, earning his big-league debut in 1995. Inactive but present for the Yankees��� return to the postseason for the first time since 1981, Jeter got a bitter taste of playoff baseball, watching New York’s heartbreaking loss to the Seattle Mariners, who came back from a 2-0 series deficit. A shake-up before the 1996 saw manager Buck Showalter replaced with Joe Torre, and rumors swirled that Jeter might be traded, but starting shortstop Tony Fernandez broke his arm in spring training, earning Jeter the Opening Day start at shortstop. He’d never look back, and the Yankees’ run to the World Series championship that year set a dynasty in motion.

The whole documentary is slickly-crafted, with interviews from all the key players–Jeter, his family, teammates, opponents, front-office and media members–practically no one is missing. ESPN’s made something to rival The Last Dance or Man In The Arena here, and it’s hard to argue that Jeter doesn’t deserve it.

Sex and Skin: ESPN always keeps it family friendly, so there’s no sex here. Though, there is a forceful denunciation in a later episode of the longtime rumor that Jeter would give out gift baskets to one-night stands.

Parting Shot: The Yankees–Jeter included–sulk after their loss to Seattle in the 1995 ALDS. They’ve come close, but they’ve fallen short. It’s the calm before the storm, with viewers well aware that the next season will start an incredible run for both Jeter and the Yankees dynasty.

Sleeper Star: The show’s all about Derek Jeter, but getting to meet his parents, Dorothy and Dr. Charles Jeter, is a real treat and a chance to humanize the larger-than-life player.

Most Pilot-y Line: “If he wants to dream, who am I to tell him he can’t be a baseball player?” Dorothy Jeter recalls, reminiscing about a fifteen-year-old Derek’s proclamations that he would one day be the shortstop for the New York Yankees. “When teachers or friends say, ‘hey, you’ve gotta feed these kids realistic thoughts’, I’m like ‘what the heck are you talking about?”

Our Call: STREAM IT. If you love baseball–whether you love or hate the Yankees–The Captain is a treat, a worthy summary of one of the most important players of a generation.

Scott Hines is an architect, blogger and proficient internet user based in Louisville, Kentucky who publishes the widely-beloved Action Cookbook Newsletter.