Yankees Insider: "Ali tops Jeter's All-Star memories...Shortstop spent time with legendary boxer during '04 event" -- July 3, 2007

By Caleb Breakey/MLB.com


NEW YORK -- It might look like padding for an already impressive resume, but when Derek Jeter arrives in San Francisco for his eighth All-Star Game, it will be because he's still playing his heart out -- putting together gritty at-bats, racking up highlight reels with his glove and, most important, making memories that last a lifetime.

Jeter, who received 3,199,571 fan votes and will start for the American League squad for the third time in his career, has plenty of Midsummer Classic memories, but one stands out above them all. It occurred in Houston, during the 2004 All-Star Game.

Jeter didn't care so much about the performance he turned in that day, a 3-for-3 showing at the plate. Sure, the hits were nice, and he became the most successful hitter in All-Star Game history with at least 10 at-bats -- not to mention the fact that he was the first Yankees shortstop elected to start the All-Star Game since Bucky Dent did so in 1981 -- but the real thrill came with a "hello."

Jeter extended a greeting to the man who, in a ring, floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee. There at Minute Maid Park in 2004, Muhammad Ali was involved with throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.

Jeter recalled the moment while leaning back in a chair in the Yankees clubhouse. As he grinned a can't-hold-back smile, Jeter related saying, "'I've got to meet him.' "

Well, he did more than that. Ali shadow-boxed Jeter, throwing some playful jabs toward the shortstop.

"I was scared," Jeter said at the time, smiling. "I didn't want to get hit."

Though the two couldn't converse because of Ali's health, Jeter remembered that brief moment as his most memorable All-Star experience.

Both All-Star teams gathered near the front of the mound around the legendary boxer, and the crowed chanted, "Ali, Ali, Ali."

Jeter said that meeting Ali was much like the few times he'd met, or simply seen, Joe DiMaggio. He was afraid of talking with DiMaggio when he saw the legend walk through the Yankees clubhouse, and the same went for Ali.

"[I was] drawn back, too intimidated to meet him," Jeter said then.

Still, Jeter and Ali met, if only for a few playful punches and eye contact. It was a thrill Jeter won't soon forget.

"That was a pretty special memory for me," he said. "Meeting Ali was something else."