What made Derek Jeter skip Yankees’ 2025 Old-Timers’ Day? Exploring HOFer's personal reason for missing 2000 WS reunion

The New York Yankees will celebrate the 25th anniversary of their 2000 World Series triumph against cross-town rivals the New York Mets at the annual Old-Timers’ Day in August.

The Yankees will hold the 77th Old Timers' Day on August 9, celebrating the members of the 2000 World Series-winning team. The annual event will also feature a traditional alumni baseball game for the first time since 2019.

While several iconic members of the 2000 Yankees team will attend the event, former captain and Hall of Famer Derek Jeter won't be at Yankee Stadium for the game.

Veteran Yankees broadcaster Suzyn Waldman confirmed the news in an appearance on WFAN, sharing that the former Yankees captain will be celebrating his daughter's birthday instead of attending the event.

While Derek Jeter will miss the event, other notable names set to attend the Old Timers' Day are Mariano Rivera, Joe Torre, and first-time attendees Roger Clemens, Alfonso Soriano, 2000 ALCS MVP David Justice and José Vizcaíno.

Clay Bellinger (Cody Bellinger's father), David Cone, Dwight Gooden, Ramiro Mendoza, Luis Sojo and Mike Stanton are the other members of the 2000 team attending the event.

Derek Jeter snubbed idea of playing on Old Timers' Day

Derek Jeter attended the Old Timers' Day for the second time last year. While the Yankees have not played the alumni game since 2019, Jeter wasn't interested in participating in the game.

“They’re not gonna see me hit again. No, I would be afraid I would hurt myself,” Jeter said at the Q&A last year. “But that’s not saying the reason there’s no game is because I’m not playing. I don’t make those decisions, contrary to your belief.”

Apart from Derek Jeter, former MVP Alex Rodriguez will also not feature at Yankee Stadium on August 9 after attending the event for the first time at last year's Old Timers' Day.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

Know More

Edited by Chaitanya Prakash