Derek Jeter finally joined the social media world Tuesday, creating Twitter and Instagram profiles. As of Tuesday evening, the former New York Yankees shortstop has amassed over 270,000 followers combined on both platforms. Jeter’s Twitter account only has a few tweets at the time of this writing, but one of them was a quote retweet that poked fun at a tweet from 2014, where a user claimed he had no excuse not to have a profile.
Looks like I’ve officially run out of excuses. https://t.co/DQwmgjU9jW
— Derek Jeter (@derekjeter) May 31, 2022
Jeter gained roughly 50,000 Twitter followers within the first hour of creating his account. Some former teammates reached out to welcome him to the Twitterverse, including Alex Rodriguez and CC Sabathia.
Welcome to Twitter, Captain! #2 https://t.co/74JMRqbP7h
— Alex Rodriguez (@AROD) May 31, 2022
I see you bro @DerekJeter!! 🙌🏾 https://t.co/adDSGE01YS
— CC Sabathia (@CC_Sabathia) May 31, 2022
More celebrities and even sports teams gave Jeter a friendly welcome on Twitter and Instagram, including the Yankees, the University of Michigan baseball team, Baseball Hall of Famer Rod Carew, music producer Timbaland and Brazilian soccer star Ronaldinho and his wife, Hannah.
Hey Yankees Fans! Let’s welcome #TheCaptain to Twitter! @derekjeter 👊 pic.twitter.com/VqaomxaEu5
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 31, 2022
Welcome @derekjeter https://t.co/Vaj8SFaN67
— Rod Carew (@RodCarew_29) May 31, 2022
Welcome to Twitter, @derekjeter!
🐐 #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/RSWm2aA0Ew— Michigan Baseball (@umichbaseball) May 31, 2022
Despite the welcomes Jeter received on Twitter, Instagram was where the 47-year-old was most active on Tuesday, engaging with his new followers in an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session. When asked what his favorite memory as a Yankee was, Jeter referred to the years 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009 — the seasons he won the World Series with the team. He revealed the toughest pitcher he faced during his career was the late Roy Halladay, and he named Pedro Martinez as the best pitcher he’s gone against.
When asked about his activities since retirement, Jeter mentioned he’s been “chasing around” two little girls: his 5-year-old and 3-year old daughters, Bella Raine and Story Grey. He’s also on diaper duty, as he has a six-month-old daughter named River Rose. He showed a playground set in the background, emphasizing that he spends “a lot of time” there with his daughters.
Jeter also spoke on his relationship with fellow “Core Four” members Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte. His relationship with them is still close, he said, and that they will “always be like brothers” to him.
So what made Jeter finally join social media? He admitted it should have happened sooner, but he explained that he wants to use social media as a way to share some of his upcoming projects and what his foundation, Turn 2, is doing. Jeter also spoke about his forthcoming documentary, “The Captain,” premiering July 18 on ESPN and ESPN+. He revealed that 70 people had been interviewed and hope fans “enjoy the insight.”