He almost cried on the drive from lower Manhattan to Yankee Stadium. He retreated to the clubhouse between innings to dab at his moist eyes. He stood at shortstop and breathed in and out and peered at his cleats, more evidence that tears were a millisecond from dripping on his pinstriped uniform.

This was Derek Jeter, the coolest of shortstops, on his last day at the Stadium. And, by Jeter's own admission, he was an emotional mess. As much as Jeter had tried to disguise his feelings and act like Thursday night was just another game, he had failed. Miserably. It wasn't another game. It was the last home game, the last time he would ever report to his office at the Stadium.

Jeter has always been the smile-and-have-some-fun superstar, the player who spoke to young fans in the on-deck circle

In Derek Jeter's final days with the Yankees, moments in which he answered questions about whether he would become emotional or remain stoic when his memorable run at Yankee Stadium ended, Jeter offered a subtle reminder of how he has thrived and survived in New York for so long.

"I don't like to complicate things," Jeter said.

Call it a mandate or a rule, but Jeter lived by that simple sentence for his entire career, never letting any situation become too cumbersome and never letting anyone control what he did or what he said. When you are as talented and as confident as Jeter and you refuse to let any type of chaos engulf you, even the chaos that can exist in Yankeeland, you can march at your own pace. Jeter always marched at his own pace.

After the Yankees were eliminated from postseason

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