The Oral History of Derek Jeter's Flip Play: Yankee legend's 'incredible play for the ages'

The rest of us may still gape at the famous “Flip Play” and call it a touchstone moment in Derek Jeter’s career, another example of instinct and a certain undefinable winning something that the Yankees star possessed.

But, even all these years later, Jeter insists he was only doing his job. If a play went awry, like what happened in Game 3 of the AL Division Series on Oct. 13, 2001, the plan, reinforced every spring training, was for him to be in an in-case-of-emergency spot. The setup was nothing more than that. Maybe, Jeter allows, the actual flip was something special.

(Narrator’s voice: It was).

It all took place in the seventh inning with the Yankees ahead, 1-0, in a game they had to have. The Yanks had won three consecutive World Series titles, but they were trailing Oakland in the best-of-five series, two games to none. And the A’s, full of swagger and stars, had won 17 consecutive games at Oakland Coliseum.

With two outs and Jeremy Giambi on first, Terrence Long lashed a ball off Mike Mussina into the right-field corner. In part because Paul O’Neill had been slowed by a foot injury, Shane Spencer was playing right. Giambi tried to score on the extra-base hit.

What happened next changed a series and became one of the most famous plays in baseball history. It left a lingering question, too, one we’ll never know the answer to: What if Giambi had slid?

In light of Wednesday being the 20th anniversary, here’s an up-close look at the Flip Play, its setting and the aftermath in the words of some of the folks involved.

The Lead In

Joe Torre, Yankees manager: We started the series at home and we lost two games. Man. They had not lost at home (since Aug. 24). I remember packing to go out there and I threw a Yogi Berra cap in my bag, ‘It ain’t over ‘til it's over.’ We had a workout on the off-day and the only thing I wanted to get across was, ‘Win one game.’ I know it’s a high mountain to climb, but you win one and now you get in somebody’s head a little bit.”

Johnny Damon, A’s outfielder: We had a fantastic year, even though we finished behind the (116-win) Mariners. We felt like we had the best team in Major League Baseball.

Tino Martinez, Yankees first baseman: That was a really, really good A’s team. They had talent. They just never won. That might’ve been their year.

The 2001 Yankees had finished with 95 wins, seven fewer than the Wild Card A’s. Those Yanks had become, as Jeter later put it, something to look forward to for New Yorkers hurting after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, even if it was only for three hours a day.

The A’s won the first two games at Yankee Stadium, beating Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte. When Long swung, it looked like the A’s were coming alive again. Moments before that, though, some in their dugout were puzzled.

Frank Menechino, A’s infielder: We were wondering why (Oakland manager) Art Howe wasn’t putting in Eric Byrnes to pinch-run. Jeremy had a sore quad.

Damon: Yes, we probably should’ve had Eric Byrnes run. But I know Art Howe wanted Jeremy to hit off Mariano (Rivera) if the game continued. Giambi’s not the swiftest of foot, but he was a tremendous hitter. I agreed with Art Howe.

The Play

Long’s drive got into the right-field corner and Spencer corralled it in foul territory. Jeter moved toward the first-base line as an overthrow fail-safe of sorts and Spencer threw the ball over Alfonso Soriano, the first cutoff man, and Martinez. Jeter grabbed the loose ball and, from foul territory, shoveled it to Jorge Posada. Giambi went in standing and Posada tagged his leg.

Derek Jeter: I’ll tell you, it’s probably the one play I get asked about the most. It’s the one play I see the most. Look, I was where I was supposed to be. I tell people that all the time... after the (Hall of Fame) election, we went to MLB’s studios and Harold Reynolds showed (video of) me in that same area of the field on another play a few years later. That’s something that we worked on in spring training. That’s where I was supposed to be. Actually flipping it to home is not part of the job, but I sort of improvised there at the end. But I was in that area I was supposed to be in and everything worked out for us.

Martinez: To me, it all happened in slow motion. I’m holding the runner on. On top of that, I’m trying to guard the line. It was a bullet inside the line. That was the only place it could get by me. When I set up for the double-cut relay, the second baseman goes out first, I come out as a secondary in case of an overthrow. Spencer airmailed all of us. I didn’t have a chance.

Torre: Even to this day, when people bring up the Flip Play and you tell them we worked on it in spring training, they laugh at you. But we did. The reason is that, on a ball down the right-field line, you’ve got the sure double, where do you go as a shortstop? Really, it’s a freelance on the shortstop to know where the play is going to be. The game is going to dictate. Derek, he’s so good instinctively, with two out and a man on first, you know they’re going to try to score the guy. He came over.

Ron Washington, A’s third-base coach: When Giambi got to third, he (Spencer) was just getting to the ball. The throw missed everyone. Then, all of a sudden, I see Derek Jeter get that ball. The key to that play wasn’t him being in that spot. The key was the flip, going the direction he was going in, not so much that he was there. That flip made the play. Most would’ve tried to flip it directly to the catcher and (Jorge) Posada would’ve had to reach across the right side of his body. But Jeter flipped it to the inside.

Posada's part

Posada is another, less heralded hero on the play and in the game. He homered in the fifth inning for the game’s only run and didn’t bolt from the plate when Spencer’s throw went wild, leaving him in proper position to deliver the tag on an amazing play.

Torre: I give Posada a great deal of credit. It’s so easy, when you see the ball off the mark by so much, to go get it. But he stayed at home. That was the key, other than Derek making the phenomenal play he did.

Martinez: Jorge made a great play. Derek flipped the ball to a spot where Jorge caught it in the air by the plate. If it was higher, waist high or chest high, he’s safe. It was in the only spot where Jorge could make that tag.

In one angle of the replay, Jeter leaps into the view, pumping his fist as Giambi looks back to see Kerwin Danley signaling that he was out.

Martinez: On top of all of it, the umpire made a great call. We didn’t have (instant) replay then. He could’ve called him safe, but he made the perfect call, in the right moment, in the most pressurized situation.

The A’s threat was over. Maybe the game was, too.

Martinez: We won that game right there. The A’s were like, ‘Here we go again’ and we were like, ‘We got this.’ All the years we played, we created our own breaks. We willed our way to win. We pushed ourselves to the point where we expected it.

What about a slide?

Could Giambi have squashed all that, had he slid? Would he have been safe and changed everything? Depends on who you ask.

Torre: I don’t know. That’s a good question. What happens if there’s a collision? I’m not sure. Jorgie may have been able to block the plate.

Damon: I don’t know. Woulda, shoulda, coulda. You just don’t know. I know you’re faster when you stay on your feet.

Martinez: If Giambi slides, he's still out. He did the right thing trying to step around it. He’d have slid into Jorge’s glove.

Jeter: I’ve been asked about Jeremy Giambi, if he would’ve slid, if he would've been safe. Probably. But he didn’t.

The Impact

Rivera indeed came in to pitch, throwing two scoreless innings to protect the slim lead and save a 1-0 victory for Mussina, who allowed just four hits in seven spotless frames. The A’s were still ahead, two games to one, but the series felt wildly different.

Brian Cashman, Yankees general manager: We were hanging by the hair of our chinny-chin-chin. That decided that we would win. No doubt, all the little things add up to something big. He always had a knack and that was one of countless moments.

Torre: Derek was so complete. He never took a day off, mentally. Every day, there were things that impressed you.

Damon: Super heads-up. He was always in the right place at the right time and made an incredible play for the ages. There’s a reason why pitchers want certain guys on the field. Teammates see all that stuff. Yes, you could practice it, but it’s something that comes natural, too, to a guy like Derek Jeter. That took the wind out of our sails and they won three in a row against us.

Menechino: I hate when I watch the highlights of that play. Eric Byrnes would’ve been slapping hands already. Nobody knew about Jeremy’s quad but us. When Arizona won the World Series that year, I thought it should’ve been us. We would’ve beaten them.

The Yankees won Game 4, 9-2, helped by Bernie Williams’ five RBI. They closed out the series with a 5-3 win in Game 5 back in the Bronx. Those A’s never did win the World Series and that play perhaps still jabs deep -- when they honored Jeter with a tribute video in his final visit to Oakland as a player, they did not include the Flip Play.

The Yankees went on to beat the Mariners in five games in the ALCS and seemed headed for a fourth consecutive World Series title, but they blew a three-games-to-two lead against the Arizona Diamondbacks in an exhausting, emotional World Series.

Damon: Looking back, I wish it was us. But if it wasn’t the A’s, I wanted the Yankees to win the World Series because of everything New Yorkers endured on 9/11. It would’ve been a great moment.

The Flip Play endures to this day. If some believe it’s Jeter’s signature play, the man himself is OK with that.

Jeter: I don’t know if I’ve ever looked at one. I think the jump throw, people mention quite a bit. But that was a postseason game and we were on the brink of elimination. Just the fact that we were in the playoffs, I think that made the importance of the play stand out a little bit more. I’m fine with it.