It was time to go. Security said so.
Tina Stawinski struggled to leave her seat at Yankee Stadium. That would signal the end. That would mean there was nothing left but memories. That would cement the reality that just seconds after watching one of Derek Jeter’s most thrilling moments — a career-capping, walk-off hit on Sept. 25, 2014 — she’d never see her favorite player in action again.
The Yankees would lose their captain. Innumerable fans would lose an icon and an idol.
“My childhood was over then,” Stawinski said. “In sports, every kid has that one guy and Derek was that guy. I grew up watching him, and then, that’s it. My guy is done. The leader of this team, that’s it.
“I will always be a Yankees fan forever, no matter what, diehard. It’s just, something’s missing. I feel like that heart and that fire is really missing. I think they’re trying to find it. I hope eventually it comes around, but there’s never gonna be a Jeter that sparks the team like he did. It’s never gonna be the same.”
Stawinski, 34, ranks among Jeter’s most passionate fans, far more devoted to the player who retired seven years ago than anyone in Aaron Boone’s lineup.
She will be among countless like-minded souls in Cooperstown for Jeter’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony, taking one more opportunity to thank him for two decades in pinstripes.
“He deserves to have his fans be there and have the best experience possible and take a look at everything he has accomplished,” Stawinski said. “It’s like the closing of the book and I get to be there for it.”
Her New Jersey home is a shrine to the Jersey-born shortstop. It is filled with his merchandise, collectibles, pictures and newspaper clippings.
Her affection for the most beloved Yankee since Mickey Mantle began because she was born on Feb. 2. She “would fight anyone” on her softball teams for the right to wear No. 2.
“I think he made me have a competitive and winning attitude, and watching him definitely helped how I went about sports,” Stawinski said. “He was someone I wanted to be. I saw how hard he played, how he played hurt and I really admired that, that he was team-first and didn’t care about his personal achievements.”
Her loyalty grew as Jeter amassed 3,465 hits, five World Series rings and 14 All-Star Game appearances.
But her support was forever solidified when a 22-year-old rookie helped a 9-year-old girl overrun by fans seeking Jeter’s autograph outside the old Stadium.
“The barricades were up, I’m in the front and everybody starts pushing and I’m getting squished, and my mom is yelling, ‘There is a little kid up here. Stop!’” Stawinski said. “He saw it right before he was about to go inside and he came over and asked everybody to stop pushing. He asked me if I was OK and he signed a People Magazine picture for me, my hat and a baseball for my sister. He was super nice and made sure I was alright. That was the day. That sealed it for me.”
Stawinski would cross paths with Jeter again. First, upon receiving pre-game field passes in Seattle.
“You’re not supposed to talk to the players, they told you, so I didn’t, but I was trying to get noticed a little bit,” Stawinski said. “He was batting and he turned around and I kind of made a camera hand gesture to get a picture, and he said, ‘OK, when I’m done with batting practice.’ I’m like, ‘Oh my god, he’s gonna come over.’ He came over and he was so nice and we took it.”
A few years later, Stawinski suffered a work-related traumatic brain injury, prompting her grandfather to lift her spirits by getting tickets to a meet-and-greet with Jeter.
“We talked for a couple seconds and I said, ‘I’m going back out to Seattle and he said, ‘I’ll remember,’” Stawinski said. “That same year, he threw me a ball, came over to me and asked how I was doing. He said, ‘Hi Tina,’ and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. He remembered my name.’ It’s the little things. You never think that would happen.
“Everyone says don’t meet your heroes and I could not be any different. A big movie of mine is “A Bronx Tale.” Mickey Mantle don’t pay your rent. Well, Jeter never paid my rent, but the happiness and the genuine person he was, it was worth it all these years watching him, all the stuff I bought, all the tickets, so worth it. Through all the stuff I’ve been through, and getting hurt, he brought a sense of happiness and joy, especially when things were going really bad.”
It made every moment more important. It made it worth driving overnight to Tampa to watch his final spring training game. It made it worth buying tickets to a week’s worth of games in the lead-up to his 3,000th hit, which she could not bear to miss.
It made it so much more emotional to watch Jeter’s final at-bat. It made it so hard to leave the stadium. It made it so hard to say goodbye.
“I just sat there in awe,” Stawinski said. “To be there, to hear the crowd, to hear how much everyone loved him, you just couldn’t believe it. He did everything right. He did everything perfect.”