Breakfast with Derek Jeter? Inside George Lombard Jr.’s conversation with the Yankees legend

Economy World


MINNEAPOLIS — As Derek Jeter spoke, George Lombard Jr. listened.

It was January in Miami, and a mutual friend had set up a meeting between Jeter, the legendary New York Yankees shortstop, and Lombard, then the club’s top shortstop prospect. Over breakfast, Jeter answered Lombard’s questions about life in the big leagues and life with the Yankees, and offered advice.

On Monday, in an interview with The Athletic in the visitors clubhouse at Target Field, Lombard could still vividly recall the morning he spent with the Hall of Famer.

Jeter was “a great dude” and “a normal dude,” Lombard said. He was also “humble and down to earth.”

But as Lombard reminisced, one piece of advice from Jeter, in particular, stood out.

“The big one — and it seems pretty simple and probably one of the most important things — is to be a stand-up dude,” Lombard said Jeter told him.

“Whether that’s in the clubhouse or with the media or the fans, whatever it is. Be authentic and be a good person. It goes a long way, doing those little things. Whether that’s always being upfront and honest or remembering people’s names. Just being an overall good human being. It keeps you grounded and keeps you humble and it allows you to keep doing the stuff on the field and producing on the field and helping out the team wherever you can, while keeping all the unnecessary distractions away.”

Lombard played a major role in Monday’s 8-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins, which came after a loss by the Toronto Blue Jays that clinched a spot in the playoffs for the Yankees.

In the eighth inning, the Yankees were losing 2-1 when Lombard crushed Andrew Morris’ 98-mph fastball for a double off the wall in left-center field. He moved to third on an infield single and then scored on José Caballero’s one-out hit up the middle.

“It was unbelievable,” Aaron Judge said of Lombard’s clutch hit. “I saw him, even leading up to that at-bat, he was on the iPad. He’s doing his homework. First-pitch swinging to be able to do that off a guy like that who has been so lock-down for the Twins all year was impressive.”

It was a display of the kind of natural hitting ability that has the Yankees so high on Lombard, who they hope will take over as shortstop of the future the way Jeter did in 1996.

At the time of their January meeting, neither Jeter nor Lombard could have known how soon he would potentially be following in Jeter’s footsteps. Still, Lombard took seriously the chance to make a connection with Jeter, now 52.

Lombard wasn’t exactly new to meeting great players. As the son of retired outfielder and current Detroit Tigers bench coach George Lombard Sr., he used to take ground balls at Dodger Stadium next to Corey Seager, mimicking his movements. He also used to run around the outfield with a young Cody Bellinger, now one of his teammates.

But meeting Jeter was different, Lombard said.

“There definitely was some emotion involved in all that,” he recalled. “You’re going to go talk to Derek Jeter. I don’t know if I was nervous, but I was excited and looking forward to it.”

Lombard said Jeter was immediately cool with him “picking his brain and talking about his experiences.” They talked about “everything.”

“I think the better questions — and the ones that are more valuable — are all the non-baseball (questions),” Lombard said. “How he approached dealing with New York. Dealing with everything that comes with it. The media. The off-the-field stuff. How, in his case, being the captain, dealing with all of those responsibilities. All of it. Just good conversation. Very insightful. Definitely someone that you can take a lot from having a short conversation.”

To Lombard, Jeter stressed the importance of having a strong character.

“In New York, the on-field impact is extremely important,” Lombard said. “But the character and who you are person-wise is just as important.”

Back then, Lombard was preparing for major-league spring training, and he would begin the season in Double A. But after dominating there and eventually acing his Triple-A assignment, he was called up by the Yankees on Aug. 4 — right after the trade deadline — and was asked to take over shortstop and also help their push to the playoffs. At the time, he was the youngest player in franchise history since Jeter to start at shortstop, at 21 years and 63 days old. Jeter was just 20 years and 350 days old when he debuted as a starting shortstop on June 11, 1995.

So far, Lombard’s first experience in the majors has been uneven.

Entering Monday, he was hitting just .215 with three home runs, 11 RBIs and a .619 OPS. His 73 wRC+ was sixth worst among shortstops with at least 100 plate appearances. Lombard homered in his first game in the majors, but has often swung and missed (25.9 percent) and he hasn’t exactly been crushing the baseball (85.5 mph average exit velocity).

Defensively, Lombard has looked more than capable, displaying a strong arm, good range and smooth actions. But he also had a stretch in which he made an error in six straight games. At the time, it was the longest consecutive error streak since the Cleveland Indians’ Mark Lewis had an error in seven straight games in 1992.

Lombard’s simply wanting a chance to ask Jeter questions that would prepare him for life as the Yankees’ shortstop was impressive, manager Aaron Boone said.

“I love when our players have an interest in connecting themselves to the organization,” Boone said. “Doing something like that and going and talking to Derek — those are cool things, when your players are curious. Look, everyone’s not that way. You respect that. But you do love when guys are curious and understand the magnitude of this organization and wanting to be an important part of it.”

Jeter returned to Yankee Stadium on Friday for the 25th anniversary of 9/11. While he was there, he visited the Yankees’ clubhouse and reconnected with Lombard. This time, it wasn’t over breakfast, but at a big-league ballpark.

“It’s been kind of a crazy year,” Lombard said. “But he’s happy for me, and he told me to keep doing my thing and to stay focused.”

Just another slice of advice to Lombard from Jeter, who knows what he’s talking about.