Kalamazoo To Be Prominent As ESPN Debuts 'The Captain' in July

Judging by the first trailer dropped by ESPN, my prediction is we're all going to start looking at Derek Jeter in much the same way as Michael Jordan.

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You can't really tell by a snippet, but where Jeter says "I don't have to be your best friend", sure sounds a lot like MJ talking about the price of winning six championship with the Chicago Bulls, that it's not a popularity contest.

And just like Jordan's "The Last Dance" came out in the middle of summer in 2020, "The Captain" will debut July 18th on ESPN and ESPN+.

Here's the really cool thing with this: it seems like the Jeter family took pictures and shot videos of a lot of the highlights of young Derek's life growing up in Kalamazoo, so don't be surprised if you see Westwood Little League, and Kalamazoo Central, where the field is named after Jeter (and where's he's donated to upgrade the facility), even the house on Cumberland Street a few blocks from the high school might show up in the series.

(ESPN Marketing via YouTube)

Watching the Hall of Fame induction ceremony last fall, it looks like Jeter is as committed to his family as his parents were to him and his sister, Sharlee. Now that he's left the Miami Marlins, there are reports that ESPN is courting him, and there's always speculation that he'll return to the New York Yankees in come capacity.

Yes, it's a charmed life, and it'll be interesting to see some of what's behind the curtain.