Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter played 15 games with the New York Yankees in 1995; the next year he established himself as the team's regular shortstop and quickly became an all star. The Yankees won the World Series four times in Jeter's first five full years on the job. He was named the team's captain in 2003, becoming the first Yankee captain since Don Mattingly's retirement in 1995. Jeter's good looks have helped make him a favorite with younger fans, and in the early 2000s he was often compared with fellow shortstop prodigies Nomar Garciaparra and Alex Rodriguez. Such was Jeter's reputation that when Rodriguez joined the Yankees in 2004, Rodriguez moved to third base to allow Jeter to remain at shortstop.

Extra credit: Jeter bats right-handed, throws right-handed, and wears uniform number 2... Jeter's father is African-American and his mother is Caucasian; his heritage is reportedly a mix of African, Irish, Indian, and German... With Jeter at shortstop, the Yankees won the World Series in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000.