The circle of success closed around Derek Jeter as he stood in front of the Yankee Stadium crowd on Sunday night and accepted his place in Monument Park.
The captain has his plaque now. The No. 2 he made famous over a 20-year career is officially retired, which means no Yankee will ever don a single number again. Those are all gone.
And so is the past. With Jeter’s ceremony, the franchise duly honored the last and — all due respect to Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, and Jorge Posada — the greatest of the Core Four. With that, the Yanks closed the gate for now on Monument Park.