Yankees’ Superstar Derek Jeter Needs Surgery on Broken Ankle

New York Yankees superstar Derek Jeter will likely need surgery on his broken left ankle, in hopes of repairing ligament damages to the leg.

Jeter was injured in the 12th inning of Game 1 of the American League Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers Saturday night. Yankees Manager Joe Girardi told ESPN it appears a previous injury had affected Jeter’s footwork Saturday night. He also acknowledged that Jeter got a cortisone shot that let him keep playing after he suffered a bone bruise last month in Game 3 of the AL Division Series.

“I don’t think he was playing on a stress fracture, but I think the weakness in his ankle, and the foul tip off his foot, contributed to that. You hear a lot of guys talk about when they sprain one ankle, they usually hurt something else. I think it’s inevitable, if you continue to play with something hurt, you’re probably going to end up hurting yourself somewhere else.

Jeter hasn’t said how he originally suffered his first ankle injury, which was bothering him when the Yankees played the Tampa Bay Rays on Labor Day. But a ball fowled off his ankle in Boston in mid-September and injured the ankle in a different place, with Girardi at the time calling the injury a “bone bruise.”

Jeter fractured the ankle late Saturday night fielding a Jhonny Peralta ground ball. X-rays at Yankee Stadium early Sunday revealed the fracture.

Even with the first bone bruise, though, which caused Jeter to visibly hobble while running the bases or leaving the field, he was still batting .364 in the postseason, the highest of any Yankee regular.

Girardi said Sunday Jeter ordered him not to have him carried from the field, so the shortstop star left the field with Girardi and team trainer Steve Donohue supporting his shoulders, a gesture Jeter, the team captain, thought important for team morale.

The Yankees expect Jeter, 38, to be ready for spring training in February, and Girardi said Jeter is in good spirits, despite the injury.