Twins 3B Royce Lewis Pays Tribute to Idol Derek Jeter at Yankee Stadium

Royce Lewis returned from the injured list Tuesday, June 4, and he did so in Jeterian fashion.

The Minnesota Twins infielder grew up idolizing the former Yankees captain, and in a game at Yankee Stadium, Lewis paid #RE2PECT to No. 2 in his first at-bat.

Mimicking the five-time World Series champion, Lewis stepped in and grabbed the bill of his helmet, before raising his right hand toward home plate umpire Chris Segal.

Fans who grew up watching the Yankees in the 1990s and early 2000s could immediately see the parallel to Jeter, though Segal didn’t seem to get it right away. He took the hand gesture to mean Royce was signaling for his one timeout allotted per at bat.

“I just wanted to imitate [Jeter] and mimic him because he was my idol,” Lewis told reporters after the game, per Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune. “To be here for the first time, I thought it was just a good ode to such a gentleman and a player that I very well respected. I did that and the umpire called time when I actually put my hand up.

“I’m not used to that because I don’t think they did that back in the day. I was just laughing with him because he’s like, ‘Oh, you didn’t mean to? Let’s bang that.’ I’m like, ‘It was just a one-time thing.'”

The mix-up ultimately didn’t matter, as Lewis drew a walk in his first plate appearance.

Before the game, Lewis gushed about Jeter and other players of his era, even letting reporters in on his plan to pay tribute to Mr. November.

“He made me part of who I am today, and the love that I have for the game is partly because of him, Torii Hunter, Matt Kemp and some of these other athletes in the game,” he said.

Lewis went on the injured list after the Twins’ Opening Day win over the Kansas City Royals. He singled and homered in that game but strained his quad while running the bases. Lewis had just 3 plate appearances on Tuesday, drawing 2 walks and hitting another home run to keep his batting average at a perfect 1.000.

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Royce Lewis Has a Flair for the Dramatic

Like Jeter, Lewis seems built for the big moment. A game at Yankee Stadium to come back off the IL was such an opportunity for him.

“I tend to do that when the lights are a little bit brighter,” he said. “I like playing here.”

It’s not the first time Lewis has returned from injury with a homer. Last May, he came back from an ACL tear by hitting a home run and knocking in four runs. Then in the postseason, he played his first game after suffering a hamstring strain, hitting two home runs in Game 1 of Minnesota’s Wild Card Series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

It all left his manager, Rocco Baldelli — who played against Jeter — nearly speechless after the game.

“What he does when he returns from long breaks is really nothing short of remarkable,” Baldelli said, according to MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park. “We lost the game today, so it’s hard to start gushing about things, but I’ve never heard of or seen anyone do what he did today.”

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The Twins Need a ‘Stabilizing Force’

Minnesota ended the night at 33-27, 7 games out of the American League Central but still in position for a Wild Card berth. While it may be too early to start watching the standings, the Twins have established themselves as contenders and likely buyers at the trade deadline.

Bringing Lewis back should boost an offense that could use a “stabilizing force,” as Park said.

“The Twins’ offense has been up and down this season, accounting for much of the club’s streakiness,” Park wrote. “Lewis’ performance on Tuesday showed how he can be a stabilizing force, even when nobody else was hitting, with the rest of the Minnesota lineup combining for one hit.”

Minnesota currently ranks 12th in the American League in team batting average and is middle-of-the-pack in home runs and OPS.

It seems Lewis knows the spark he can provide as well. Speaking after the game about a diving play he made at third base, he said, “I think I’ve raised the bar of the expectations, but we’ve got to normalize those a little bit more. just go out there and have as much fun as I can. I think today was a good example of how much I miss the game.”

Perhaps also imitating the Jeter-era Yankees, the Twins lost 5-1 at Yankee Stadium.

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