Baseball-Jeter farewell turns fierce rivalry into love-in

By Larry Fine BOSTON, Sept 28 (Reuters) - The final word on the stellar career of Derek Jeter came at Fenway Park on Sunday where baseball's fiercest rivalry turned into a love-in with the Boston Red Sox bidding the New York Yankees captain a fond farewell. Jeter, 40, was surprised by the classy pre-game ceremony laid on by the Red Sox, with whom he had waged many bitter battles over two decades in Major League Baseball and the outpouring of affection from rival players and Fenway fans. "This is a place where we were the enemy for a long, long time," said the Yankees captain and sure-fire Hall of Famer, hinting at bitter defeats and brawls between the clubs over they years. "For them to flip the script this last time coming here, it made me feel extremely proud." Fans serenaded him with chants of "De-rek Je-ter" right up until the time he was taken out of the game for a pinch-runner after fittingly chopping a high-hop infield single to bring his career hit total to 3,465 -- sixth on MLB's all-time list. "I was just happy to end my career with a hit." Manager Joe Girardi was struck by the moving ceremony, in which former Red Sox greats came out to pay tribute to the 14-times All Star and the entire Red Sox team formed a line and individually offered him congratulations on his career. "Such big rivals and so much history between the teams but you would have thought it was one team, in a sense, today," said Girardi. "I don't know how many players could do that in any sport. It shows you the respect he has, even against your toughest rival. "There's been a lot of ugly times in this rivalry," Girardi added. "But for one day, everyone came together." Some thought five-time World Series winner Jeter would want to end his career after his last game at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, when he drove in three runs including the game-winner in the bottom of the ninth igniting a wild celebration on the field and in the stands. "I played out of respect for this rivalry and the fans here," Jeter said after Sunday's 9-5 win, adding that after the emotional Yankee Stadium finale he was determined to have fun at Fenway. "I was ready for the end," said Jeter, as respected for the way he carried himself off the field as he was for his enviable talents on the diamond. "When I got here I was just ready for my career to be over and just tried to have as much fun as I could." The graceful Jeter said he was lucky to have spent the last two decades doing what he had dreamed of as a kid. Jeter grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan, but spent his summers as a youngster in New Jersey with his grandmother, a Yankees fan, and playing for the Bronx Bombers became his lifetime goal. "I want to be known as someone who has respect for the game, respect for your teammates, respect for the fans ... play the game hard," Jeter said about how he would like to be remembered. "The only thing I ever wanted to be was the shortstop for the New York Yankees, and I had the opportunity to do that for parts of 20 years. "I had a blast. I had the opportunity to do what I wanted to do, the only thing I ever wanted to do and I know that not a lot of people can say that." Jeter said he was looking forward to retirement. "I gave everything I had physically and I gave everything I had mentally during my time. Now it's time to step back and let somebody else play. " (Editing by Frank Pingue)