CGC x JSA Signature Analysis: Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter will go down in New York Yankees history as one of the greatest players to wear the pinstripe uniform.

Born in Pequannock Township, New Jersey, Jeter was destined to become a New York Yankee. With a full ride to the University of Michigan, his baseball talent drew attention at a very early age. Baseball Hall of Famer Hal Newhouser was one of the many who first noticed Jeter’s ability and helped catapult the shortstop's career in 1992 with the Gulf Coast Yankees and, eventually, the Greensboro Hornets.

Jeter made his MLB debut on May 29, 1995, a year in which the Yankees advanced to the postseason for the first time in more than a decade. The 1996 season carried Jeter’s career to superstardom, with the shortstop earning the AL Rookie of the Year award, as well as his first World Series championship, which immediately made his autograph one of the most highly sought-after signatures in baseball, and one that is still coveted in the collecting industry today.

Signing habits

Derek Jeter's signature is more difficult to obtain than one would think. His professionalism on and off the field leads fans to believe he will sign anything when, in fact, Jeter is one of the toughest living baseball players to obtain for free. While during his minor league years, Jeter’s signature was easy to obtain at the ballpark, shortly after his second championship in 1998, Jeter became an increasingly difficult signer.

In 1992, various card companies including “Action Packed” and “Front Row” did private signings with Jeter. He signed several series redemption cards for the two businesses, making it easy to find a “rookie era” signed Jeter autograph on the market.

Following the ’96 Yankees championship, Jeter surprisingly signed his fan mail. My grandfather was lucky enough to receive one during this time. It took approximately one month to receive his trading card back. It's unreal to think this superstar tended to the abundance of fan mail without a secretary. Throughout his career, Jeter only attended a handful of sports trade shows, offering his autograph as well as a chance to meet the player.

Steiner Sports eventually signed an exclusive autograph contract with Jeter, keeping the value high by selling autographed memorabilia on all mediums, at a premium level. From then on, Jeter’s loyalty to the New York-based company made him extremely selective in signing autographs for free.

Signature analysis

Derek Jeter's autograph has gone through major transformations throughout his career. In earlier examples of his autograph (Figure 1), Jeter formed every letter of his name.

Figure 1

His initial stroke remained somewhat consistent until 2000, starting halfway inside the "D." This starting point in his autograph is followed by an upward re-trace into a hump, or droopy horn. The size of this "horn" increased in the latter part of 1998. It wasn't until the late '90s, when Jeter occasionally would connect his "D" to the "e," that he'd leave no pen lift (Figure 2) throughout the entire signature.

Figure 2

During the mid-2000s, Jeter acquired the habit of lifting the first "e" in "Derek" off the baseline with a slight tilt to the right (Figure 3). We’ve noticed a consistent characteristic in the “r” in “Derek,” where the second garland style stem in his “r” is usually taller than the first stem.

Figure 3

His last name stayed relatively consistent until the ’94 season when Jeter began to develop his “k,” “J” and “t” into round loops (Figure 4). This style provided a faster, more efficient way of providing autographs for his fans.

Figure 4

We’ve found it extremely difficult to authenticate his autograph based on the last “r” in “Jeter.” This final letter in his autograph has displayed the most inconsistencies in size, shape and angling during every era.

Forgeries / Clubhouse / Stamped signatures

Without a doubt, Derek Jeter is one of the most targeted modern baseball players by forgers in our industry. Many of these forgeries are very easy to distinguish by an avid collector, due to the difficulty of replicating the speed and conviction his autograph consistently displays on any type of medium signed.

In 2009, JSA began to discover various sophisticated forgeries of the shortstop’s signature. However, while forgers might perfect a certain area of an autograph, they tend to not pay attention to another area involving sizing, placement and spacing between the letters.

Most collectors feel comfortable buying team-signed baseballs, especially when they are directly acquired from the clubhouse. From 1996 to 2009, we’ve discovered three different major secretarial versions of Jeter’s autograph (Figure 5, 6 and 7), which JSA has deemed clubhouse, not authentic.

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Apart from your common facsimile balls, JSA hasn’t discovered a “stamped” version of his signature. In addition, we haven’t come across any TTM (through the mail) secretarial versions of Jeter’s autograph. However, we did notice inkjet laser-printed reproductions on a handful of jerseys (Figure 8) submitted over the past few years.

Figure 8

Value

Jeter’s autograph value increased after his retirement, but there are many factors that play into the values, especially if the item is game-used or game-issued. What we’ve seen increase the value tremendously is if Jeter penned any inscriptions. In contrast, any personalization will always detract from the value.