Derek Jeter needed to get a hit REALLY badly, OK?!
The former New York Yankees shortstop went on The Tonight Show on Wednesday to hang out with longtime host Jimmy Fallon. And while he was on set, the former Yankee great revealed something very interesting — and salacious — about his playing career!
Related: Jeter Reveals Moment He Lost Trust In Ex-Teammate & Former Pal Alex Rodriguez!
At one point, Jeter sat down for an on-show game with Fallon and singer Rita Ora. The game was called “True Confessions,” and all three stars were given two envelopes — one containing the truth and one containing a lie. Then, they read out the chosen envelope, and the other two on stage have to figure out if they are lying or not.
Jeter went first, picked the second envelope, and read out loud:
“I once wore a thong in public in front of thousands of people.”
Ummmm…. wow!
Ora and Fallon were thrown by the claim, and both responded that they thought the story was false. But Jeter revealed otherwise, saying:
“It is the truth.”
Whoa!!!
Jimmy was beside himself, and said at one point:
“What are you talking about? What in the world?!”
So, the superstar shortstop settled in to tell the story. As he recalled, it all came about in 2004, when he was going through a miserable slump at the plate one summer:
“I’m going to ultimately regret playing this game but let me explain. I had a new teammate that I played with in 2002, and he always had a gold thong hanging from his locker. And he told me, ‘anytime you struggle, you wear the gold thong, you’re guaranteed to get a hit.’ Now, I thought the guy was crazy. So, in 2004, I went through the worst offensive stretch in my career. And every day, I’d walk in, and he’d point at the thong. So, finally I wore the thong. Now, it wasn’t a thong-to-skin. I had shorts on underneath. So I put the thong over the shorts. First pitch, home run.”
Yankee Doodle DAMN!!
But is it actually true?!?! After all, there’s no way to verify it!
Related: Jeter Finally Addresses THOSE Decade-Old Hookup Gift Basket Rumors!
So, as it turns out, the golden thong talk appears to be legit!! In a 2015 interview with the Newark Star-Ledger, former MLB slugger Jason Giambi — who played for the Yankees from 2002 through 2008 — explained that it was his golden thong. And he confirmed he actually gave it to Jeter during a miserable slump in 2004!!
Giambi said to the newspaper at the time:
“The golden thong is legendary. It’s never not gotten a hit. Well, it was just, you know, it was his first slump. I don’t think the guy’s ever slumped in his career. He’s unbelievable. You know, the gold thong, he had to get out of it.”
The slugger also confirmed in that nearly eight-year-old interview that Jeter did in fact hit a home run on the first pitch while wearing the golden thong:
“I never gave it to anybody. I would sometimes put it in their locker. I would sometimes start mentioning I’m going to give a gold thong if you don’t get out of this slump. Sometimes I would break it out because they didn’t want to wear the gold thong. And most of the time it just ended up in their locker. And anybody who’s worn it has gotten a hit. I just know first pitch, home run and the slump was over.”
Well how about that?! A golden thong! Who knew??
You can see Jeter tell the whole tale on Fallon’s late-night show (below):
And re-live his more traditional sit-down interview on set with Fallon, as well:
Pretty crazy!
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[Image via Yankees Media/YouTube/The Tonight Show/YouTube]
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