Elly De La Cruz Shares Touching Moment With 'Favorite Player' Derek Jeter

The All-Star shortstop made the admission live on air.

Elly De La Cruz is a first-time All-Star this season and among his experiences this week, meeting his favorite player will probably rank at the top.

On Monday night, as De La Cruz sat at Fox's baseball desk for an interview, he revealed his favorite player was sitting there with him. The 22-year-old Cincinnati Reds shortstop said, "I grew up as a [Derek] Jeter fan. He was my favorite player growing up." At that, Jeter reached across and shook his hand.

That's an incredibly sweet moment. A young star and a Hall of Famer connecting on the field at the 2024 MLB All-Star Game. Beautiful.

De La Cruz is one of baseball's brightest young stars. He finished the first half slashing .256/.346/.483 with 17 home runs, 43 RBI, a .830 OPS, 3.2 WAR and an MLB-best 46 stolen bases. He's electric and seeing him turn into a fanboy in the presence of Jeter was great.


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Ryan Phillips
RYAN PHILLIPS

Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024. Phillips also co-hosts The Assembly Call Podcast about Indiana Hoosiers basketball and previously worked at Bleacher Report. He is a proud San Diego native and a graduate of Indiana University’s journalism program.