Skip to main content

Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees walks to the plate to bat in the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on September 23, 2014 in the Bronx borough of New York City.Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

Looks as though there might be rain when Derek Jeter ends his reign in the Bronx.

The retiring New York captain is scheduled to play his final game at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night against Baltimore. The National Weather Service forecast called for a 70 per cent chance of showers during the day, tapering off to 20 per cent at night.

Jeter's last home game figures to be an emotional event, and fans have circled the date all season long. The Yankees finish the regular season this weekend with three games in Boston.

"I'm told the weather forecast for Thursday isn't all that bad, and the rain should be out of here. But I am worried about it, and I'll continue to worry about it," Commissioner Bud Selig said Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.

"The commissioner can control a lot of things, but, damn it, all the weather isn't one of them. But, hopefully — because that's a magnificent day here, and I have great faith in the Yankees they'll somehow get that game in."

Yankees manager Joe Girardi wasn't sure what would happen if Jeter and the Yankees were rained out.

"That's a great question," he said. "I'm sure it would upset a lot of people."

Among those not praying for rain are the secondary-market ticket brokers and those who bought tickets anticipating Jeter's last appearance at home in a Yankees uniform.

Tickets on the secondary market for home game number 1,391 in Jeter's 20-season career are going for $362 in the bleachers up to $10,000 in section 19, right next to the Yankees dugout.

According to secondary market aggregator SeatGeek, some 30,000 tickets have changed hands - the most since they began tracking ticket exchanges in 2009. If the game isn't rescheduled, about $12.5 million of secondary-market sales would be refunded.

"It would be a disaster for brokers if this game is rained out and never made up," said SeatGeek's Connor Gregoire.

The Orioles have already clinched the AL East, and are trying to catch the Los Angeles Angels for the best record in the league and home-field advantage throughout the post-season.

Baltimore holds the tiebreaker over the Angels. If Thursday's game was rained out and the Orioles were a half-game behind Los Angeles when the regular season ends, it's not certain whether they would have to play a makeup game Monday.

With Jeter's career winding down, he said he hasn't made any decisions about playing the last three regular-season games at Fenway Park.

"You've got to respect the fact that we just lost," Jeter said after a 9-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday. "I just haven't been wired that way, to think that far in advance. I just take it one game at a time. It's a better question for when I get there."

Girardi said that if the Yankees were still in the playoff race, he figured Jeter would be in the lineup every day. If they're eliminated, Girardi said he planned to talk to Jeter "on a daily basis" to see his preferences.

"I'm going to ask him and leave it to him," Girardi said.

Last year, with the Yankees eliminated and going into the final games of the season at Houston, there had been talk that career saves leader Mariano Rivera would fulfil a longtime wish by playing centre field.

But coming off a touching scene in which Jeter and teammate Andy Pettitte walked to the mound to pull Rivera from his last appearance at Yankee Stadium, the great closer never played again.

"Mo just kind of wanted it to end that way," Girardi said.

As for Jeter's last game, "I can't really script it," manager said.

"What happened with Mo just came to me at that moment," Girardi said. "Whatever happens, happens."

Interact with The Globe