Royals honored to be part of Jeter Day

NEW YORK -- All 48,110 fans stood and cheered on Derek Jeter Day at Yankee Stadium on Sunday afternoon, honoring the longtime Yankees captain during a special pregame ceremony and tribute. Every Royals player and coach did the exact same thing.

It was an overwhelming moment for Jeter, and the Royals felt honored to be a part of the day, many capturing the pregame festivities on their phones. They all stood out of the dugout to watch highlights, witness legends like Cal Ripken Jr. and Michael Jordan take the field and ultimately hear Jeter speak to everyone in the Stadium.

Re2pect: Derek Jeter Day in NY Complete coverage • Yanks honor Jeter with emotional ceremony • Justice: Fitting tribute for a legend • Bloom: Jeter Day signals end of era • Jeter takes field alone; 'mates hold back • To Jordan, pal Jeter an idol • Royals honored to be part of festivities • Baseball figures pick #OneWordFor2 • Jeter coolly answers reporter's phone • Derek Jeter Day roundup   Multimedia Derek Jeter Day ceremony Jeter's on-field speech Ovation for Jeter in Bronx Fans on Jeter Day experience MLB stars react to Jeter Ripken Jr. on Jeter Sports greats on Jeter Michael Jordan introduced Posada, Mo discuss Jeter Torre's favorite Jeter memory Plane writes "JETER" in sky Complete game highlights Ceremony gallery

"I thought it was fantastic," said Royals manager Ned Yost. "I thought it was done with a lot of class. The players, all the dignitaries that were here, it was special. Everybody that walked out was a pleasure to see. I just thought it was a wonderful ceremony."

Once the game -- which the Royals won, 2-0 -- started, the team had planned their own tribute.

As Jeter walked to home plate for his first at bat, the whole Royals team perched onto the top step of the dugout, and like the RE2PECT commercial, simultaneously tipped their caps to him.

"I thought it was a neat tribute to him," said pitcher Jeremy Guthrie, who instituted the salute. "He has the respect [from] everybody he competes against. I think the Jordan commercial really indicated the amount of respect everyone has towards him. So it was a way to salute what he's done and pay him the respect that he's given this game and all of his opponents along the way."

Alex Gordon even became part of the in-game highlights when his video message to Jeter appeared on the scoreboard, part of a large group of celebrities and current and former ballplayers who paid their own respects to Jeter's career.

"I'm surprised they put me on there. I did that a while ago and I'm glad they put that up," Gordon said. "I got to second and I told them it's been an honor playing with [him] and a privilege. I think everyone would say that if they ran into him.

"I didn't have a camera, but I'm sure I'll have one of the guys send it to me," he said. "The Yankees did a good job today doing that for him.