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TAMPA, Fla. -- Derek Jeter spoke for 25 minutes, 44 seconds and answered 26 questions about his decision to retire at the end of this season. He said "its time," "the right time" and "the time is now." Twice more he added "the time is right." Jeter will be leaving the major leagues the way he entered: accessible, yet opaque; approachable, but distant. So why is Jeter retiring? "He just said its time, but he didnt really say," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman concluded after Jeter reported to spring training Wednesday for his 20th and final major league season. One week earlier, the Yankees captain surprised and saddened teammates with his announcement, revealed by posting a 15-paragraph, 644-word statement on his Facebook page, one relatively few people were aware he even had. "You cant do this forever. Id like to, but you cant do it forever," he said to a crowded room filled with Yankees management and players in addition to media. Jeter, who turns 40 in June, was limited to 17 games last season, hitting .190 with one homer and seven RBIs after breaking his left ankle in the 2012 AL championship series opener. While he returned last July, he wound up on the disabled list three more times because of leg ailments caused by a lack of strength after the ankle healed. "It wasnt fun because I wasnt playing. I think it forced me to start thinking about, well, how long do I want to do this? And thats how I came to my decision," he said. "It just became a job last year." He sounded much like Joe DiMaggio, who left the Yankees in December 1951 saying, "when baseball is no longer fun, its no longer a game." Just two years ago, Jeter led the big leagues with 216 hits. And after an off-season of intensive workouts, Jeter is confident he will regain his productivity this year and be an everyday shortstop -- only the fourth in big league history in the season they turned 40. Wearing a navy Yankees pullover and shorts, and a New York cap, he spoke directly and dispassionately, much like during every interview since he first reached the major leagues in 1995. He kept his arms crossed in front of him for much of the time, resting them on a table. He flashed those famous white teeth and smiled, displaying not a trace of melancholy. "Trying to get me to cry?" he said after one question. "I have feelings. Im not emotionally stunted. Theres feelings there, but I think Ive just been pretty good at trying to hide my emotions throughout the years. I try to have the same demeanour each and every day." Hes been clear that he doesnt reveal his deepest thoughts publicly, not in the tabloid, talk-radio and Twitter-driven tumult of the Big Apple. "I know I havent really been as open with some of you guys as you would have liked me to be over the last 20 years, but thats by design," he said. "It doesnt mean I dont have those feelings. Its just thats the way I felt as though Id be able to make it this long in New York." He made the announcement on Facebook to circumvent "cut-and-paste" media, to get out his full message and to draw attention to his Turn 2 Foundation -- a pun on middle infielders making double plays and on his uniform No. 2. He is a relic, the last of the single digits to wear a Yankees uniform, the last to be introduced before each at-bat by Bob Sheppard, the Yankee Stadium public address announcer from 1951-07. While Sheppard died in 2010, a recording is played when Jeter walks to home plate. In the second half of his life, Jeter could have a future in business or even baseball management -- hes earned enough to become an owner. Hes been among New Yorks most eligible bachelors. "Theres other things I want to do. I want to have a family. Thats important me," he said, without a hint of what "other things" might entail. Jorge Posada retired after the 2011 season, and Mariano Rivera spoke in the same pavilion behind the third base stands last March and said 2013 would be his final year. Andy Pettitte departed last fall, too, leaving Jeter as the last of the Core Four who helped New York win five World Series titles. Owners Hal and Hank Steinbrenner and Jennifer Steinbrenner Swindal watched Jeter from the front row, manager Joe Girardi and general manager Brian Cashman in the second. Teammates, who said his decision shocked and saddened them, were in the rows after that. Cashman called Jeter "a Secretariat, so to speak, that you can run in as many races as you can and win a lot." "Right now its kind of surreal and its strange to think of the Yankees without him in the lineup. But were not there yet," said Hal Steinbrenner, the teams managing general partner. When he spoke with Jeter hours before the Feb. 12 announcement, he didnt lobby for a reconsideration. "I respect when an individual makes a decision like this because I know how much time and thought they put into it. Its not my place to second guess," he said. Jeter wouldnt put an exact date on when he made up his mind. "I wanted to make this announcement months ago. I really did. But people -- I dont want to say forced, but they advised me to take my time before I said it," he said. He kept getting asked about his future. "Even walking down the street," he said, "people ask because I missed last year: Are you playing this year? How much longer are you going to play? How many years to do you have? You get tired of hearing it." He enters his 20th big league season with a .312 average, 256 homers and 1,261 RBIs. Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson already has Tweeted "for those booking early" the 2020 induction ceremony is scheduled for July 26. For Jeter, the titles mean more than the statistics. And most of all, he treasures getting to wear the pinstripes. "The thing that means the most to me is being remembered as a Yankee, because thats what Ive always wanted to be, was to be a Yankee," Jeter said. "I have to thank the Steinbrenner family thats here today and our late owner, the Boss, because they gave me an opportunity to pretty much live my dream my entire life. And the great thing with being a Yankee is youre always a Yankee. So in that sense it never ends." Ultra Boost Deutschland . You can catch all of the action LIVE on TSN2 at 6pm et/3pm pt. The Heat reached that mark Saturday night when they ruined the Philadelphia 76ers home opener. Yeezy Schuhe Günstig Amazon .C. -- After turning Tobacco Road into "Raleigh Top," Tennessee is headed to the round of 16. http://www.yeezyschuhe.de/ultra-boost-schuhe.html. After seven wins in a row, they have to do it one more time to get into the playoffs. Adidas Nmd r2 Kaufen . -- Kansas City Royals right-hander Luke Hochevar will have Tommy John surgery that will sideline the pitcher for the season. Yeezy Schuhe Deutschland . With Washington teammate Nene drawing double-teams coming off his big game against the Lakers, Gortat scored 25 points on 11-of-12 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Wizards to a 100-92 win in overtime over Milwaukee on Wednesday night.KELOWNA, B.C. - When Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier didnt make Canadas team for the Sochi Olympics, the ice dancers put themselves on autopilot.It was the low point on a roller-coaster season of crazy highs and heartbreaking lows.We really had to keep moving forward, so we had to go home, take it one day at a time really, because we couldnt really dwell on: Well, that was it, Gilles said. We had to turn our minds off for a little bit.Gilles, from Toronto, and Poirier, from Unionville, Ont., captured a silver medal in ice dance at Skate Canada International on Saturday night, and reflected on how far theyve come from last season.Its so nice to be prepared coming into the Grand Prix season this year, I think there are so many positives coming out of this competition, Poirier said.Their Sochi Olympic campaign got off to a nightmare start when Poirier broke his ankle in May of 2013, a break so severe it took three plates and 13 screws to repair it. He wasnt back on the ice until August, and the two werent able to do full run-throughs of their programs until about three weeks before their Grand Prix debut last November.All the while, the American-born Gilles was nervously waiting for her Canadian citizenship, which she was finally awarded a few weeks before the Olympic trials, making her eligible to compete for Canada in Sochi.It wasnt to be — they would finish fourth at the trials, narrowly missing the team.The first couple days (of Sochi) were hard for me, Gilles said. I couldnt watch the first couple of days. But then once your competitors and your friends are all there, youre like, OK, I have to, because you want to cheer them on. And as hard as it is for you, it still gives you the motivation for the next four yyears.ddddddddddddGilles and Poirier, who are both 22, didnt have much time to dwell on their disappointment. They were named to the Four Continents team, where they finished second, and then were replacements for Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir on Canadas team for the world championships, where they finished eighth.I think more at the end of the season, it was like: Aw man!, Gilles said on not making the Sochi team. But we did worlds and we had a positive worlds, so that kind of helped the negative part of it.It gave us a lot of momentum going into this season and we saw what we could achieve with training behind us, and weve tried to really embrace that this season, Poirier added.Gilles and Poirier say they already have more training under their belts this season than they did all of last year, and with the changing landscape of ice dancing post-Olympics — both Virtue and Moir and U.S. Olympic champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White are taking the season off to contemplate their futures — are keen to position themselves among the worlds best.We really want to make a big statement this year, said Poirier, who was 14th at the Vancouver Olympics with former partner Vanessa Crone. We really want to show were contenders in this quadrennial, and I think it has to start now. Weve really been pushing ourselves because now is the time where we can really break into the ranks.Looking back on the stresses of last season, especially the nerve-wracking wait for citizenship, Gilles said, I wouldnt change it.Were still hoping for our goal, a medal, for the next one, so were still pushing, she added.The end goal is still the same, Poirier said. And were still hoping to get there three and a half years from now. ' ' '