THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: June 14, 2014

For the record, I've never been much of a fan of Derek Jeter.

Maybe it is his calm and cool approach to the game of baseball.

Or the fact he's done almost everything in his 20 years as a member of the New York Yankees.

Championships, he's got them.

A well-respected player around the league, he's that too.

WHATEVER IT is, I wanted to see him play live and in person at least once before he rides off into the sunset, as he'll retire at the end of this season.

The time and place was right on Thursday, with Jeter and the rest of the Yankees in Seattle to take on the Mariners in what could be Jeter's last game in Seattle.

Keep in mind, the Yankees and Mariners are now separated by a half game for the second American League wild-card spot after Thursday night.

You might not have been able to tell by watching the game on television Thursday night, but the Mariners were the home team, despite Jeter getting a large ovation each and every time he took the field.

Batting practice - yep.

Walking out to stretch - that too.

To be fair, Jeter didn't disappoint either, going 3 for 4 with two runs scored and two RBIs in the Yankees' 6-3 win to sweep the three-game series.

If that guy doesn't think he's still got it, he's insane.

Jeter proved last night he can still hit, still play defense and is a key cog in the machine that makes up the Yankees.

His parents even made the trip to Seattle to see him play.

Love him or hate him, it's tough to argue with a guy in front of his folks.

FOR A time, it almost seemed like a home game for Jeter's team.

The New York fans outnumbered Seattle in the announced crowd of 40,596. Seattle's group seemed to have other ideas, while also showing the love to Jeter.

Some fans even hung around long enough to get a Macklemore bobble head - the freebie of the night - and enjoy a few innings of baseball.

Macklemore, the Grammy award-winning rapper, not Mark McLemore, the former utility player for the Mariners and other teams, who some fan was asking children if they knew what position he played in an elevator following the game.

Wasn't there a time when the Mariners and Yankees didn't like each other?

Now they'll make trades with each other, with popular opinion still out on that Jesus Montero-for-Michael Pineda deal, as well as sending Ichiro Suzuki to the Yankees after 11 years with the Mariners.

While Jeter has made it clear that this is it, was it also for Ichiro in his first major league home?

Ichiro is 40, and has been playing sparingly this year. He came in as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning for the Yankees, and singled in his final at-bat in the ninth.

He wasn't showered with gifts from the Mariners over the three-game series, but received an ovation when he was announced late in the game.

If that was really it for Ichiro in Seattle, they really missed a chance to thank him for his dedication to the league.

Everyone knows what Jeter has meant to the league, because he's been at the top of his game for a long time.

For me, I was just glad I got to one before he called it quits.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at JEPressSports.