Derek Jeter, who sparked the New York Yankees to their first Major League Baseball title in nine years, was named Monday as Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year.
Jeter becomes the first member of the 27-time World Series champions to capture the award from the US magazine, which began honoring athletes in 1954.
The 35-year-old team captain has been a member of five World Series championship teams with the Yankees and batted .334 this season while making a career-low eight fielding errors to claim Gold Glove honors for a fourth time.
Jeter surpassed the late Lou Gehrig as the Yankees' all-time hit leader this season and was also given the Roberto Clemente Award for his humanitarian work off the field.
US swim star Michael Phelps won the title from the magazine last year after hauling in eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics.
Copyright 2009  AFP Global Edition
