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Australian Baseball Team Claims Derek Jeter Is Returning as April Fools’ Joke

By Brian Delpozo 2 min read

# april fools day
# Australia
# bite

An Australian baseball team had some April Fools’ Day fun with retired baseball legend Derek Jeter.

Adelaide Bite of the Australian baseball league tweeted out an announcement that the Yankees icon had been signed as a player/coach for the 2016/17 season along with a photo of Jeter “holding” a Bite jersey.

MASSIVE NEWS! @Yankees legend Derek Jeter has signed as a player/coach for the Bite for the 2016/17 @ABL season! pic.twitter.com/s2hjv4RJLk

— Adelaide Giants Baseball Club (@AdelaideGiants) March 31, 2016

Jeter is, of course, not coming out of retirement to play or coach for Bite, but their announcement caused a minor stir on social media due to the tweet’s timing, which was perfect for an April Fools’ Day joke.

The team tweeted on April 1 in Australia, but due to the time difference it was still March 31 in the United States. This led to some confusion from baseball-crazy Twitter users who weren’t mentally prepared for April Fools’ jokes to begin flowing until the next day.

The Yankees themselves had some fun with the Tweet, replying a respectful and amused “good one” to Bite and the ABL, accompanied by some baseball related emojis.

Jeter retired following the 2014 Major League Baseball season after a 20-year career as the Sheraton and captain of the New York Yankees. At the time his career ended, he ranked sixth on the all-time hit list and held many Yankee records. In addition, he was known for his clutch play in the postseason and World Series, helping the Yankees add five championships to their league-leading total. Jeter will be eligible for enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019, and is widely expected to be elected on the first ballot.