Derek Jeter didn't endure many slumps in his Hall of Fame career with the New York Yankees, but while in the midst of his worst ones, he tried an unorthodox trick to break out of it. While playing True Confessions on 'The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,' Jeter opened his envelope and read an especially revealing secret.
"I once wore a thong in public in front of thousands of people," Jeter said.
At that point, Fallon and singer Rita Ora interrogated him to find out whether it was true. In the end, Jeter confessed that he did have a thong on while in the batter's box.
Jeter explained that one of his teammates used a gold thong to break out of slumps, and for a while, the legendary Yankees shortstop shrugged it off as nonsense.
"Let me explain really quickly," Jeter said. "I had a new teammate I played with in 2002, and he always had a gold thong hanging from his locker. He told me anytime you struggle, wear the gold thong, and you're guaranteed to get a hit. I thought the guy was crazy."
Jason Giambi signed a seven-year, $120 million contract with the Yankees ahead of the 2002 season, and has famously spoken about the streak-breaking properties of the golden thong he wore during his career, including during his time in New York.
Jeter changed his opinion in 2004, when he went ice cold at the plate. Willing to try anything to get back on track, Jeter wore the thong over his usual undergarments for a game, and he got instant results.
"In 2004, I went through the worst offensive stretch in my career," Jeter said. "Every day I would walk in, and he would point at the thong. Finally, I wore the thong. Now, it wasn't thong to skin. I had shorts on underneath, so I put the thong on over the shorts. First pitch, home run."
The thong obviously worked wonders for Jeter, and he went on to hit 23 home runs that year, which was the second highest total of his 20-year career. Jeter didn't say whether he ever needed to turn to the thong again after that fateful day.
