Ciara Was Blown Away To Find Out She’s Related To A New York Yankees Icon On ‘Finding Your Roots’
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Ciara is of course married to football star Russell Wilson, but it turns out that’s actually not her only familial connection to the sports world: In a new clip from the PBS series Finding Your Roots, Ciara finds out that she is related to a former New York Yankees all-time great.
In the clip shared by Ciara on social media, Ciara turns a page of a book being presented to her, and when she sees what’s on it, she immediately looks up and exclaims, “What the world?!” The photo was of Derek Jeter, and host Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. explained, “That is your DNA cousin.” Ciara replied, “You are kidding me. Derek Jeter,” adding, “That’s crazy.”
In a voiceover, Gates explained share a “long, identical stretch of DNA on their 14th chromosome, DNA which we know Derek inherited from his mother.”
Ciara wrote while sharing the clip, “The moment I learned @DerekJeter was my cousin! Crazy! Thank you @drhenrylouisgates for such an incredible experience! This was a dream come true to learn about my family genealogy!”
The episode aired last night (January 2), and in the same one, Alanis Morissette made a surprising discovery of her own, learning that she’s a distant cousin of actress Claire Danes (as Entertainment Weekly notes). She said, “I’ve worked with her before, I heart her so much. Now I’m about to explode into confetti!”
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This Day in MLB History: January 3
MLB History
1911 – The National Commission adopts a rule that bars World Series winners from playing post-season exhibition games. This ruling led to a direct confrontation between Babe Ruth and Commissioner Kenesaw Landis in 1921.
1920 – The secret deal to sell Babe Ruth to the Yankees for $125,000 is announced publicly. The $125,000 is twice the amount ever paid for a player. Red Sox owner Harry Frazee also secured a $350,000 loan from the Yankees as part of the deal.
1961 – Frank Lane re-signs as general manager of Cleveland to take the same post with the Kansas City Athletics.
1962 – Ground is broken for the Astrodome in Houston.
1973 – A group of investors headed by George Steinbrenner purchases the Yankees from CBS for $10 million.
1974 – The Yankees hire Bill Virdon as their new manager. Virdon will manage in New York for two seasons, but will never win a game at Yankee Stadium. New York will play their home games at Shea Stadium due to ongoing renovations at Yankee Stadium.
2005 – Hoping to make the team appeal to a broader marketplace, the Angels announce the franchise will now be known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Officials from Anaheim threaten to file a lawsuit to block the change as they believe that the new name violates the terms of the team’s 33-year lease with the city.
2007 – The A’s trade outfielder Nick Swisher to the White Sox in exchange for prospects Faustino De Los Santos, Gio Gonzalez and Ryan Sweeney.
2017 – The Arizona Diamondbacks file a lawsuit against Maricopa County seeking to break the team’s lease which runs through 2028, unless the county performs “urgent repairs” to Chase Field.
2019 – The Phillies sign reliever David Robertson to a two-year, $23 million deal. Due to injury, Robertson will appear in just seven games in 2019 and will miss all of the 2020 season.
