It’s that time of the week again… time for another edition of “State of the Yankees.” All seems right in the Yankees Universe as of now, as they maintain a 7 game lead over the Red Sox in the division, and also continue to have the best record in baseball. The team seems to be firing on all cynlindars, and all fans in the Universe can hope is that these type of play carries itself over into October. This week’s edition is not devoted to a recap of last week’s results… well, not the way you would think. This week, I think it would be incredibly disrespectful to not devote this edition to one of the greatest Yankees of all time; Derek Jeter.
Why? Well, during the 10-3 loss to Seattle on Sunday, Derek Jeter hit his 2,673rd and 2,674th hits of his career at shortstop, which helped him set the all-time record as a shortstop for career hits. Let’s say that one more time to try and let it sink in. Derek Jeter, with his 2,674th hit as a shortstop, is now the all-time leader in career hits as a shortstop. Breaking Luis Aparicio’s record of 2,673, Derek Jeter continues to write himself in the record books; both as a Yankee and as a baseball player overall.
When I first read about his accomplishment, I couldn’t believe it. When you think about the greatest shortstops of all time, you start juggling names like Honus Wagner or Cal Ripken Jr. One could even argue that the greatest shortstop of all time was pushed over to 3B when he was traded to the Yankees in Alex Rodriguez.
Regardless, let’s get back on subject. Derek Jeter, with his accomplishment Sunday afternoon, has cemented himself in history. Jeter, who just turned 35 this past June, has shown the baseball world this season that he is still relevant. Batting leadoff, ahead of Damon, he has put up a .330 average and .394 OBP, with 80 runs scored as of August 19. On a larger perspective, Jeter currently sits at 60th all time with 2,694 career hits; and the third most of an active player (behind Griffey and Vizquel, who sits on 2,669 hits as shortstop).
Jeter, at just 35, sits at nearly 2,700 hits… only 300+ hits away from the feat of 3,000 hits; which is recognized as one of those “HOF qualifying” stats. I for one have never thought of it on that scale, but what one must realize is that besides watching one of the greatest Yankees of all time, fans who get a chance to see Jeter or have been fortunate enough to watch him since 1995 have been watching arguably the greatest shortstop of all time. It’s quite a statement to make about Jeter, but he still has plenty of good years left in the tank to further qualify himself. Good luck Jeter on getting to 3,000 (probably going to happen during the first half of the 2011 season), and may your continued success help the continued success of the Yankees!
Yankees Player of the Week: How do I NOT give this to Derek Jeter this week. As a quick recap to those who just scrolled down to this, Jeter is now the all-time leader in hits as a shortstop. Currently sitting at 2,694 hits (as of August 19), Jeter’s next milestone/accomplishment will come when he gets his 2,722nd hit, which will make him pass Lou Gehrig on the all-time Yankees hits leaderboard. It is amazing that none of the great Yankees ever got to 3,000 hits. Jeter needs only 28 hits to pass Gehrig to have the most hits of any Yankee, and only 306 more hits to get to 3,000. Yankees fans are certainly watching history in the making.
Non-Yankees Fun Fact of the Week: Despite the doubt that a deal would happen, the Nationals were able to real in their #1 overall pick in Stephen Strasburg. The 102mph flamethrower will hopefully see some time in the big leagues this year during September call ups, or he will headline at the head of the Nationals rotation at the beginning of the 2010 season. Congrats to the Nats and Strasburg, for taking a MAJOR step in the right direction as an organization… and good luck to Strasburg against major league hitters.
No comments:
Post a Comment