Jeter 3,000

[Olympic Fan]

It was going to happen sooner or later, but you've got top admit that Jeter certainly got to 3,000 in spectacular fashion Saturday afternoon -- and he did it against all-star pitcher David Price.

There was a lot of grumbling in NY after Friday night's game was rained out and the Tampa Bay Rays wouldn't agree to a day-night double-header Saturday. The Yanks wanted to make up the game Saturday, so that Jeter would have three games to get the two hits he needed at home (the Yankees follow the all-star break with a long road trip). But they needed Tampa's permission and they refused. It would seem to have been in their favor with A-Roid and Swisher both out temporarily .

As it turns out, Jeter didn't need the extra game. He led off the first against Price by drilling a single to left on a 3-2 pitch for his 2,999th career hit. He came up in the third with the Yankees down 0-1 and hit another 3-2 pitch out to left -- it was just his third HR of the season and his first at Yankee stadium since July 2010. He became the second of the 28 3,000 hit guys to get a homer for his 3,000th hit (Wade Boggs was the other).

Jeter wasn't finished. With the Yankees down 3-2 in the fifth, he doubled to start a two-run rally. He singled and stole a base in the sixth, then with the game tied 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth, he singled again to drive in what proved to be the winning run.

A 5-for-5 day with a homer, a double and a stolen base. It's got to be the best game ever for a player getting his 3,000th hit. Craig Biggio is the only other member of the club to get 5 hits in his milestone game, but he was 5 for 6 and didn't have a homer.

One more neat thing -- Jeter's 3,000th hit came at exactly 2 p.m. -- No. 2 getting 3,000 precisely at 2.

Oh, one final neat thing. The guy who caught the HR ball offered it back to Jeter for nothing ... although the Yankees rewarded the guy with season tickets for the rest of this season.

[sue71, esq]

Oh, one final neat thing. The guy who caught the HR ball offered it back to Jeter for nothing ... although the Yankees rewarded the guy with season tickets for the rest of this season.

I'm not a baseball fan, but can certainly appreciate the milestone. However, this might be my favorite part of the story- the guy respected Jeter & the achievement enough not to try to make a buck off it.

[Duvall]

I'm not a baseball fan, but can certainly appreciate the milestone. However, this might be my favorite part of the story- the guy respected Jeter & the achievement enough not to try to make a buck off it.

Plus, isn't about time Jeter caught a break?

[JasonEvans]

I'm not a baseball fan, but can certainly appreciate the milestone. However, this might be my favorite part of the story- the guy respected Jeter & the achievement enough not to try to make a buck off it.

Lets see how generous the Yankees are in return. Will they give him good season tickets or nose-bleed seats?

-Jason "classy move by the fan -- I would think Jeter would give him a grand or so anyway" Evans

[dukebluelemur]

I'm not a huge Jeter fan, and that last contract of his was highway robbery, but I've gotta give him credit for hitting that milestone with style.

You do lose some of your points for the interesting and fact filled post though, when you momentarily drop down to the level of a petulant Jr. Higher by using "A-Roid". One of the things I generally enjoy most about this forum is the relative lack of juvenile name calling. Maybe I'm being too sensitive.

[sue71, esq]

Lets see how generous the Yankees are in return. Will they give him good season tickets or nose-bleed seats?

-Jason "classy move by the fan -- I would think Jeter would give him a grand or so anyway" Evans

I just read this- they're suite tickets, plus other assorted goodies and the chance to meet Jeter.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Congratulations to Derek Jeter! A great day for the best Yankee since Mickey Mantle! (And even though Mantle was my boyhood hero, I'll admit that Jeter is a far better roll model and citizen than Mantle ever was.)

[Duvall]

A great day for the best Yankee since Mickey Mantle!

I'm sure he enjoyed it, but it was a pretty ordinary save.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Congratulations to Derek Jeter! A great day for the best Yankee since Mickey Mantle!

I'm sure he enjoyed it, but it was a pretty ordinary save.

I'm sorry, but I don't get your reference. Mo got the save today. Oh, you are saying Mo is the best Yankee since Mantle. I will agree that he's the best reliever there has ever been, and he's a great Yankee, but I'll still take Jeter as 1A and put Mo as 1B. Vanilla and strawberry, if you will, both good to the taste, just different.

[Olympic Fan]

I'm sorry, but I don't get your reference. Mo got the save today. Oh, you are saying Mo is the best Yankee since Mantle. I will agree that he's the best reliever there has ever been, and he's a great Yankee, but I'll still take Jeter as 1A and put Mo as 1B. Vanilla and strawberry, if you will, both good to the taste, just different.

Rivera is the greatest closer in baseball history ... but no way he's as valuable a player as Jeter.

In the first place, closer is a fairly recent invention, so no way to compare with 120 years or so of great players (since the mound moved back to its current position in 1892, creating the modern game).

In the second place, a great closer can't impack nearly as many games as a great everyday player.

Jeter is one of the greatest shortshops in baseball history. Not THE greatest -- that's still Honus Wagner by a mile. But the battle for second best is pretty interesting between Jeter, Ripken, Arky Vaughn (short-term), maybe Ozzie Smith (as a great defender) and maybe A-Roid (if you count him a SS -- he has 1200 or so games at short in his career and 1000 or so at third).

I think it's interesting that they made such big deal when Jeter passed Gehrig for the Yankee hit lead and today that he became the 28th player (and third primary shortstop) to get to 3,000 hits. But I've never understood why so little attention was paid last August when he passed Aparicio for the most hits ever by a guy playing short (both Wagner and Ripken has quite a few hits while playing other positions, even though both were primarily SSs).

As a Yankee fan, I'd rank the Yankees all-time (I give credit for career value, but he has to play the majority of his career with the Yankees -- not short timers like Clemens or Mize):

1. Babe Ruth
2. Lou Gehrig
3. Mickey Mantle
4. Joe DiMaggio
5. Yogi Berra
6. Derek Jeter
7. Whitey Ford
8. Red Ruffing
9. Mariano Rivera
10. Bill Dickey

[jimsumner]

Congratulations to Derek Jeter! A great day for the best Yankee since Mickey Mantle! (And even though Mantle was my boyhood hero, I'll admit that Jeter is a far better roll model and citizen than Mantle ever was.)

If only Don Mattingly's back had held up.

Great player and a pretty good "roll" model.

[gus]

Plus, isn't about time Jeter caught a break?

Yeah, seriously.

I'm a yankees fan and like Jeter, but ... they should reward him a little.

The 4 tickets per game he got are probably worth 3-5k each. That's a lot of non-cash taxable income this guy just got saddled with. At the very least I hope the Yankees help him with his upcoming tax bill.

[Turk]

My brother-in-law (lifelong Yanks fan) took a shot and bought tickets for Friday night. He made the hour-plus schlep from Brooklyn only to walk out of the subway to find the game had been called. So him and his kids turn around, get back on the train, and go back home, expecting a day/night doubleheader on Saturday.

He flipped when they announced the game would be replayed in September (a school night, no less). Of course, there's no guarantee what would have happened Friday night, but try telling that to the kids. He was also talking to a couple who were visiting from Utah and flying out Saturday morning - they're not coming back for a meaningless late Sept game either...

In this day and age, they go all out to get a game in - they had a couple hour rain delay in Philly and got that game in... Was the weather in NYC really that bad on Friday?

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Rivera is the greatest closer in baseball history ... but no way he's as valuable a player as Jeter.

In the first place, closer is a fairly recent invention, so no way to compare with 120 years or so of great players (since the mound moved back to its current position in 1892, creating the modern game).

In the second place, a great closer can't impact nearly as many games as a great everyday player.

Jeter is one of the greatest shortstops in baseball history. Not THE greatest -- that's still Honus Wagner by a mile. But the battle for second best is pretty interesting between Jeter, Ripken, Arky Vaughn (short-term), maybe Ozzie Smith (as a great defender) and maybe A-Roid (if you count him a SS -- he has 1200 or so games at short in his career and 1000 or so at third).

I think it's interesting that they made such big deal when Jeter passed Gehrig for the Yankee hit lead and today that he became the 28th player (and third primary shortstop) to get to 3,000 hits. But I've never understood why so little attention was paid last August when he passed Aparicio for the most hits ever by a guy playing short (both Wagner and Ripken has quite a few hits while playing other positions, even though both were primarily SSs).

As a Yankee fan, I'd rank the Yankees all-time (I give credit for career value, but he has to play the majority of his career with the Yankees -- not short timers like Clemens or Mize):

1. Babe Ruth
2. Lou Gehrig
3. Mickey Mantle
4. Joe DiMaggio
5. Yogi Berra
6. Derek Jeter
7. Whitey Ford
8. Red Ruffing
9. Mariano Rivera
10. Bill Dickey

Can't argue with your top ten list, although I never say Ruffing or Dickey play. And like I said, Jeter is the greatest Yankee since Mantle, which agrees with your list (time-line-wise).

Two who didn't quite make the list were Mattingly, whose back gave out, and Munson. Loved them both - Donnie Baseball and Tugs. But my love of Munson soured several years after his untimely death in his plane crash (he was learning to pilot his own private jet and was practicing take offs and landings with an instructor and crashed a landing attempt). Turns out Munson was quite the anti-semetic (anti-semite?). Years ago I read several accounts about how he "undermined" pitcher Kenny Holtzman when he signed with the Yankees as a free agent because he was Jewish.

[weezie]

Very, very cool for the "Pride of K-Zoo"!

[gus]

In this day and age, they go all out to get a game in - they had a couple hour rain delay in Philly and got that game in... Was the weather in NYC really that bad on Friday?

Yes, it was. It was downpouring here in manhattan.

The Yankees wanted a day and nighter the next day. Tampa Bay said no.

[HaveFunExpectToWin]

My brother-in-law is a diehard Red Sox fan and concocted an elaborate scenario for Jeter and Yankees fans to be robbed of celebrating his 3000th hit. He was hoping for an error to be later ruled as a hit during the game with the ball likely tossed aside as just another ball. I am impressed with his hatred of the Yankees.

[Blue in the Face]

Had tickets for friday night. Oh well, c'est la vie.

[Tom B.]

Plus, isn't about time Jeter caught a break?

No kidding. The poor guy just never seems to win.

[Starter]

If only Don Mattingly's back had held up.

Great player and a pretty good "roll" model.

So true. Mattingly was such a monster in his prime. Probably the best all-around player in baseball for a six-year period. If Mattingly's back had help up for one more year, he'd have a championship. And honestly, that might have got him Hall of Fame consideration in today's climate, what with steroids a factor.