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Jeter homers, is 28th player to reach 3,000 hits
Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter has a new nickname: "Mr. 3,000."
Jeter on Saturday became the 28th player in major league baseball history -- and first Yankee in franchise history -- to reach the 3,000-hit plateau when he homered to left against the Tampa Bay Rays' David Price in the third inning.
At 37 years, 13 days old, Jeter is the fourth-youngest player to reach 3,000 hits. Pete Rose had been the fourth-youngest at 37 years, 21 days. Ty Cobb is the youngest (34 years, 244 days), while Hank Aaron (36 years, 101 days) and Robin Yount (36, 359 days) both amassed 3,000 hits before their 37th birthday.
The last player to reach the 3,000-hit plateau was Houston Astros second baseman Craig Biggio, who accomplished the feat on June 28, 2007, when he singled off Colorado Rockies right-hander Aaron Cook.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Jeter became the 14th player ever to collect 3,000 hits for one franchise.
Jeter is the first player to reach 3,000 hits in a Yankees uniform. He's also the first to reach the milestone in a uniform of any New York team (Mets, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants). Four of the other 27 players to reach 3,000 hits wore a Yankees uniform at some point in their careers (Rickey Henderson, Wade Boggs, Dave Winfield, Paul Waner). Waner is the only one to wear it after reaching 3,000.
With his 3,000th hit, Jeter tied Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame right fielder Roberto Clemente for 27th on the all-time hits list. Al Kaline is 26th with 3,007 hits.
Jeter got his 2,994th hit on June 13 against the Cleveland Indians, but he strained his right calf in that game and was forced to go on the 15-day disabled list. Jeter ended up missing 18 games before returning Monday in Cleveland.
He went 0-for-4 in his first game back on Monday night, but rebounded to go 2-for-6 and move within four hits of the milestone on Tuesday night.
Manager Joe Girardi briefly contemplated sitting Jeter on Wednesday night in order to give him some rest and ensure he would have a shot to reach 3,000 at Yankee Stadium over the weekend, but changed his mind. Jeter doubled in the eighth to get within three for the return trip to the Bronx.
Jeter, who was selected sixth overall by the Yankees in the first round of the 1992 amateur draft, recorded his first major league hit on May 30, 1995, off Seattle Mariners right-hander Tim Belcher.
He recorded career hit No. 1,000 off Detroit Tigers knuckleballer Steve Sparks on Sept. 25, 2000, and reached the 2,000-hit plateau on May 26, 2006, against Kansas City Royals right-hander Scott Elarton.
Jeter passed Luis Aparicio for the most hits by a shortstop (2,674) on Aug. 16, 2009, and passed Lou Gehrig for the most hits in Yankees franchise history (2,722) on Sept. 11, 2009. He passed Gehrig for the most hits at the old Yankee Stadium (1,270) on Sept. 16, 2008.
Jeter, a likely first-ballot Hall of Famer who has been nicknamed "Mr. November" and "Captain Clutch," has won five World Series titles, been named to 12 All-Star teams and won five Gold Glove awards.
He won the AL Rookie of the Year award in 1996 and is the only player in baseball history to be named both World Series MVP and All-Star Game MVP in the same season (2000).
Jeter ranks first all-time in postseason hits (185), runs (101), games played (147) and extra-base hits (54).
His seven career 200-hit seasons are tied for sixth-most all-time.
Source: AP