The man stands alone. His 3000th hit is at Yankee Stadium, a long at-bat going to a 3-2 count, a home run. The first Yankee ever to hit 3000. Only the second ever to homer his 3000th, the first was the incomparable Wade Boggs. Last game he was three away and went to two, today his homer was his second hit of the game. Amazing. MLB video, NY Times article, NYT real time blog, later article, Roger Angell in the NYer
... from the NYT:
The Yankees poured out on to the field, waiting at home plate as Jeter rounded the bases. The symmetry was remarkable: With his second hit of the day, in his second at-bat, Jeter — No. 2 — became the second player in history to reach the milestone with a home run just as the clock struck 2 p.m.
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Only one other player, Honus Wagner, reached 3,000 hits while still a regular shortstop. Wagner did it in 1914.
“Physically, you have a responsibility that can be difficult, and mentally as well, you have to be in every pitch, every game,” Jeter said, referring to shortstop. “So there’s probably a reason why there’s not too many guys that have played the position that have had that amount of hits. I take pride in it. This is my job. This is the only thing I’ve done.”
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Jeter, a career .312 hitter, will be known most for relentless consistency, for churning out hits at a rate few have ever matched.
Jeter has seven 200-hit seasons, and 10 with at least 190. Only Rose and Cobb, who rank first and second on the career list, have more 190-hit seasons.
“I take a lot of pride in going out there every single day and to trying to be as consistent as possible,” Jeter said. “I think that’s probably the most difficult thing to do in our sport. Playing well gets you here, consistency keeps you here. That’s the thing that I’ve always tried to focus on.”
He finished the game 5 for 5, tied his career high, the last hit bringing in a run in the 8th that gave them the lead and allowed Mariano to close out a win. Congratulations Derek. Magic. Awesome player and person.
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