Derek Jeter has turned into a hit machine. He used to be a good hitter. He's really turning into a great hitter. He's never had the power to be ranked with the great hitters, but it's hard to argue with the numbers he's put up in recent years.
Jeter is on pace for another 200-hit season. It would be his third straight and sixth overall. The only Yankee to have more is Lou Gehrig who did it eight times.
Jeter is on his way to 3000 hits. He had 2,200 even entering play Saturday and on his current pace should be approximately 650 shy by the end of the year, a season in which he turns 33. In the next couple weeks he'll pass Joe DiMaggio (2,214) and join the Top 5 hit leaders in Yankee history. Number 2 could be number 2 on the list by the end of the 2008 season. Lou Gehrig is the leader with 2,721.
A run at Pete Rose (4,256) is pretty unlikely considering he needs to average 200 hits for the next 10 years. But Jeter appears to be getting better as he gets older. He nearly won a batting title a couple of times, and looks to be in the race again this year. Consider that he was a .314 career hitter before turning 30, and is a .328 hitter since turning 30. Still, I think its asking a lot to catch Rose. You may want to ask me again in about four or five years to see where we are.
The interesting thing to see will be how long Jeter will continue to play shortstop. As I said earlier, Jeter turns 33 this year. Let's compare him to other premier offensive/defensive shortstops over the last few decades. Cal Ripken was the prototype for the taller, more athletic shortstop. He was switched to third base at age 36. Robin Yount was a Gold Glove winner at age 26. By 29 he was moved to the outfield. Alan Trammell, a 4-time Gold Glove winner never played more than 100 games at shortstop after age 32. And let's not forget Nomar Garciaparra. He hasn't been a regular shortstop since 2003 when he was 29. Alex Rodriguez doesn't count because he voluntarily changed positions (not to mention that there are many he believe he could be playing the position again next year should he choose to opt out, but let's jump off that bridge when we come to it).
There are plenty of people around baseball who talk about Jeter's lack of range, but he's still the guy making all the big plays at all the right times. So the talk about moving him won't start just yet. But it will.
Think about what a mess it's going to be when the Yankees try to move Jeter out of the shortstop position. It took the Yankees three years to get Bernie Williams out of center and there were plenty of times that transition wasn't pretty. That will be nothing compared to when it comes time to move Jeter. There will come a time-sometime in the next 2 to 4 years-when the Yankees will look to a player either in their system or available to them in the free agent market and say to themselves, "He can play the position better than Jeter can now." Whoever that guy is better hope things turn out better for him than they did for Manny Alexander, the guy who replaced Ripken. "Who?" you ask? Exactly.
But that is still in the distance. In the meantime, let us continue to appreciate a guy who will go down with more hits than any other Yankee in history.
Go back to 1997, the year after the Yankees won their first World Series under Joe Torre, and two of the most talked about players were a couple of kids who were less than two years removed from their big league debuts in Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.
Welcome to February. It may not feel like it outside, but spring is right around the corner. Pitchers and catchers are just two weeks away, and if that’s enough to warm you up right about now then try another pair of socks and some hot tea.
I can’t imagine I’ll ever have the privilege of covering a player like Hideki Matsui again. The word “unique” is thrown around too much, but this was indeed a unique experience, right from Day One.
A few thoughts heading out of Indianapolis: *Assume for a moment no Johnny Damon in the 2-hole. On days when Jorge Posada doesn’t catch and bat 5th, who’s the best option for the Yankees in the 5-hole behind Alex Rodriguez?
Andy Pettitte’s one-year renewals have worked out very well for the Yankees. After signing for the 2010 season for essentially he is now entering the final year of a 4-year, $54.25 million contract.
Yankee fans should be thankful Curtis Granderson’s OBP dipped down to .327 last season (from .361 and .365 the previous two years). The price the Yankees paid for Granderson wasn’t very high if you think about it.
Brian Bruney for a Rule 5 pick isn't the earth-shattering news you want to hear at the much-hyped Winter Meetings. But that's what we're going with on day one, the biggest real news from either local team.
Tommy Henrich, a 5-time All-Star and member of 7 World Series Champions from 1937-1950 passed away on Tuesday at age 96. How good a player and important a player was Henrich to those Yankee teams? He was Derek Jeter before there was a Derek Jeter.
E-Mail Story
Print Story
