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Since I started following baseball during the 1988 season, we've seen Paul Molitor (1996), Eddie Murray (1995), Cal Ripken Jr. (2000), George Brett (1992), Robin Yount (1992), Tony Gwynn (1999), Dave Winfield (1993), Rickey Henderson (2001), Rafael Palmeiro (2005), Wade Boggs (1999) and one of my all-time favorites, Craig Biggio (2007), all reach the 3000 hit plateau. That's quite a list of names there. Add to it the names that came before: Pete Rose, Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, Tris Speaker, Carl Yastrzemski, Cap Anson, Honus Wagner, Eddie Collins, Willie Mays, Nap Lajoie,Paul Waner, Rod Carew, Lou Brock, Al Kaline and Roberto Clemente and you've got quite a group. Every name on there is a baseball legend. Only Rose, Biggio and Palmeiro aren't in the Hall of Fame already, and Biggio should go in the next year or so. What's even more telling than the names on the list are the names that aren't. Think about it. No Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Frank Robinson, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Harmon Killebrew, Rogers Hornsby, Mike Schmidt, Johnny Bench... The list goes on and on. Those guys weren't exactly slouches, you know? It's sometimes easy to lose sight of how tremendous these milestones are. To reach 3000 hits you need the equivalent of 200 hits for 15 seasons. Or 150 hits for 20 seasons. A lot of major leaguers don't last 15 seasons, let alone pick up 200 hits in a season. So 3000 hits isn't just about being good, it's about sustaining it. And in a nutshell, that's been Jeter's career.
To give you an idea how hard it is just to get 200 hits in a season, last year, in all of major league baseball, there were only two players that reached that mark: Ichiro Suzuki with 214 and Robinson Cano with 200. Two players. It makes you really appreciate what Pete Rose was able to do in picking up 4256 hits over his 24 year career. Rose had at least 200 hits 10 times and averaged 194 hits per 162 games played. Crazy stuff. Anyhow, back to Jeter. Jeter has 7 200 hit seasons under his belt and is now in the midst of his 17th season, all with the New York Yankees which in itself is a rare accomplishment in this day and age. The Yankee captain since 2003 has been an all star 12 times counting this year, been a member of 5 World Series Winners, won 5 Gold Gloves, 4 Silver Sluggers, the 1996 AL Rookie of the Year Award, the 2000 All Star Game MVP, the 2000 World Series MVP, and he's the all time Yankees leader in base hits.
Photo Courtesy: 310tojoba.blogspot.com
3000 hits will just be one more milestone for one of the greatest shortstops of this era, but I have to tell you, it's one you remember. I still remember the details of the game that Biggio got his 3000th hit. He ended up with 5 hits in the game and the Astros won it with a walkoff grand slam in extra innings from Carlos Lee. For me, that ranks right up there with Chris Burke's 18th inning home run against the Braves and Dan Wheeler getting the final out against the Cardinals in 2005 to send the Astros to their first World Series as my greatest Astros memories. Anyhow, as we get ready to celebrate Jeter's legacy with his 3000th hit approaching, I leave you with the memories of some of the other greats who have reached the milestone:
Eddie Murray's 3000th - 6/30/1995
Willie Mays' 3000th - 7/18/1970
Craig Biggio's 3000th - 6/28/2007
Wade Boggs' 3000th - 8/7/1999 (only player to hit a homer for number 3000)
Tony Gywnn's 3000th - 8/6/1999
Robin Yount's 3000th - 9/9/1992
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