All he needed was two, but in classic pinstripe style, Derek Jeter went beyond expectations as he reached the 3,000-hit milestone this past Saturday at Yankees Stadium. Jeter may walked to the mound doing his regular routine against Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price, but during his post-game interview the future hall of famer admitted to how much pressure he felt was on him to reach 3K at his home stadium and before the all-star break.
Jeter started the game off with a single to left to put him one shy of the landmark and then came Mr. 3000….a 420 foot blast out of the park (his second longest homer ever). No. 2 has never been remembered by fans for hammering balls out of the stadium, but on this historic day in joining the fraternity of 3,000 he will be. The crowd was electrified and they had every reason to be as they commemorated the 1992 draft pick with earsplitting chants and honoring posters. It was a magical day for the Yankees' shortstop not only to reach the milestone, but to play nearly a perfect game going 5-for-5 for the afternoon in a 5-4 win over the Rays.
At the age of 37, Jeter becomes the fourth youngest to reach 3,000 hits and YES whether you believe or not…the first New York Yankee to! Not Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio or Mickey Mantle. Only Jeter. Arguably pro sports’ most storied franchise owes a lot of their success to this man.
Side note: Instead of selling the ball for a ridiculous amount, Christian Lopez returned Jeter’s 3K ball to him after the game. It was the right thing to do in Lopez’s eyes who told the press, “Mr. Jeter deserved it.” Lopez in return walked away with New York Yankees memorabilia and tickets worth around $70,000. So I pose this question to my readers: Would you have returned the ball? Suppose Jeter had a reputation similar to Barry Bonds, would you still?
As the sign says in the background "#2 Legend", Derek Jeter is definitely legand. In my opinion he is the greatest shortstop in Yankees history and of all time
ReplyDelete-NH