Last night Derek Jeter tied Lou Gehrig as the all-time Yankee hit leader, a fact of which you are no doubt well aware unless you are entirely unconscious, as the NY press, and especially the YES network, have made an endless to-do over the landmark achievement. God love them, I know everyone needs to sell ads, especially the papers. But here's a question: Isn't everyone jumping the gun? Shouldn't the big celebration be reserved for his next hit, when he actually breaks the record and becomes soul title holder? Are we supposed to do the hype all over again? His trophy case is going to be pretty silly. "Here's ball 2,171. Here's ball 2,172." Doesn't that just detract from the significance of the record? I know we live in a society that adores hero-worship, and MLB and YES are happy to provide, as it helps move seats and merch, but do we really need to celebrate every major accomplishment twice? We remember Hank Aaron's 715th and Roger Maris's 61st. Those were the big ones. So me, I'm glad Jeter is tied with Gehrig but I'll hold most of my applause until he's in front. It won't be long.
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24 replies on “Jumping the Gun”
I think tying the record is a pretty big deal, actually, and worthy of celebration. It puts him at the top of the list, albeit shared.
Though the next hit is inevitable, so perhaps a blowout celebration is not the right response, celebrating the accomplishment is extremely worthy.
Congrats, Mr. Jeter, you are a class act and a great ballplayer.
Yes YF, we do…I get what you are saying in a way but I disagree. We will celebrate even more when he breaks the record tomorrow!!!
I think this is part of the reason that so many of the players were really rooting for him to get his 4th hit in his last AB – it would have been an even greater night than it already was and yes – that would have been the hit to recall. But since those two hits are now to be split across two separate games, it is unavoidable that w’ll have a double-celebration because it is not just the media creating it prematurely. The fans in the stadium and the players on both teams all rose and gave him a 2-minute ovation and I think that was appropriate and very cool. He’ll get another one when he breaks it I guess.
Regardless, I still find it hard to believe that he is going to end his career so far ahead of all of those greats who played for this team. Even though you could see it coming for the last couple years, it’s still sort of hard to believe given the other names on that list.
If this means another cutaway to Minka Kelly jumping around and celebrating, I’m all for it. Am I right, guys?
Guys?
wet blanket
She is easy on the eyes for sure dougie fresh…no doubt.
Obviously it’s pretty serious if she was…HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, joking, really don’t care about that stuff! ;)
Totally amazing in this era of free agency for a player to have the longevity with one club to do this
Agreed REA. And given how far ahead of Gehrig Jeter is all but assured of being when he finally does hang them up, I seriously think his Yankee hits mark is likely to last for many many many generations.
Totally amazing in this era of free agency for a player to have the longevity with one club to do this
Less amazing, though, for the one club to be the Yankees, who have the resources to lock up players of Jeter’s caliber and gladly overpay to do it. But I agree, it is still amazing.
IH
So Jeter is going to be the Sam Crawford of hits for one club?
You could be right here……given the increase in player mobility.
What was Wahoo Sam’s triples mark?
Something well over 300….like 336 – I forget exactly. That has never been approached in the past 70 years
And nobody will ever break it unless the rules, equipment, ballparks or style of the game go back to favoring non-homer XBHs the way they did in Crawford’s day.
More embarrassing, to me, YF, was ESPN’s coverage. It was their lead story on SportsCenter.
I certainly think NY fans can fawn all they want to. He’s been a great player and will be in the hall of fame. It IS a big story to Yankee fans.
The lead story for a guy who moved into a tie for 53rd on the all-time hits list?
Yes, Jeter’s been a certain hall of famer for years, now. But this achievement, to me, anyway, is more Yankee news than national news. Move it down the list a bit, Stuart. Don’t make it an 11 until he gets to 3,000.
…
The players in my lifetime who achieved 3,000+ hits with one team: Yaz, Mays, Ripken, Brett, Yount, Gwynn. Jeter will be the next and might be the last. That’s quite mindboggling.
Yet the incessant coverage of Tom Brady isn’t kinda the same thing? Some players get all the coverage, it’s the way of the world…
I think Jeter is worthy of a top ten spot on everyones list..
Nails, IBM.
“…Yet the incessant coverage of Tom Brady isn’t kinda the same thing?…”
yeah, don’t forget TO, favre, tiger woods, ochocinco, vick…they all have their own espn channel now…
jeter was the lead story but he didn’t even make the top 10 plays, unless i missed it…
“…Less amazing, though, for the one club to be the Yankees, who have the resources to lock up players of Jeter’s caliber and gladly overpay to do it. But I agree, it is still amazing….”
“…I certainly think NY fans can fawn all they want to. He’s been a great player and will be in the hall of fame. It IS a big story to Yankee fans.
The lead story for a guy who moved into a tie for 53rd on the all-time hits list?
Yes, Jeter’s been a certain hall of famer for years, now. But this achievement, to me, anyway, is more Yankee news than national news….”
let’s not get into the argument about whether or not jeter is overpaid…after all, i defended you on the same claim about jd drew…by the way how much is too much for a first ballot hall of famer?…
sorry paul and IBM, while i don’t think it was your intention because you did acknowledge it’s an accomplishment, the essence of your comments just come across as a bit bitter and jealous…you guys are normally above that stuff…look, it’s news because we’re talking about an all time hits list that was headed by lou freaking gehrig…by all accounts [legend, for rob’s benefit], lou was one of the classiest and beloved baseball players ever…did i mention that he’s also considered one of the greatest, not just on the yankees, baseball players of all time…one thing you all may be forgetting is that baseball needed a “feel good” story…i’m sure it’s a relief that a guy not linked to ped’s has accomplished something significant and historic, despite your efforts to downplay it…
Well said DC…well said.
This is trivial. Really, YF is annoyed because a hit that put Jeter at the top (albeit shared) of the list of Yankee players of all time was celebrated? Who cares if he is tied with Gehrig and tonight may bring another celebration? Really, this ALMOST NEVER HAPPENS. EMBRACE THE JOY!!!
It SHOULD BE CELEBRATED. And so should the record-breaking hit, with even more vigor.
Misanthropes, the lot of you. Be happy. Enjoy the accomplishment, A LOT, and enjoy the next one too. Jeez.
saw your first comment on this thread sf, and it was most gracious…
as for your advice: “…Be happy. Enjoy the accomplishment, A LOT, and enjoy the next one too….” well, we’re trying, but the wet blankets in the room are making it tough… ;)
what i think is amazing is that the yankee hit record is “only” 2721…the sox record is 3419 held by yaz…#2 is ted [2654, even with the time spent in the miliary]…#3 is rice, with 2452….it’ll be a bigger deal if jeter gets to 3000, but this is still a moment to savor…for the record, i’m not buying into the 4000 hype for jeter…too much of a longshot at this point…i mean 8 or 9 years more with 160-170 hits per year…nah…
interesting, but not surprising, that gehrig also holds the yankee career records for singles, doubles, triples, extra base hits, grand slams, and rbi’s…
#5 on the Yankee hit list…
Bernie Williams. Sigh.
Sorry, but ya, congrats on Jeter, hehe..
Again, I’m not ripping Jeter. If i wanted to do that, I’d point out that he’s still 700 hits behind Yaz. (and then the fucker would play long enough to pass Yaz, just to spite me.) I’m ripping ESPN. Mad Dog Russo agrees with me, by the way.
Whether he passed Gehrig or Henrich or DiMaggio for the mark is immaterial. It’s just not a big national story.
See the comments on this v topic in the “2722…2723…” post IBM. There are at least a few reasons noted there as to why this is a legit ntnl story, even if many fans of opposing teams wish it weren’t.
How many hits did Yaz have at jeter’s age? Genuine question.
Yaz had 2413 hits at the end of his age 35 year. Of course, he also had the benefit of +125 OPS points at home. The difference is also explained by Yaz never getting 200 hits in a season.
So I’m not exactly sure how ripping Jeter would mean bringing up Yaz. Jeter has been the far better player and at the most important (rather than the least important) defensive position. Based on his current rates, Jeter will pass Yaz sometime in 2012 – or four years earlier than Yaz took.
Citing mad dog russo to back up an opinion hurts the opinion more than helps it. That guy is a joke who nobody should pay attention to. There are as many or more “sports radio personalities” who did feel enough of the story to talk about it.
I have to agree sam. I actually love the Mad Dog, but more as a side-show entertainer than as an informed commentator. I very much miss the Mike and the Mad Dog show, but I can’t recall a time when I thought Russo made a reasoned and convincing argument for anything. He is purposefully bombastic for the sake of generating debate and controversy and he is particularly good at it. And for some reason I never really found him as grating as many others understandably do. But I would never cite him to legitimize any argument.