It was July 9th, 2011, and fortunately, I was able to witness a small part of baseball history first hand. Derek Jeter had come up to bat in the 3rd inning while the N.Y. Yankees were facing the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee stadium. He had gotten his 2,999th hit in the first inning. The crowd, of course were mostly on their feet. The count was 3-2, the pitch was a hanging curve ball by pitcher David Price and in return, Jeter crushed a home run into the left-center stands. With that being said, he became the 28th baseball player in history to reach 3,000 hits. A milestone, in which he is the first to achieve at Yankee stadium, old or new, as well as being the fourth youngest player to do so. This, along with a few other great achievements, guarantees his place in the Hall of Fame. His career statistics contend with those of baseball's all-time greatest players, as well as having five championship rings, with three of them being in a row. In "Jeter Reaches 3,000 Hit With Home Run", author Tyler Kepner states "Jeter accomplished it all without playing anywhere but shortstop, the most physically demanding position on the field besides catcher" (Kepner, Page 1). The fact that Jeter played most of his games at that position demonstrates his talent. Derek Sanderson Jeter is one of best baseball players to ever play, and may very well be the greatest Yankee captain we will ever have, as well as being the most respected baseball player the game has ever seen.
Derek Jeter passed Lou Gherig in 2009 for the franchise record in hits with 2,722. He ended up becoming the first Yankee to ever have 3,000 hits. People may argue that Jeter can be called the greatest captain in history because of Lou Gherig being diagnosed with ALS, which forced him to retire at the age of 36. Gherig contributed to the team the way many others couldn't, leading the Yankees to three consecutive championship wins in '36, '37 and '38.
