Ten Things About Derek Jeter’s 3000 Hits

Well…there you have it.

With a third inning home run off of Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price, Derek Jeter became just the 28th player in Major League history to get 3000 hits and only the second to do it with a roundtripper.

“It means a lot. It’s a number that has meant a lot in the history of the game, because not too many people have done it,” the shortstop said about the milestone following Saturday’s 5-4 victory. “This is the only team I’ve wanted to play for, and to be the only one to do something like this, I don’t know if I can describe it.”

It seems like not that long ago, Jeter made headlines when he surpassed Lou Gehrig and became the Yankees all-time hit king. But did you know that just a month before he passed up the Yankees Iron Man, he became the all-time hit leader among shortstops?

Perhaps…but perhaps not.

Here are ten other things you might not have known about Derek Jeter and his 3000 hits.

1508
Like many of his current teammates, Derek Jeter has played at the two latest incarnations of Yankee Stadium. That said, he clearly has the most hits. Combined…the future Hall of Famer has 1508 hits at home in the Bronx.

1171
Throughout his 17-year career, the Yankees captain has faced 1171 different pitchers. He’s gotten hits off of close to two-thirds of them. You can do the math on how many that is, but in case you were wondering…Derek Jeter has gone hitless against 349 of them.

538
And speaking of going hitless. Derek Jeter has put up a goose egg in the hits column in 538 of the 2362 regular season games he has appeared in.

175
In 2001, Derek Jeter was named “Mr. November” thanks to a tenth inning home run off Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim just after midnight on October 31. Despite the nickname, Jeter was 3-for-12 in November baseball that postseason. That aside…“Mr. November” is also the all-time leader in postseason hits with 175.

37 years, 13 days
While not the youngest ever player to reach 3000 hits (Ty Cobb was the youngest at 34 when he reached the feat in 1921), the youthful-looking Derek Jeter was 37 years and 13 days old when he got to 3000 hits. And yeah, he is also the fourth youngest to get there…behind just Cobb, Hank Aaron and Robin Yount.

34
Of those aforementioned 1171 pitchers the 12-time All-Star has faced, Derek Jeter has 34 hits (in 122 at bats) against knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. Next up on the list…Wakefield’s former teammate Pedro Martinez and the Aruban Knight Sidney Ponson at 29.

25
All-time hit king Pete Rose once hit in 44 straight games. Derek Jeter’s longest hitting streak came in 2006 when he hit in 25 straight games.

5-for-5
You might think that Derek Jeter got a lot of his hits in bunches. He didn’t. Before Saturday’s performance, only twice (May 23, 2001 and June 21, 2005) did the shortstop get five hits in a game. Not once did he get six hits in a game.

3
Curious as to just how great Derek Jeter is? Consider this…dude is now one of only three players with more than 3000 hits, 1700 runs scored, 200 home runs, 1100 RBI, 300 stolen bases and a .300 or better career batting average. The other two? Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Paul Molitor.

1
2999 of baseball’s latest baseball’s latest 3000 Hit Club member’s hits came as a starter for the New York Yankees. Only one of Derek Jeter’s hits came off the bench. As a pinch hitter, Jeter is 1-for-6 (.167)…a far cry from Lenny Harris’ record 212 pinch hits.

So, yeah…there you have it!