Last September the countdown was on in the Big Apple as its current superest(?) of superstars Derek Jeter was just a few hits away from surpassing Lou Gehrig on the all-time Yankee hit list.
Last night, the Rangers brass apparently forgot to issue a memo that Michael Young entered the game within spitting distance of becoming their team’s all-time hit king.
There was no fanfare, no countdown graphics on SportsCenter…no ceremonial chotchkies available over at MLB.com.
I guess that’s the difference when your team’s all-time king is the still active Ivan Rodriguez and the total is a seemingly paltry (yet, in Young’s case, pretty impressive) 1747 hits.
Young collected two base knocks against the Florida Marlins Wednesday night to increase his career total to 1748 in just 1416 games. “Pudge” recorded his 1747 over two stints with the team and 1507 games.
Suffice it to say, Young was honored and humbled by the accomplishment.
“I knew it’d mean a lot, but now that it’s finished, I kind of look back on the career I’ve had in Texas and the players I’ve passed, it means a lot,” the six-time All-Star told reporters following the game. “I’ve played my whole career in one uniform. Hopefully I can finish it in this uniform.”
And if you’re curious, Young is now just the fourth active player to be his team’s all-time hit leader joining the aforementioned Jeter, Todd Helton in Colorado and Carl Crawford in Tampa Bay.
Next season, there are two other players poised to become their team’s all-time hit leaders. Ichiro Suzuki (2121) is 120 hits behind Seattle hit king Edgar Martinez (2241) and in Toronto, Vernon Wells (1436) is chasing Tony Fernandez for the top spot (1583).
It’s your guess as to which one gets higher billing on the Worldwide Leader…but the smart money is on Ichiro.
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