When New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter took the field on the evening of May 7, he captured sole possession of second place, surpassing the venerable Lou Gehrig, on the Bronx Bombers’ all-time games played list.
And with more than 2,165 games played as a Yankee under his belt, Jeter, barring injury, will be on pace to overtake Mickey Mantle, who played 2,401 games in pinstripes, towards the latter half of the 2011 season.
When he does, it will be yet another milestone in the storied, Hall of Fame career of the man who has come to be simply known as ‘The Captain’.
Since becoming New York’s starting shortstop on Opening Day in 1996, Jeter has been the quiet model of consistency and excellence that the Yankees needed as the organization worked its way back to being the premiere franchise in Major League Baseball (MLB).
Coincidentally enough, in addition to Jeter winning Rookie of the Year honors, the 1996 season saw New York win its first World Series Championship in 18 years when they defeated the favored Atlanta Braves, 4-2, to conclude a postseason in which Jeter hit a robust .361.
This would be the first of four championships in five seasons for the Yankees and, not surprisingly, Jeter would play a significant role in every single one with timely hitting at the plate and solid defensive play as the quarterback of the infield.
Subsequently, although New York would go through a 9-year championship drought, which ended last season with their 27th World Series victory, Jeter continued to solidify his place in Yankee lore and in the hearts of Yankees fans all across the world while helping to maintain New York’s status as one of the top teams in baseball year in and year out.
In 14 full and glorious seasons, all with the Yankees, Jeter ranks 2nd in team history in games played (2,164), 1st in at bats (8,775), 4th in runs scored (1,592), 1st in hits (2,783), 3rd in doubles (443), 10th in home runs (228), 10th in RBI’s (1,089), 4th in total bases (4,028), 7th in walks (890), 2nd in stolen bases (308), and 5th in batting average (.317).
His postseason numbers are equally impressive as in 138 games Jeter has a batting average of .313 with 20 home runs and 55 RBI’s.
As for his place in baseball history, if being the all-time leader in hits at the shortstop position and one of six players (Barry Bonds, Craig Biggio, Paul Molitor, Ricky Henderson, Willie Mays) to have 2,700 hits, 1,500 runs scored, 220 home runs, 300 stolen bases, and 1,000 RBI’s doesn’t warrant a first ballot induction into the Hall of Fame for Jeter, there should be an outcry infinitely louder than the one for the snub of Roberto Alomar.
This won’t happen though. Especially when Jeter’s five World Series Championships, ten All-Star selections (1998-2002, 2004, 2006-2009), four Gold Glove Awards (2004-2006, 2009), four Silver Slugger Awards (2006-2009), and two Hank Aaron Awards (2006, 2009) are taken into consideration.
More important than his on-field exploits is the fact that the Yankees captain, in the pressure cooker of the biggest market in baseball, has always handled himself with class and dignity; characteristics and traits rarely seen in the modern day athlete.
All this being said, can there be any argument that Derek Sanderson Jeter isn’t the most beloved New York sports athlete of this generation?
Let the debate, or lack thereof, end here.
Click here to read the original article on Examiner.com, which includes relevant links and a video recap of the night Jeter passed Lou Gehrig on the Yankees' all-time hits list.
Derek Jeter: The most beloved New York Athlete of this Generation
