Derek Jeter has had a lot of memorable accomplishments over his 20-year major league career, but passing one of the best hitters in the history of his archrival’s franchise has to be near the top of the list.
The New York Yankees shortstop went 3-for-4 against the Texas Rangers on Monday and collected his 3,420th career hit, moving him past Boston Red Sox legend Carl Yazstremski and into seventh place on the league’s all-time hits list. The Yankees lost the game 4-2.
“You know, it’s quite an accomplishment,” Jeter said after the game, via ESPN. “It’s tough to enjoy when you lost the game but yeah, I’m pretty sure when this season is over and done with, I’ll look back and get a chance to realize how special it was. But yeah, any time you talk about a list of all-time great players it’s pretty special.”
Jeter’s hit came how many would expect; with two outs and a runner on first base in the seventh inning, the 40-year-old flicked a single through the second base hole into right field.
[mlbvideo id=”34891285″ width=”640″ height=”360″ /]
Jeter will retire at the end of the 2014 season, but he still has the chance to move further up the ranks of the league’s all-time hits leaders. His next target is Honus Wagner, who leads Jeter by 10 with 3,430 hits.
Cracking the top five seems unlikely for the Yankee captain, however, as Tris Speaker is currently 94 hits ahead at 3,514 with just 57 regular-season games left in Jeter’s career.
Photo via Kevin Jairaj/USA Today Sports Images
