Derek Jeter gets 3,000th hit and then some...

[whipped guy]

In a script that not even Hollywood could have devised Derek Jeter achieved his 3,000th hit... a home run... but that was only the begining... even the guy who caught the ball was a class act!

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2011_07_09_tbamlb_nyamlb_1&mode=recap&c_id=nyy

[+ deej]

Cool. Jeter isn't actually known as a slugger. (A hitter, yes, but not a power hitter.) Nice way to do it.

[whipped guy]

Ironically the only other guy to hit a home run for number 3,000 was Wade Boggs... another guy with a reputation as a hitter but certainly not a home-run-hitting power hitter.

 

Still, with his 5 hits in the game (including the game-winning single) Jeter definitely upheld his reputation for being simply a great hitter.

[uwsman2]

I think there was a lot of adrenalin at work for Jeter yesterday. He was playing way over his norm for this year. It would be great if the excitement and inspiration for that would carry over. As a long-time NY Yankees fan (born in the Bronx, raised on Long Island, lived in NYC my entire adult life), I have found Jeter to be a real inspiration. I just love the guy. And it has been emotionally crushing to watch him struggle along the last year and a half as age has slowed him down and made him physically vulnerable to the kind of injuries that have sidelined him from time to time. I've been hoping very hard that he manages to lift his batting average well above last year's sorry performance and go out in style. My attitude on this has been that if he can no longer do it on a high level, he should retire and avoid the pitiful spectacle that was the last gasp of Babe Ruth, for example. Now that he has the 3000+ hits, he can retire in style at the end of this year. That would be good for him and good for the Yankees.

[whipped guy]

After this year Jeter has another three years on his contract so I doubt he will be retiring after this season. However, being the class act that is is and being so level headed, I would suspect that when the time does come he will do so gracefully. He will know when his role with the team will change and when it will be the time to step aside. I can also see him doing all in his power to aid with any transition. He just has that type of personality.

 

As for his current situation... sure, the balletic plays that are his trademark have not been executed with the aplomb and precision of old... but he is still a reasonably forceful presence at shortstop and in the batters box as well. As a result, I think that he has quite a bit of energy left in him to do a respectable job at least for the remainder of this season and most likely well into the upcoming season as well. However, just based on his box office drawing power, I would suspect that the Yankee organization would want to keep him as a member of the family in whatever capacity for as long as possible. Can you imagine him as a first or third base base coach... and all the tickets that would be sold just to ogle his butt??!!

[+ deej]

What Jeter will continue to bring to the field is experience and it's extremely valuable on a team that's going to need new blood sooner or later.

 

As a Cubs fan I've enjoyed watching the new kids, Starlin Castro (SS) and Darwin Barney (2B). But they're *young*, and they make the mistakes that young players make. At SS, nothing gets past Castro. I've seen him stop ground balls on the dive, land on his ass, and still nail the batter/runner at first. I've also seen him throw the ball into the stands on the same play. He doesn't have the experience to know when to hold it. (Although he's learning damn fast.)

 

Jeter has that experience, in spades. Experience can offset the slowed metabolism for quite a few years. I'd be surprised if he doesn't transition to the coaching staff on retirement.