10. Aug. 16, 2009 Jeter does not like to revel in his personal accomplishments, especially in a 10-3 loss, but in Seattle he became the all-time hits leader among shortstops. With three hits he passed Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio for first place on the list with 2,675 hits.
9. June 18, 2005 Jeter stepped in with the bases loaded in the sixth against the Chicago Cubs and finally cleared the bases. It was Jeter’s first career grand slam. He’d had 155 plate appearances with the bases loaded and 156 home runs without hitting a grand slam. Both were the most by active players at the time. It is still the only grand slam of Jeter’s storied career.
8. April 5, 2005 In the first series against the Red Sox since the ALCS collapse, Mariano Rivera blew a save by allowing a home run to Jason Varitek. Rivera would become the winning pitcher though when Jeter drove a pitch from Keith Foulke over the wall for his only regular-season game ending home run. Of course everyone knows about his other in the 2001 World Series against Arizona.
7. April 29, 2004 When Derek Jeter stepped in against then Oakland pitcher Barry Zito, he had not had a hit in 32 at-bats. That skid quickly ended when he sent Zito’s first pitch over the wall for his first hit in nine days.
6. May 26, 2006 Jeter reached 2,000 hits a month shy of his 32nd birthday with an infield single off Royals pitcher Scott Elarton. The hit was actually an infield dribbler on a wet field. Catcher Paul Bako rushed a throw to get a hustling Jeter and overthrew first base. Jeter made it to second on what was dictated by official scoring rules as an infield single and an error. When he reached 2,000 during his .342 season, Jeter was the eighth Yankee to do so.
5. Sept. 16, 2008 Jeter passed Gehrig for most career hits at Yankee Stadium with a single off Gavin Floyd in a 6-2 loss to the White Sox during the final week of the old stadium. The single gave him 1,270 hits in the House that Ruth Built. Jeter finished with 1,274 hits after his final hit at the stadium three days later against the Orioles.
4. April 2, 1996 Jeter began his rookie season in style on a bitterly cold day in Cleveland. His 13th career hit, first of 237 career home runs and first as the full-time Yankee shortstop was a solo home run in the top of the fifth inning off Dennis Martinez.
3. Sept. 11, 2009 During his fifth championship campaign, Jeter broke the Yankees’ all-time hits mark with his 2,722nd hit. He surpassed Lou Gehrig with a base hit to right field off Baltimore’s Chris Tillman in the third inning. He had tied the mark two nights earlier off Tampa Bay’s Jeff Niemann with three hits.
2. July 9, 2011 Hit 3,003 isn’t usually worth noting, but when you’re Derek Jeter it’s a game-winning single to close out a historic day in the Bronx. Jeter said it would have been awkward discussing his 3,000th hit if the Yankees lost. Jeter took care of that with an RBI single up the middle through a drawn-in infield that scored Eduardo Nunez with the go-ahead run. It was Jeter’s third career five-hit regular season game and second in a 3,000th hit game (Craig Biggio).
1. July 9, 2011 You all know No. 1.Hit number 3,000 couldn’t have been any more dramatic. It also could not have been any more Jeter-esque. Jeter became the first Yankee and 28th member of the 3,000-hit club when he hit a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the third inning off David Price. It would be the second of five hits on his milestone day.
Follow Larry Fleisher on Twitter @larryfleisher.
