Highlights
May 23, 2001: Derek goes 5-for-5 with three runs scored, a double and a home run in a 7-3 victory over the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.
It was the first five hit game of his career.
June 21, 2005: Derek goes 5-for-6 with five runs scored, a
double and home run and one RBI in a 20-11 win over Tampa Bay at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees trailed 10-2 after four innings and 11-7 heading into the bottom of
the 8th when they exploded for 13 runs off two Tampa Bay relievers. The
inning featured twelve hits with four home runs including back-to-back-to-back
shots by Gary Sheffield, Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui. For good
measure the Yankees hit for the cycle in the inning.
July 9, 2011: Derek picks up career hit #3,000
becoming the first Yankee to collect 3,000 hits. He also goes 5-for-5 in
the game with a double and a home run off Tampa Bay starter David Price, which
happened to be his 3,000th hit. Jeter also knocked in the eventual winning
run with a one-out single through a drawn in infield in the 8th to give the
Yankees a 5-4 victory.
September 25, 2014: In the final home game of his
career, Derek goes out in classic Jeter style with a walk-off single in the
bottom of the ninth inning to top the Baltimore Orioles 6-5. On the night
Derek went 2-for-5 with three RBI. In the bottom of the first, trailing
2-0, Derek drove a ball off the left-center wall for an RBI double and came
around to score on an error by second baseman Kelly Johnson. In the
seventh, with the game still tied at two, Derek stepped up with one out and the
bases loaded. Jeter was jammed by an inside pitch and grounded a ball to
the hole between third and short. Baltimore shortstop J.J. Hardy fielded
and, attempting to start a double play, threw the ball wildly into right field,
allowing two runs to score. With a 5-2 lead in the ninth, it looked like
Jeter would finish out the game in the field. However, closer David
Robertson allowed a two-run home run to Adam Jones and, after retiring Nelson
Cruz, allowed a game tying home run by Steve Pearce. It only set the stage
for the dramatic finish. Rookie Jose Pirela led off with a hard ground
ball single past third base against Baltimore reliever Evan Meek.
Speedster Antoan Richardson was inserted to pinch run and moved to second on a
Brett Gardner sacrifice, putting the winning run in scoring position for Jeter.
Derek wasted no time lashing a hard base hit through the right side of the
infield on the first pitch. Right fielder Nick Markakis quickly fielded
and fired a strong, accurate throw to the plate, but the speedy Richardson
easily beat the throw to complete dramatic victory and storybook ending.
Trivia
- Derek was assigned #73 in his first training camp.
- When Derek first made the big leagues, it was manager Buck Showalter who ordered the equipment manager to issue him a single digit number, saying, "He is going to be special."
- Derek is the first player to ever wear #2 for any team and get 3,000
hits.
- Derek was the second man to hit a home run for his 3,000th hit.
Wade Boggs was the other. Derek was also the second player to get 5
hits on the day he reached 3,000 hits, going 5-for-5. Craig Biggio
also nabbed five hits, but was 5-for-6 on the day.
| Derek Jeter's Milestone Hits |
| Hit # |
Date |
Pitcher |
Against |
Type |
Inning |
Where |
| 1 |
5/30/1995 |
Tim Belcher |
Seattle Mariners |
Single |
5th |
Kingdome |
| 100 |
7/17/1996 |
Joe Hudson |
Boston Red Sox |
Single |
7th |
Fenway Park |
| 500 |
7/21/1998 |
Bryce Florie |
Detroit Tigers |
Single |
6th |
Yankee Stadium |
| 1,000 |
9/25/2000 |
Steve Sparks |
Detroit Tigers |
Single |
5th |
Yankee Stadium |
| 1,500 |
8/16/2003 |
Pat Hentgen |
Baltimore Orioles |
Single |
5th |
Camden Yards |
| 2,000 |
5/26/2006 |
Scott Elarton |
Kansas City Royals |
Single |
4th |
Yankee Stadium |
| 2,500 |
8/22/2008 |
Radhames Liz |
Baltimore Orioles |
Single |
1st |
Camden Yards |
| 2,722* |
9/11/2009 |
Chris Tillman |
Baltimore Orioles |
Single |
4th |
Yankee Stadium |
| 3,000 |
7/9/2011 |
David Price |
Tampa Bay Rays |
Home Run |
3rd |
Yankee Stadium |
* - Passed Lou Gehrig as all-time Yankees hit leader.
Notes
On April 15th, 2007, baseball payed tribute to the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's "breaking of the color barrier" in baseball. On this day, several players around baseball, including the entire Dodgers team, wore #42 in honor of Jackie.Derek was one of three Yankees to change his number just for the day. The other two were Robinson Cano and
Joe Torre. Naturally,
Mariano Rivera already sported #42, so his wearing of the number was normal and he would be the last player in all of Major League baseball to do so.
Memories
Michael S. from Orlando wrote: "As a Red Sox fan
who is not a Yankee fan, so you'll read it here first. This Red Sox fan considers Derek Jeter the greatest Yankee ever and one of the 10 best players ever to play the game. It will be a long time before there is another like him. My only regret is that I never got to watch him play at a stadium."
