Putting Derek Jeter on the disabled list with a strained calf muscle is only delaying the inevitable. Sometime, probably before the All-Star Break, the Yankee’s captain will record his 3,000th hit. He’ll be the 28th player to do so and the first since Craig Biggio in 2007. He’s no longer a viable threat to top Pete Rose’s all-time record of 4,256 hits, but with a contract that takes him through 2013 or 2014, there’s a good chance that Jeter will be able to climb up the all-time hits list quickly. Of the 27 players that have 3,000 hit, only 19 have more than 3,100, 13 have 3,200, and only ten have 3,300. That number should be approachable for Jeter, even if his production never returns to 2009 levels.
Jeter is perhaps the toughest active baseball player to have a real conversation about. It’s true that he’s over-exposed, that ESPN puts the Yankees on a pedestal and that when they do The Captain is always front and center. It’s true that his defense is ridiculously overrated and his five Gold Gloves more or less invalidate any meaning the award might have once had. Everyone that loves to rail against Jeter and talk about how overrated he is has plenty of ammo.
With all of the Jeter backlash, though, it’s easy to lose sight of the things he does so well. He’s not getting to 3,000 hits by accident. He’s clearly on the downslope of his career, but he’s not limping to the milestone the same way that Craig Biggio did, a decade beyond his offensive peak and several years removed from any sort of real production on offense. Between 1998 and 2009, Jeter hit .320/.391/.466 and he averaged 32 doubles, 17 homers and 197 hits a season. That’s great production from any position, much less one of the toughest defensive positions. If we factor in his defense, he’s still fifth among active players in Baseball-Reference’s Wins Above Replacement (behind Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, Chipper Jones, and Jim Thome) and 82nd all-time, in the Johnny Bench, Johnny Mize, Don Drysdale region of the list.
This is where the public debate over Jeter makes it difficult to peg his overall career. He’s a great player. You could easily argue that he’s one of the 15 or 20 best shortstops of all-time. Since his career started, he’s probably been the second-best player in the American League (behind his teammate, Rodriguez). He’s not a transcendant talent like Yankees of yore like Ruth, Gehrig, and Mantle, but he’s also not a worthless bum that’s only famous because he’s the Yankees shortstop.
So what does 3,000 hits mean for Jeter? Unlike the 500 homer club, hit totals haven’t been all that devalued by baseball’s steroid era. And unlike the 300 win club, a better understanding of stats hasn’t cast a pall over the achievement. Yes, hits are a counting stat and by extension are somewhat distorted by career length. Pete Rose, for example, racked up 559 hits between 1981 and 1986 with an OPS+ of 86. Does that mean Rose wasn’t a great hitter in his prime? Of course not. But the fact that he holds the all-time hits record more reflects the fact that he kept playing past the point that Ty Cobb retired than it does the fact that Rose was a better hitter that Cobb.
And still, it’s not easy to reach 3,000 hits. You have to play for a long time and you have to play well for most of that time to rack up such a gaudy hit total. You really just can’t fake your way through a career that’s long enough and good enough to hit 3,000 hits without being a great player. That’s why every eligible person that’s hit the plateau is in the Hall of Fame and why that honor will presumably be extended to Biggio and eventually Jeter.
What bothers me about the 3,000 hit milestone is the way that it can be misconstrued, especially for someone that’s as overexposed as Jeter. In the ESPN/NY media narrative, 3,000 hits for Jeter is a coronation. It’s a mark that helps him rise above everything else, to ascend him to the level of the all-time greats. Jeter 2996 is a great shortstop, but Jeter 3000 is an all-time great shortstop, as if the ability to roll the odometer over one last time somehow separates him. What a 3,000th hit really is is a lifetime achievement award. We celebrated Ken Griffey Jr.’s 600th home run because there was no reason to celebrate two years later when the 40-year old Griffey finally broke down once and for all and gave in to Father Time with a cross-country drive from Seattle to Orlando. Who’s going to feel like celebrating in three years if things get ugly between Jeter and the Yankees as his skills decline and the club tries to diminish his role? If his career ends with a nasty quad pull while he’s wearing a Giants’ uniform?
That’s all any milestone really is; a chance to celebrate a great career. It’s almost certain that things will go overboard for Jeter’s 3,000th, but that doesn’t mean that it’s any less of an accomplishment.
