Derek Jeter

New York Yankees icon Derek Jeter moved past Lou Gehrig on the Bombers all-time hits list on September 11 with a single to right field in the Bronx.

Sept. 11, 2009 will be a day to go down in the history books for the Yankees and the entire MLB.

This is because it is the day that Derek Jeter broke the Yankees' all-time hitting record. Jeter surpassed Yankee legend Lou Gehrig to become the Bombers' career hit king.

He tied the Iron Horse on Wednesday, Sept. 9, against the Tampa Bay Rays. After an off-day on Thursday, the Yanks began their series against the Baltimore Orioles.

I have let my opinion be known regarding how I feel about the New York Yankees (which is funny, really, considering that the Yankees' provenance developed right in Baltimore, Maryland, 1901). The perennial team of "haves" and World Series titles and the most-prized free agents over the last few decades or so, Team Pinstripes has been an annoyance and the object of my disaffection for years—including when they won the 1996 ALCS over the Baltimore Orioles, 4-1.

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To say that Derek Jeter passing Lou Gehrig as the NY Yankees all-time hit leader is much ado about nothing would be completely disrespectful…yet, I am left feeling that all of the fuss that has been attributed to the accomplishment is significantly overblown.

There was a baseball game played on Friday night. The Yankees lost it 10-4 to the Orioles. Truth be told, nobody cared.

Honestly, nobody is going to remember the result, not now nor down the road. Baseball fans are only going to remember that on Sept. 11, 2009, they saw baseball history.

It took 90 minutes to get Friday night's game between the Yankees and Orioles going because of a rain delay, but the fans in the Bronx stuck around to witness a chance to see Derek Jeter surpass Lou Gehrig for the all-time Yankees hit record of 2,721.

Eight years ago, New York City and the world stopped to watch the events that had taken place on the morning of 9/11. Humanity as a whole had been changed as thousands of lives and hundreds of towns had been turned upside forever.

On Friday night, the baseball world too stopped and watched as one of it's most prolific players snapped a 70-year-old team record and re-stamped  his ballot for the hall of fame. 

I'm not trying to demean or diminish his accomplishment, I'm just saying that while Derek Jeter may have passed the immortal Iron Horse for career hits as a Yankee, he has a long way to go to catch Gehrig in terms of getting on base.

And shouldn't the ultimate goal for every hitter be to get on base?

Big news this week as Spot Starters favorite, Derek Jeter, tied Lou Gehrig for the most hits ever in a Yankees uniform with 2,721 hits. 

That’s an impressive total and Jeter and Gehrig each had phenomenal careers.  Gehrig is in the Hall of Fame and Jeter is as close to a Hall of Fame lock as you can find.  However, did you know that three Tigers had more hits wearing the Old English D as Jeter and Gehrig have had in Pinstripes.

Here’s the rundown on the Tigers all-time hits leaders.  Just for fun.

Each July we celebrate and commemorate baseball's greatest over three select nights, remembering the greats of America's national pastime. Those celebrated are not only today's All-Stars, but the stars of tomorrow, and the stars of yesteryear.

During this timespan, all cities across the nation send forth their best players to join together for one night only to compete in the All Star Game. Fans choose representatives as the players from each league join together in hopes of gaining the home field advantage in the World Series