A special moment at the Stadium
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Podcast on Sep 10, 2009 
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A few weeks ago, I would wager that very few people knew Lou Gehrig was the franchise hits leader of the Yankees. Breaking that record was not something Derek Jeter had on his radar until he heard about it from the media.
But what this record has done is give everybody — fans, teammates and even the media — a chance to celebrate Jeter the individual.
Jeter has never won an MVP. He has never led the league in hitting or had the most RBI. He scored the most runs once, but that was back in 1998. He is a player defined by team accomplishments and his own consistency of effort and performance. What speaks better to that than having the most hits?
Sure, Jeter has more at-bats than Gehrig. But that record had stood since 1939. It took somebody special to come along and break it and Jeter was that person.
You know what stuck with me from tonight? Seeing the Rays on the stop step of the dugout applauding.
“I’m very happy for him,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. “He carries himself in a manner that’s worthy of passing Gehrig.”
Maddon speaks for everybody in baseball when he says that.
It also was fitting that Derek’s buddy Jorge Posada won the game with a home run. That enabled Derek to really enjoy the night. One would think that the Stadium would be packed on Friday night and wouldn’t it be just like Jeter to poke a single into right field in the first inning?
Here is Jeter talking about his big night:
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The Yankees are off on Thursday and so am I. There will be a few posts but nothing too elaborate.
Was Yogi there tonight? I’m sure he’ll be there Friday. Any reaction from George yet?
Life is good.
The Wall Street Journal is carrying the story with great respect (“Mr. Jeter”)
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....98307.html
Dow up triple digits tomorrow – The Jeter Rally!!
Can Derek’s life be more charmed? Great for the Jeters, mom & dad must be so proud and rightfully so.
Good Job Jete! Good Job Pete!
Small correction: he hasn’t broken the record yet, has he?
Congrats to Jeter! Plus he stole his 300th base, second to Henderson’s 326 in club history. I thought he did a great job in the press conference.
One Ray celebrated Jeter’s accomplishment in an odd fashion
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/.....deb4c1f5f/
I never saw anyone link to this on here, so I’m going to do so now. It’s WSJ’s “The Case for Derek Jeter, MVP”:
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....24390.html
By the way, the Yanks just completed the rare 4-game sweep (3 + make-up game). And effectively put the final nails in Tampa’s season coffin.
Remember when we thought that winning 96 teams would be a good goal for this team?
They would HAVE to play under .500 to win 101 games.
That’s insane.
In some ways, the tie is celebrated more boisterously than the record, no? Since there’s such a build up.
To even be within the grasp of such lofty achievements is magnanimous, but to tie and break the record must be nerve-wracking followed by a feeling of relief.
pat September 10th, 2009 at 12:41 am
One Ray celebrated Jeter’s accomplishment in an odd fashion
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The Rays needed to do something to lighten the mood tonight.
That’s a pretty darn good hitting club and they only scored six runs in four games.
Tough to beat anyone, let alone this Yankee club, when you’re not scoring runs.
Of course, the Yankee pitchers did a pretty good job in their own right keeping them down.
What Yankee Rookies are up this year that weren’t up for last years hazing?
Brian Fuentes sucks.
Joba with an encouraging outing.
He appears recommitted to establishing his FB and more likely to fire it in there in two-strike counts.
I would have liked to see him come out for the fourth. When he’s throwing with ease, you want to see that barrier breaker inning, but I guess that’s coming.
pat: Peña and Cervelli
Mike Dunn as well.
m
Every hit Jeter gets between now and the end of his career is a new Yankee hit record so I think they all should be boisterously celebrated! The outcome lived up to the hype and it so rarely does.
Or maybe he just needs a walk-off this year. Him and Tex are 2 of the few without.
Wasn’t Cervelli in black biker gear in the Village People crew last year?
One Ray celebrated Jeter’s accomplishment in an odd fashion
_____________________
Nice outfit but a black bag, really ……
If he had shaved – watch out!!
Wasn’t last year Wizard of Oz? Or was that 2 years ago?
Dodgers down to 2 1/2 lead …. Troncoso just walked in Arizona’s winning run. :O
’07 was Wizard of Oz.
Where does the time go ……..
’08 was 3rd place.
Here’s the downside of friday night’s game.
Because it’s 9/11, everyone will be wearing those garish red hats.
So if Jeter breaks the record, it will be recorded with everyone wearing those stupid red hats.
Do you know who wears red Yankee caps? About 2 percent of the total fanbase.
You want to commemorate 9/11 and donate money to Veteran’s causes? Do it another way. Red caps are just awful.
“Do you know who wears red Yankee caps? About 2 percent of the total fanbase.
You want to commemorate 9/11 and donate money to Veteran’s causes? Do it another way. Red caps are just awful.”
You sound like Joan Rivers and her daughter critiquing the Oscars “Red” carpet. And no, that’s not a compliment.
Wasn’t last year the Village People leaving Boston or am I skipping years?
At 4:30 on the audio,, The Captain sonically sounds like Springsteen when he says, “Yeah, I know man…”
Im going to friday nights game…..hope the weather holds up. I’d be utterly disappointed if its postponed to saturday night and he gets the hit in the day game
Derek Jeter will be wearing a blue batting helmet, so who cares about what everyone else is wearing ?
>Derek Jeter will be wearing a blue batting helmet,
>so who cares about what everyone else is wearing ?
The voice of reason.
Anyone know what kind of pace the Rockies have been on? They’re as hot as the Yankees and they’re only 2 back of LA in the loss column. Looks like San Francisco’s fading away, Torre’s postseason streak still looking good…
Who cares what color hats the teams will be wearing on Friday?
Forget about color of the hats and instead try to understand the reason they are wearing them.
But the Rockies lost to the Reds today. 3 up vs. the Giants and they play them 3 times next week in SF. More ominous for the Giants would be the 6 games left vs. the Dodgers.
No, the Rockies won tonight. Walk off win.
Oh, and the Rockies close out the season with 3 in Los Angeles of Los Angeles.
Most of the rest of what I said was reasonably accurate.
Rockies rallied back. That Smith guy has a ton of homeruns. He’s the new Matt Holliday.
Also saw a fan make the comment that Bobby Abreu is a come back player candidate. Hello? He never went anywhere.
Pat: Pena, Melancon, Dunn, Albaladejo
Abreu was on a 3rd place team last season.
“I’m very happy for him,” Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. “He carries himself in a manner that’s worthy of passing Gehrig.”
Maddon speaks for everybody in baseball when he says that.
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Well, everybody in baseball, except for one jerk: Jim Rice
Friday is going to be special when Jete BREAKS the record! THAT’S what I’m looking forward to now. Incredible, with more baseball in him!
I don’t know why you insist on saying a few weeks ago nobody knew who had the most hits in Yankee history. I as well as every Yankee fan I know could have answered that question.
I was just looking at the schedule and the Yankees have a west coast trip.
I HATE 10PM STARTS!
“What an ovation I got from the fans,” he said. “I’ve been trying to do it for them.”
Player Hits
Lou Gehrig 2,721
Derek Jeter 2,721
Babe Ruth 2,518
Mickey Mantle 2,415
Bernie Williams 2,336
Joe DiMaggio 2,214
Don Mattingly 2,153
Yogi Berra 2,148
http://espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=290909110
“Outstanding point, CB. I’ve said the very same thing over the past month but you just said it much more eloquently than I did.
This is a special team. It’s been obvious for awhile now.
It’s why I don’t fear any potential opponent out there regardless if it’s the Tigers, Red Sox, Rangers, or Angels.
This team can beat anyone. Period. Too many fans have that pre-2004 Red Sox mentality with this team and I simply don’t understand it.”
It is a special team, but to be placed among the “elite” special Yankee teams like the 98, 77/78, 61, 39, 32 or 27 Yankee teams, they have to complete the journey by celebrating number 27. I fear no team and expect the Yankees to beat all comers, but with that said, they still need to get it done despite your psycho on-line analysis of other Yankee fans.
I hope Francessa takes the opportunity to at least say something nice about what Jeter has done. Or at least refrain from being a downer.
If he’s not affected by the love that emanated from every seat in the house. By the respect showed by his peers and opponents. All celebrating Jeter and a special number. Yes, Francessa, it is special. If he wasn’t moved by what happened in the moments after Jeter tied the record, then he just doesn’t get it.
I fear no team and expect the Yankees to beat all comers, but with that said, they still need to get it done despite your psycho on-line analysis of other Yankee fans.
———–
My so-called psycho analysis of other Yankee fans is dead on – at least those who come here all the time stating how much they fear one team or another.
It’s stupid pre-2004 Red Sox paranoia at it’s worst.
As CB stated so eloquently, this team isn’t nearly as fragile as some people think and they’ve showed it all season long.
Francessa NEVER gets it. Never.
It’s amazing how often people complain what an idiot he is (and they would be right) but still continue to listen to his gibberish whenever he’s on.
He doesn’t have the slightest clue what he’s talking about.
All right, GF. Time for you to take over now.
Going to sleep now.
Good Morning -
If you don’t want to spoil a good thing, don’t listen to Mike Francesa.
Giuseppe Franco -
I am not afraid of the other teams, and I don’t think the Yankees are fragile. Heck, this season has been an unbelievably solid one. However, what 2004 did was to put that little seed in the back of your head that anything can happen. The 2004 Yankees were not a bad team at all – quite the contrary. And yet things went awry. It just makes me more cautiously optimistic, rather than gung-ho.
Anyway – it’ll be nice to savor all the good things that have been going on in Yankeeland during today’s off day.
Not to get too far ahead of myself, but does anyone thing playing so far above sea level could be a problem?
G’night, m.
m,
I won’t be here for long. Gotta go pretty soon.
Doreen,
I bet Red Sox fans won’t feel the same way when they get to the postseason. They feel their team can beat anyone in October – and they can.
But the Yanks didn’t win a WS in 1997, 2001, 2002, or 2003 either and we fans still had a lot of confidence in this team to win when it counts.
2004 did change a lot of Yankee fans. And the end result was that the Yanks and Red Sox fans seemed to switched roles.
Red Sox fans had that long drought of nothingness and were always cautious and afraid of what was going to happen next. The Yankee fans had all kind of confidence in their team and usually expected this team to do well.
Well, 2004 was five years ago and this isn’t the same team by a long shot. People need to sit back and enjoy watching this team play and stop worrying about what could go wrong.
Giuseppe Franco -
Worry is such a hard thing to let go of sometimes (at least for me). But you’re right in that in seasons such as this one, it’s worth it to try and refocus the energy spent on worrying what might go wrong toward quiet confidence that this team will get it done. There really is no valid reason why they shouldn’t.
Doreen
Playing this far above sea level makes one light headed with glee.
The Yankees are fun to watch. I predicted 97 wins at the beginning of the season. Looks like they will easily surpass that.
HE may not have led the league in any category on many occasions, but it is all about consistency. You look at numbers like most hits or runs in the last decade and he’s always at or near the top of the list.
“My so-called psycho analysis of other Yankee fans is dead on – at least those who come here all the time stating how much they fear one team or another.
It’s stupid pre-2004 Red Sox paranoia at it’s worst.
As CB stated so eloquently, this team isn’t nearly as fragile as some people think and they’ve showed it all season long.”
Stick to your own mental analysis and you’ll be fine as you know nothing about other’s mental state.
“I bet Red Sox fans won’t feel the same way when they get to the postseason. They feel their team can beat anyone in October – and they can.
But the Yanks didn’t win a WS in 1997, 2001, 2002, or 2003 either and we fans still had a lot of confidence in this team to win when it counts.
2004 did change a lot of Yankee fans. And the end result was that the Yanks and Red Sox fans seemed to switched roles.
Red Sox fans had that long drought of nothingness and were always cautious and afraid of what was going to happen next. The Yankee fans had all kind of confidence in their team and usually expected this team to do well.
Well, 2004 was five years ago and this isn’t the same team by a long shot. People need to sit back and enjoy watching this team play and stop worrying about what could go wrong.”
However, you do have a point here to a certain degree.
Hey Pete,
Couldn’t agree with you more. While I knew who the hits leader for the Yankees was, I never looked at it as a “number,” the way you would look at “56″ or, before the cartoon characters McGwire and Bonds ruined everything, “61.” But this isn’t about a “number,” in my opinion. This is about an opportunity to celebrate Jeter for something tangible. We always say things about Jeter like “he isn’t about numbers” or “he is an intangible player,” but the truth is that Jeter is putting up terrific, across the board numbers, and when you pass Lou Gehrig on the all time hits list at 35, as you careen towards 3,000 hits and probably well past that (and 3,000 hits hasn’t been soiled the way 500 homers has by the steroid era), it is worth praising and mentioning.
I think it is appropriate that all Yankee fans take the time to recognize Jeter for the “numbers” he has, and is, putting up. This isn’t some .270 hitter here who has been built up by the New York machine. This isn’t Jason Varitek, who has had a mid-level career at best, simply getting credit for his leadership. This is a hall of famer who, when all is said and done, is going to have an impressive array of hits, runs, stolen bases, doubles, and even homers, when you look at the total body of work. Is he going to be the leader on any of those boards? Probably not, but I guarantee you he will be at the top of the “compilation” lists – a testament to how great he was overall as a player.
One interesting fact is that although Jeter has 600 more At Bats than Gehrig, he only has about 70 more Plate appearances than Gehrig. This levels the playing field a lot.
By the way Minka Kelly > Kate Hudson. Jeter even wins that battle.
I think Jeter is worthy of a top ten spot on everyones list..