13 Responses to “Captain Clutch the new hit king?”
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I wish playoff hits counted. That's like adding a bonus year to his stats.
Another interesting question related to this is where does he play? LF? 3B? DH? I can't see him playing SS anywhere near that long.
Steve,
If playoff hits counted, Jeter would have a much better chance at the record. The man has played in 152 playoff games and has collected 191 postseason hits.
No way he would stay at SS for another five years. I could see him moving to 3B or the DH.
I think Rose is safe. Jeter won't want to drag it on that long like Rose did. Nice post.
Thanks William. Jeter doesn't seem like the type of guy who would drag out his career three or four years longer than necessary just to nab an individual accolade.
I tend to agree. I think Jeter is the same type of player as DiMaggio. Just as DiMaggio retired when he was still productive, just not what he had been, I think Jeter will do the same. He's not going to settle for being a .260 hitter, dragging out his career as a left fielder-dh. I'm not even sure he stays in the game if the Yankees tell him he has to move off of short.
except that DiMaggio actually didn't like playing baseball.. he did it because it was his only way off the fishing warf
jeter LOVES playing the game
Great post, Josh. You put it all in perspective.
Thanks for reading Ric.
This is such a blah story…
EVERYONE who was paying attention could see how much better off Jeter was going to be once he got past all that contract crap and 3,000 hits…. it's not a coincidence that his average took off of THAT VERY SAME DAY… no really, it's not
Of course you can't just explain everything away with "contract"… "3,000 hits".. but really, that made all the difference…
it just boggles my mind that some fans who presumably watch every yankees game are still under the impression that jeter is nearing retirement!
what planet are you people living on… jeter's option in 2014 is HIS option and he's already said he is exercising it.. period… 3 other points
1. The guy hits LHP in his sleep… he'll be able to hit LHP well into his 40's… of course neither he, the yankees, nor any of us would be willing to see him platoon now or next year… but 3 or 4 or 5 years from now? sure
2. Sure, Jeter is about winning, but we're talking about 4,000 hits…. 2,000 runs scored… and maybe even rickey henderson and pete rose… that's pretty "motivating" stuff
3. Doesn't Arod have 5 yrs left on his deal? Who are we kidding here… over Jeter's dead body will you ever see Arod playing for the yankees and jeter not playing for the yankees….. of course he'll have to swallow a reduced role over the years… but look, he's already Dhing more than ever before, so the slow transition is already under way.. it'll all happen naturally
I hope that he keeps playing as long as he is reasonably productive, even in a platoon role. So many of the all-time greats have played well past their prime, including Rose, Henderson, Aaron, Ruth – plenty of record holders padded their numbers and nobody knocks them for it.
As things stand now, I don't see any reason to talk about Jeter walking away. He had one bad season – not that big of a deal considering how he bounced back. And for him to be this hot in August tells me that he is still in great shape. Not to mention that he is far better than anybody they could replace him with in the foreseeable future.
The only way Jeter approachs 4,000 hits is to play with Roger in the International League. The Yankees MIGHT keep him for 2015 IF he continues to hit, but I'm not sure he will be able to man SS by then.
After this season, Jeter will need 460 or so hits to pass Hank for 3rd place. After that, he's 2+ years away from #2… so I can see him going for 2015. But even that,… to play SS and hit at an above average level for another 3 years will be quite a trick.
While I don't think he beats Rose I am very curios how many hits you think he has left in his bat.
3,515 gets him to 5th all time. Seems that's a realistic possibility to aim for – but can he go higher and if so how high?