Mr. 3000... Derek Jeter

Well I would be extremely remiss in my Yankee blogging duties if I didn't post something about my all-time favorite player getting his 3,000 hit in the big leagues.

With a home run in the 3rd inning off of David Price, Jeter joined an elusive club that only has 27 other members before him. That is crazy when you think about it. Baseball has been a national institution in America since 1876. That's 135 years of baseball and Jeter will only be number 28 to get 3,000.

I have been watching Jeter from almost the beginning of his big league career. His rise to stardom coincided with my own interest in the baseball and the Yankees. Like millions of other little league ball players past and present I always tried to emulate Jeter.

Even with Jeter's recent struggles it is hard for Yankee fans not to love him and hard for any opponent not to respect him for the class and dignity he provided baseball with through one of its darkest eras.

Congratulations Derek and hopefully there are a few more left in your bat.

Derek Jeter's Injury

As we all know Derek Jeter is out of the Yankee line up for an as yet to be determined amount of time with a calf strain. New York is still debating whether to put him on the DL. What I am posting about is an interesting conversation I heard on ESPN radio last night regarding this injury and injuries in general. It's funny when they put the intelligent stuff on at 8pm when practically no one will be listening to the radio.

The host had a physical therapist specializing in orthopedics and sports medicine call into the show. They discussed the nature of Jeter's injury, possible treatment plans, and the issue of athletes' non-disclosure of injuries in order to stay on the field. The PT (of course I can't remember her name) successfully gave medical explanations in layman's terms, and I left with a clear understanding of the situation. My point is that I wish sports media gave more time to this type of in depth analysis regarding injuries, training, and self-care issues that modern athletes face.

Burnett, Yanks Pull Even with Phils

It took A.J. Burnett 11 seasons to finally play in the postseason. It took four starts to finally win his first postseason game, but it was the biggest win of his career. Starring at an 0-2 hole and the disgrace of losing to Pedro Martinez, A.J. manned up like some knew he could and others thought he never would.

Burnett has endured a lot of scrutiny this postseason. More so than normal because of his preferred use of Jose Molina as a catcher as opposed to Yankee stalwart Jorge Posada. Until last night it looked as though Burnett's preference was in no way aiding his performance and of course now it looks genius.

Burnett threw seven innings of four hit baseball, striking out nine and only allowing one run. It could be argued that the run should not have even scored. Alex Rodriguez could easily have snagged that ball and thrown out the sluggish Matt Stairs.

Burnett lacked his usual wildness. He pounded the zone, throwing first pitch strikes to 22 of the 26 batters he faced. It is unlikely that any other pitcher matches Cliff Lee's Game 1 performance, but Burnett's crisp seven inning's will be tough for another pitcher to match with these two teams' lineups.

Aside from Burnett there is little to be said about another Yankee that is good. Sure Mark Teixeira hit a big home run and so did Hideki Matsui. It is nice that Jorge Posada came through with a clutch single off of Chan Ho Park, but really they were facing an old and decrepit Pedro Martinez. The guy didn't have much and it showed. He was constantly in the middle of the plate and the Yankees refused to make him pay for it. And don't even get me started on Derek Jeter bunting with two strikes. Can someone inform him that he has 2,747 career hits and that his career postseason batting average is .311? Just swing the bat already.

And because it didn't amount to anything I wont bother talking about the umpiring mistakes in this game. The umpiring has been ok in the series but slipped a bit last night.

So now we have a proper off-day as the teams hit the highway and head to Philly. This is where the Yankees can get back into the series. Cole Hamels has been inconsistent all year and just plan bad in the postseason. Pettitte has been reliable so the match up probably favors the Yankees.

Oh and Alex Rodriguez has been just awful so far in the series. 0-8 with six strikeouts is pretty dreadful. It looks like he has lost his swing a bit. Rodriguez can be forgiven for his Game 1 performance, but tonight against Pedro he was missing pitches right over the plate and was waving at cheap breaking balls away. That could be bad newsz for the Yankees. Without A-Rod as a force in the middle of that lineup they don't win the ALCS and they need someone to step up for him or he needs to get his groove back or things could get ugly.

Jeter Ties Gehrig, Yanks Continue to Roll

So after struggling for three straight games against the best and worse the Rays had to offer, Derek Jeter finally broke through against Jeff Neimann with three hits, tying the franchise record for hits held by Lou Gehrig since 1939.

It is remarkable when you think about the long line of great Yankee players; Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio and Mantle, that they have never had a player collect 3,000 hits with the team. They all had their reasons for falling short. Ruth didn't play his entire career as a hitter or Yankee. Gehrig contracted ALS. DiMaggio fought injuries and a World War. Mantle walked a lot and never took care of his body.

Now, though, it seems inevitable that Jeter will total 3,000 hits and possibly even many more on top of that.

I'm glad Jeter took care of all three hits in one night to tie the record and hopefully he breaks the record in AB number one on Friday night.

I'm happy for the Captain and everything, and his accomplishments are second to none for any Yankee in this century or the second half of the 20th century, but this stuff weighs on me as a fan. The constant asking of the same questions that know they will get the same answers from the taciturn Captain.

After Jeter tied the record the Yankees seemed to remember that there was indeed a game to be won. A-Rod and Hideki Matsui led off the eighth with singles before an error scored a run. After a Robinson Cano strike out Jorge Posada deposited a 3-2 pitch into the right field seats.

This team has a lot of the late '90s Yanks in them. Very rarely do you get the impression the will lose a game. If it is a pitchers duel late you expect them to win in walk-off fashion. They can win one-run games and slugfests. Hell, they even have a winning record when Sergio Mitre starts a game.

This team is on an incredible roll in the second half of the season. Every part of the team is clicking (except Joba who had yet another clunker another post on him will come soon). Right now they seem unstoppable.

This Just in: Derek Jeter is Great

If you're a Yankee fan then you'll enjoy reading Jerry Crasnick's most recent article.

If you're a Sox fan or any other kind of fan then it might give you a little more respect and perspective for Jeter and his place in history.

Stories Of Derek Jeter's Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

A lot has made of Derek Jeter and his recent hot streak as it is of a ridiculous nature. Over his past 19 games Jeter has hit an absurd .468. During this streak he has had 13 multi-hit games and of those, seven have been for at least three hits. Jeter has pretty much done everything one can do with the bat during the streak, even hitting for power with five home runs, three of which came on the road for those who think his power comes solely from the new Yankee Stadium.

But the point is that Jeter is far from the end of his career. During the off-season it was noted several times by many pundits that Jeter was finally slowing down with the bat. Coupled with his obvious defensive deficiencies many were wondering how the Yankees would deal with their aging and declining super star as he neared the end of his huge 10 year contract.

Many were right to question Jeter's ability. On the outside, using just his numbers, Jeter was clearly moving past his prime. After his MVP-like 2006 campaign his numbers began to drop. The problem was that Jeter's dropped subtly as he often played through injuries. This lead to the look of a steady decline and not just a down year. Last year it was a strained calf and a bruised hand after Daniel Cabrera put a 95-MPH fastball up in on him.

Jeter didn't sit out a game after the Cabrera HBP, but the effects lingered and it showed. Over his next 24 games Jeter's average plummeted from .312 to a season-low .270. Where the injury really showed was in Jeter's slugging percentage. Suddenly Jeter couldn't drive the ball anymore. His slugging dropped to a career low .408.

This season Jeter has been able to stay healthy and avoid any lingering injuries. This has led to one of his best seasons with the bat, rivaling perhaps 2006 and 1999. Aside from his rejuvenated bat Jeter has showed improved range in the field. This is mostly due to better positioning when out in the field, leading to fewer "past a diving Jeter" calls from John Sterling and Michael Kay on ground balls up the middle.

Joe Mauer is likely the unamimous MVP selection this season and you can't argue with his numbers, but Derek Jeter should get some consideration when the final numbers get matched up. He is definitely the MVP for the Yankees so far in 2009.

Walking Away With A Win

Well it took 11 innings and a few casualties, but the Yankees persevered and finished their homestand with a victory. The win gave the Yankees a 6-1 homestand and nine victories in their last 10 contests.

But the price might be a steep one for the Yankees. Derek Jeter got plunked on the foot in the first inning by a Ricky Romero curveball and you could tell from his run from first to third on Johnny Damon's single that he was not right and after his next at bat Girardi pulled the plug.

X-Rays were negative, but you would have to imagine that the Yankees will play it safe and probably sit Jeter for tomorrow's opener in an attempt to protect his health down the stretch. That could be detrimental to our other HBP victim today.

In extra innings A-Rod came to the plate and after falling behind 0-2 Toronto reliever Shawn Camp plunked him on the elbow. In spite of his protective gear A-Rod dropped like a sack-o-potatoes. He managed to stay in the game and perhaps the ball just caught his funny bone, but we all know that A-Rod needs to rest that troublesome hip. Jeter's foot contusion will complicate that rest schedule.

Even without the Captain the Yankees rode home runs from Johnny Damon and Robinson Cano. Before A.J. Burnett wild pitched away his two-run lead. The bullpen came on and kept a weak Toronto lineup on the mat for the three more innings. Chad Gaudin came on for his first appearance as a Yankee in the 10th, and after two solid innings of relief and the always rare Cano hit with runners in scoring position, he collected his first win as a Yankee.

Gaudin could be very important for the Yankees going into this stretch run. No matter what Girardi is hoping for, his old friend from the Marlins Sergio Mitre is not long for the rotation. Gaudin could step in for Mitre in the five spot or, what is more likely to happen, he can step into the bullpen and assume Alfredo Aceves role while Aceves transitions into the rotation.

It is a minor flaw with the Yankees to quibble over, but the more games they win now the sooner they can start controlling Joba's innings to keep him fresh for the post season and even continue to rest the regular starters aside from A-Rod as the Yankees endure these final two grinding months they are scheduled for.

Joba Keeps the Yanks Rolling

Joba Chamberlain continued where he left off against the Tigers, dominating the hapless Oakland A's who were without Matt Holliday after his recent move to St. Louis. Joba had a rough start, but he settled down and pitched effectively after the first, only getting into trouble in the fifth before he struck out Mark Ellis and Eric Patterson with runner son second and third.

It's the first time all season that Joba has pitched this well in back-to-back starts and the first time in his career that he pitched into the seventh inning in consecutive starts.

It took a few innings, but eventually he got the support from the bats against an electric Brett Anderson. Like Vin Mazzaro on Thursday night, Anderson was filthy in the early going, striking out four of the first six Yankees to come to the plate. The Yanks persevered though, and eventually tagged the 21-year-old for four runs. They tacked on four more against the A's bullpen.

Phil Coke bailed out Joba in the eighth and after the Yankees put the game away in the bottom half Dave Robertson ended the game.

The only concern to come out of the game is that if Joba keeps pitching this well what are the Yankees gonna do with his innings limit, which in all likelihood sits around 160 innings. It may take some outside-the-box thinking and hopefully I will having something on that by Monday.

Little bit of history in the game as well as Derek Jeter passed Ted Williams on the all-time hits list. I know, I know Williams missed a ton of years in his prime because he was off winning a World War and killin' commies, but it's still cool to see the Captain pass that kind of a legend.

Tomorrow brings Gio Gonzalez vs. Andy Pettitte. The Yanks would do themselves well to continue this beatdown of the lowly A's, especially considering their pitiful hitting and their newfound lack of Matt Holliday. A sweep would seem to be on the menu.