Without Jorge and A-Rod, Jeter Raises His Game

From George A. King III:

And yet, at a time when the Yankees needed their captain the most, he has delivered.

Since losing Rodriguez, the Yankees are 3-3 going into tonight's game against the Indians at the Stadium. In those six tilts, Jeter is batting a team-high .423 (11-for-26) with three RBIs. With runners in scoring position, he is at .571 (4-for-7) and has driven in two runs.

This is what a captain does, he may not be a vocal leader, but on the field, he's as good as they come.

Jeter also finds it hard to believe the names he's passing on the all-time hit list:

As for going past DiMaggio and having Berra, Mantle, Ruth and Gehrig in his sights, Jeter shakes his head.

"In some sense it's like you don't really believe it," said Jeter, who has 2,391 hits - 24 shy of Mantle, 127 behind Ruth and 330 back of Gehrig. "They played for such a long time. I know I have been here a long time, but in my mind I still haven't played that long. It's quite hard to believe, to be honest with you."

Maybe when Jeter, 34 next month, is done he will reflect on his place in Yankees history. He will have plaques in Cooperstown and Monument Park, and might be an owner of a team. Until then, Jeter doesn't act like Pete Rose used to and calculate how many hits he needs to become baseball's all-time hit king.

"It's not like I am at home and I run to the Stadium and say, 'If I can do this . . .' " Jeter explained. "A lot of it I wasn't aware of. [Passing DiMaggio on the runs list]. I had no idea. I was on the bench and somebody said something to me because I didn't see it flash on the scoreboard."

Even though Jeter may not be calculating anything, I will. If Jeter averages just 165 hits per year until he's 40, he will finish with a little over 3500 hits. Damn that's a lot of hits and when you consider he will be the first Yankee ever to reach 3000 hits, it makes it all the more impressive.

How many hits do you think Jeter will finish his career with?