New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter moved into sixth place on MLB‘s all-time hits list Saturday, passing fellow shortstop Honus Wagner, per MLB Milestones on Twitter.
For the milestone hit, No. 3,431 of his career, Jeter dribbled a little bouncer to the left side of the infield in the sixth inning of Saturday’s game against the Cleveland Indians.
Indians third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall attempted to field the ball bare-handed but was unable to do so. With Jeter standing on first base, manager Joe Girardi stepped out onto the field and called timeout to retrieve the Cooperstown-bound bat and baseball as the Yankee Stadium crowd stood and applauded their captain for yet another milestone.
Wagner, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 1936, played 21 major league seasons from 1897 to 1917 for the Louisville Colonels and Pittsburgh Pirates.
After spending three years in Louisville, Wagner was traded to the Pirates before the start of the 1900 season, and he would spend the rest of his career in the Steel City. He amassed 2,970 hits as a member of the Pirates, ranking second on the all-time franchise hits list behind only the great Roberto Clemente, who had an even 3,000 hits during his storied career.
At the time of his retirement in 1917, Wagner was the MLB all-time hits leader with 3,430. Nearly a century later, only six men have been able to surpass that total.
In addition to Jeter, who added his 3,432nd hit Monday against the Baltimore Orioles, the players ahead of Wagner are Tris Speaker (3,515), Stan Musial (3,630), Hank Aaron (3,771), Ty Cobb (4,191) and Pete Rose (4,256).
Jeter has now found his final place on the all-time hits list, barring a change of heart to return to the diamond in 2015. The Yankees have 44 games left in 2014, and Jeter would need nearly two hits per contest to catch Tris Speaker.
All stats courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.
NOTE: MLB.com lists Wagner with 3,430 hits, while Baseball-Reference.com lists him at 3,420. For an explanation of the 10-hit difference, refer to this article posted on Baseball-Reference.com.
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