Derek Jeter just set another career record with the New York Yankees today. Playing against the Baltimore Orioles, Jeter became the all-time leader in games played for the franchise.
According to ESPN, Jeter registered game number 2,402 in his career, passing Mickey Mantle as the longest tenured player in the organization. It’s not a surprise that he reached the mark, especially with two more years (after this one) left on his current contract. Now it could be interesting for fans to see if Jeter could reach that 3,000 game plateau with the franchise before he decides to retire from the game.
Early in the season, it has seemed like Jeter was really heading down the back-slope of his career. After going down with a calf injury though, he has returned to his old form at the plate, and could be looking to add another World Series ring to his collection this postseason. A lot will be made about the second half that he has had this season, and it could quell the talk of retirement and dropping him in the batting order for the time being.
Jeter already became the all-time hits leader for New York, and earlier in 2011 was able to collect his 3,000th hit in the Big Leagues. He is slowly moving up that all-time hits list for MLB, and if he continues to play like he has in July and August, maybe he can make it up into the top five in hits before he hangs up the spikes.
Coming into Sunday’s double-header against the Orioles, Jeter had a .296 batting average; not too far off from his career average of .313. Yankees fans will probably care more about what he does in the postseason, especially with some tough match-ups coming for a team that has struggled to consistent pitching from the starting rotation. With the expectation that everyone not named CC Sabathia will be giving up runs, the Yankees offense could lean heavily on Jeter once again.
In the current MLB standings, the Yankees are two games out of first place in the American League East, but trail the Boston Red Sox by four wins. The team leads the Wild Card race by seven games over the Tampa Bay Rays and seven and a half games over the Los Angeles Angels. It means the team is going to clinch a spot in the postseason by mid-September, likely setting up an intense American League Playoffs once again.