Jeter's run to 3,000 hits

They didn't do this for George Brett and Jeter is about half the player Brett was.

 

This is pretty much the opposite of how George Brett's 3,000th hit came. Brett's milestone really snuck up on us. He was injured and all of the sudden returned from injury and went 4-for-4 at a late-night game in Anaheim IIRC.

I was 12 years old. I woke up the next morning and saw it in the KC Star. I was pissed because I didn't think he was going to play, much less get 4 hits. So I didn't listen to the game and went to bed early.

 

I would say there is just a little bit of a difference in the 24/7 sports news cycle these days then when Brett was chasing, wouldn't you?

 

Yeah, it's the times we live in where a player reaching a milestone in NYC is given about 1,000 times more coverage than when it happens (sometimes by much better players) in San Diego, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Houston...

Good excuse...

 

it's not an excuse it's fucking reality.

 

True. But there have been others who have passed this mark during the 24/7 sports news cycle where it barely registered.

 

I understand the reality of it, but that doesn't mean people don't have the right to be pissed about it.

 

I'm a huge baseball fan, but I wish every player who closes in on 3,000 hits got the coverage Jeter has gotten.

Derek Jeter is different, though. He's the first Yankee to do it. He's been in the spotlight for 15 years now. He's won five World Series titles. He's a celebrity. He's going to get more attention than Craig Biggio did. Just the way it is.

 

Like who?

I'm not saying it was as extreme as Jeter but who barely registered?

 

I don't ever remember ESPN doing a national countdown for someone going for 3,000. That would include Molitor, Henderson, Gwynn, Boggs, Ripken...

I know there's nothing else going on. It just annoys me.

 

Ripken got way more attention than Jeter for a different record. Of course, it was a far more difficult record to achieve (not that 3000 hits is easy). I think it's just the nationalization of sports media that creates this. When Carl Yastrzemski was going for 3000 in the late '70s, it was the huge story in Boston media every day (and he stayed stuck on 2999 for about two weeks, too). What was once a local phenomenon now gets beamed into every nook and cranny of the country thanks to the Leader.

 

the accomplishments are in no way similar.

How many people have 3000 hits and how many have the home run record?