It seems like every New York Yankees game these days contains an announcement that Derek Jeter and/or Alex Rodriguez has passed some Hall of Fame member in an offensive statistical category.
Monday night's series opener with Atlanta was no different. Jeter's 2-run single put the Yankees ahead for good and his RBI later in the game put him within five of Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter for 135th all-time. A-Rod had no RBIs in the game, but he passed Jimmie Foxx over the weekend for 8th place on the career RBI list (1,924) and is within 14 RBIs of Ty Cobb for 7th place.
The Yankees' third baseman did score a run in the game against Atlanta to surpass Mel Ott for sole possession of 12th place in the category with1,860 runs scored. Jeter, who had already passed Charlie Gehringer, Paul Molitor, and Ted Williams this season, is within eight runs of Carl Yastrzemski for 17th place on the list.
Jeter's two hits gave him 3,177, which is seven behind another great one-time shortstop, Cal Ripken, for the 14th spot. Jeter now has an American League-best 89 hits this season, which has allowed him to surpass Cooperstown inductees Dave Winfield, Tony Gwynn, Robin Yount, Paul Waner, and George Brett. Rodriguez is known for his home runs, but he has quietly climbed the hits chart and should get hit number 3,000 next season. (He currently has 2,840)
Home runs don't come as easily as they once did for Rodriguez, but if he can get on a roll in the second half, he has an outside shot of catching Willie Mays' total of 660 for 4th place on the career long ball list. With just 10 home runs in 279 plate appearances, it doesn't seem like A-Rod will hit a minimum of 21 home runs the rest of the season.
Jeter won't be on any home run lists, but in a few of weeks he will move into the top 50 in games played. Rodriguez will join him in another month and a half. Both players are also about to crack the top 50 in career doubles, with Jeter needing a trio and A-Rod about six away.
Of course, not all statistics are positive when you played as long as the duo have. Rodriguez is #5 in career strikeouts, while Jeter is in the 29th spot and climbing. The shortstop has more singles than Ks though, and needs just five more to pass Molitor and reach the top 10.
It is a team game, though, and the Yankees as a team or on quite a roll, entering play June 19 in the midst of a 10-game winning streak. Whether the streak continues or not, you can bet there's a good chance Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez will be closing in on one of baseball's past greats with each swing of the bat.
Drew Sarver has been a Yankees fan for over 40 years and has blogged about them on his site My Pinstripes since 2005. You can follow him on twitter at @Mypinstripes.
Statistics courtesy of baseball-reference.com.
