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NEW YORK -- Befitting his legendary status, Derek Jeter hit a home run to become the first Yankee with 3,000 career hits.
On a sunny, Saturday afternoon at a soldout Yankee Stadium, Jeter nailed a 3-2 curveball off Tampa Bay Rays starter David Price. The ball was recovered by a fan, 23-year-old Christian Lopez. Lopez said he would give Jeter the ball.
Jeter is the 28th player in major league history with 3,000 hits. In the fifth, Jeter added a double, moving him past Roberto Clemente for 27th all-time. In the seventh, Jeter knocked his fourth hit of the game off Brandon Gomes, giving him 3,002 hits. Craig Biggio, Tony Gwynn and George Brett are the only others with four or more hits on the day they reached 3,000.
Jeter, 37 years old and 13 days, is the fourth youngest player to reach the 3,000 mark.
Ty Cobb (34 years, 244 days), Hank Aaron (36 years, 101 days) and Robin Yount (36 years, 359 days) were the youngest to the mark. Jeter reached 3,000 faster than hit-king Pete Rose, who was 37 years, 21 days.
The Houston Astros' Biggio was the last player to reach 3,000, in June 2007. Biggio also accumulated all his hits with one team. Jeter is the 14th player with 3,000 hits for one club.
Former Yankee Wade Boggs is the only other player to nail a homer for his 3,000th hit. Boggs did it in 1999 as a member of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
"Reaching the 3,000 hit mark is another piece of the legacy that Derek has created," Boggs said in a statement Saturday. "It won't be too long now before we are on the verandah in Cooperstown at the Otesaga Hotel celebrating his induction to the Hall of Fame."
It was the first home run the 37-year-old Jeter had hit at Yankee Stadium in nearly a year. His last Bronx homer came July 27th last season, 286 at-bats ago.
On Saturday, Jeter entered needing two hits. In the first, Jeter bounced a 3-2 fastball into the hole at short for a single.
In the third, immediately after Jeter made contact on the 78-mph, 3-2 curveball, Price went to one knee, knowing he might have given up a long ball for No. 3000.
When the ball reached the seats as Jeter made his way down the first base line, Rays first baseman Casey Kotchman doffed his hat. Immediately after Jeter touched home plate, his best friend on the team, Jorge Posada, gave him a huge hug.
The rest of the Yankees poured out of the dugout and the right field bullpen. They all circled Jeter, until finally the crowd broke through a little and Jeter got a huge hug from Alex Rodriguez.
After the first celebration, Jeter receded into the dugout, but the 48,103 fans summoned him out for a curtain call. Many of the Rays stood outside their dugout, clapping with the fans.
Lopez, the fan who came up with the ball, did not want anything for the ball. The Yankees are giving him four Legends seats for Sunday's game and season's tickets for the rest of the season and throughout the playoffs.
A little after 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jeter stepped to the plate with the recorded voice of the late legendary public address announcer, Bob Sheppard, announcing, "Now batting for the Yankees, No. 2, Derek Jeter. No. 2."
The crowd stood on its feet and rhythmically chanted Jeter's name as he faced the hard-throwing Price. After taking a couple of fastballs that could have been called third strikes, Jeter bounced a single into the hole between Rays shortstop Reid Brignac and third baseman Evan Longoria. After Jeter rounded first, the crowd picked up their Jeter chants.
In a luxury box filled with family and friends, Jeter's parents, as well as his girlfriend, actress Minka Kelly, looked on. Jeter's father looked on stoically with sunglasses on, while Kelly had a big smile.
"It was tremendous," Jeter's father, Charles, told YES. "I can't describe how I was feeling. We need a victory, first of all. ... Very emotional for me, very happy for him."
Jeter is the first to reach 3,000 in the uniform of a New York team (Mets, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants). Four of the other 27 players to reach 3,000 hits wore a Yankees uniform at some point in their careers -- Boggs, Rickey Henderson, Dave Winfield and Paul Waner. Waner is the only one to wear it after he got to 3,000.
Jeter, who is in the midst of his worst offensive season ever during his 16-year career, was batting just .262 when he reached the 3,000-hit club. That's tied for the seventh-lowest season average when reaching 3,000 hits.
According to Elias, 17,393 men -- both hitters and pitchers -- have played major league baseball, which puts Jeter in rather distinct company, as just 0.160984 percent of all major leaguers are in the 3,000-hit club. Jeter is also the first of 1,539 men to have ever played for the Yankees to reach that number, Elias says.
Jeter first realized he could be the first Yankee to accomplish the feat "five or six years ago" while looking through a media guide at spring training with his teammates.
"That was mind-boggling to me, (considering) the history of this organization," Jeter said.
"It's a well-deserved honor," Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson told ESPNNewYork.com during a recent episode of Bombers Beat. "And if anyone's gonna be the first Yankee, I'm proud to say that it's Derek Jeter."
Jeter has more hits (32) off Boston Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield than any other pitcher. His most at-bats against a pitcher without a hit? Fourteen against Jorge Julio, who last pitched in the big leagues with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2009.
Ever since he came up for a cup of coffee with the Yankees in 1995, Jeter has always possessed a classic inside-out swing, often waiting on pitches and driving them into right field for base hits.
"No. It's natural," said Joe Torre, Jeter's manager during the first 12 years of his career, when asked if Jeter's unique swing could be taught. "And not only that, he's got sort of an uppercut too. I always was amazed by the way he used to put balls into the upper tank in right field (at old Yankee Stadium) during batting practice. He's a .300 hitter. He's not afraid to get jammed."
Far away, the tributes began. Longtime Yankees great Don Mattingly, now manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, saw Jeter's shot on a TV in the clubhouse at Dodger Stadium.
"Only Jeet. Everything's like that with him," his former teammate said.
On Saturday, Jeter because the first Yankee to reach 3,000 hits -- and he did it in style.
Andrew Marchand covers the Yankees for ESPNNewYork.com. Information from ESPNNewYork.com's Michael Mazzeo and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Follow Andrew Marchand on Twitter: @AndrewMarchand
