Derek Jeter has three hits in today's 9-7 victory over the Twinkies. His single in the 9th was his 3400th hit, making him one of only 8 players to reach that mark. It is unlikely he will get the 115 more to reach Tris Speaker at #5, but barring injury he should surpass both Carl Yastrzemski (3419) and Honus Wagner (3430) to secure the 6th all-time spot.
Discounting A-Rod and Pudge, neither of whom is actually playing yet who are both still considered "active" by MLB, the nearest truly active player to Jeets is teammate Ichiro Suzuki (2794 in MLB). As that ageing player is unlikely to get many hundred more, just as the next "active" players Johnny Damon (2769) and Manny Ramirez (2574) shan't, and the next on the list, Adrian Beltre (2520) and Bobby Abreu (2465) are also getting rather long in the tooth, this brings us down to Albert Pujols (2439). He may still hang around long enough to approach or surpass the 3000-mark, even by a good amount, but we also need to accept the possibility that none of us will live to see another hitter reach the plateau Derek Jeter did today.
Think about that when you're baitching about him starting in the All-Star Game next week.
