Derek Jeter Breaks Lou Gehrigs Record - But Is he One of The Alltime Greatest?

On a cold,rainy & soggy September 11th Friday evening at the new Yankee Stadium, Derek JeterDerek Jeter delivered hit number 2722 to surpass Lou GehrigLou Gehrig & become the alltime hits leader in Yankees history. A record that stood for over 70 years, now belongs to one of the alltime Yankee greats and a definite first ballot Hall of Famer. In typical fashion, Derek took a pitch to right field for a single to tie and later break the record.

His march towards Yankees greatness got off to a less than stellar start after going 0 for 5 in a game against Seattle on May 29th 1995. The next day, May 30th, he got his first hit and went 2-3 to begin his pursuit of Gehrig's hit record. As they say the rest is history.

No doubt that Jeter is amongst the best players in the game today and maybe the best shortstop today. He may not have the power numbers of a Henley Ramirez, the speed of a Jose Reyes or the arm of a Troy Tulowiski, but he has made up for all of those lacking physical attributes by being consistent, a clutch player and a leader. he has done this for over 13 years and in the process has piled up 4 championship along the way.

He has never been considered the best player of his League or won an MVP for that matter. There have always been shortstops during his career that have been able to put up big statistics for a year a two. He has had to deal with likes of Cal Ripken JrCal Ripken Jr., Alex RodriguezAlex Rodriguez, Nomar GarciaparraNomar Garciaparra and Miguel TejadaMiguel Tejada. All who played a different kind of game and were considered power hitters.

Nonetheless, what Jeter has been able to accomplish is pretty amazing in an era of free agency and greedy ball players who have no interest in team loyalty. Of course, Derek Jeter has made hundreds of millions with the Yankees and has not had the need to seek bigger riches elsewhere. He has had to compete in en era of steroid users and pitchers who throw over 95 miles per hour every night.

So where does this feat place Derek Jeter amongst Yankee greats and all time great shorstops? Even when he reaches the next great milestone of 3,000 hits, will he still rank in the top 5 alltime Yankee greats or is he in the top ten? As far as alltime best Yankee shortstops, Jeter would most certainly receive alot of votes and probably ranks 1 or 2. Sometimes it's hard to gauge how good a player is unless you watch him day in and day out. Statistics cannot really measure the intangibles and how great of a defensive player their were.

Phil "The Scooter" Rizzuto, Frank Crosetti, Tony Kubek, Roger Peckingpaugh, Gene Micahel and yes even Bucky DentBucky Dent have all played the position for the Yankees and have all provided many great moments and brought their own unique brand of baseball to the diamond. Unfortunately I did not get a chance to see those players perform, but it's hard to overlook their contributions.

Placing Jeter 1 or 2 would not get a lot of argument either way. As far as alltime great shortstops, most everyone would agree that Honus WagnerHonus Wagner would be number 1. While Wagner played in the "Dead ball Era" of baseball, he managed to get over 3,400 hits, drive in over 1,700 runs and accumulate a 327 lifetime batting avergae. Pretty impressive.

Amongst alltime Yankee greats in any position, the question becomes more difficult. And again, not having seen many of those great players, the tendency is to go with the obvious and the modern player.

As much a beloved & great player that Derek Jeter is, I will place him in the top 10 greatest Yankees of alltime. It is hard to argue about 1-5. Babe RuthBabe Ruth, Whitey FordWhitey Ford, Joe DiMaggioJoe DiMaggio, Mickey MantleMickey Mantle and Yogi Berra have to take those Spots. We can argue about the order, but to me those 5 have no peers.

The next category of great players 6-10, can be left to some interpretation and you can make a case for as many as 20-30 players. Of the contemporary players, we can agree that Derek Jeter would be included in any short list of players. Mariano Rivera will definitely get a lot of mention. Jorge Posada? Andy Petite, maybe. Do you include Bernie Williams in the top ten?

My list of the next greates alltime Yankees would be:

6.Lou Gehrig

7. Derek Jeter

8. Red Ruffing

9. Mariano Rivera

10. Bill Dickey

As I said, there are many other notable mentions, Thurman Munson, Lefty Gomez, Ron Guidry, Bob Muesel, Don Mattingly, Tony Lazzeri, Goose Gossage, Willie Randolph, Roger Maris, Catfish Hinter and so many more. A lot of these players could have been the greatest player had they played for any other team.

But for one day, Derek Jeter is the greatest. Keep the hits coming.