Wednesday, July 6th - The Quest of Derek Jeter and 3000 Hits

3000!

The Yankees activated Jeter off the DL on Monday, opening the door for him to continue his quest to 3000 hits at... Cleveland.  With Jeter six hits away, it wasn't unreasonable to think that he could close that gap on the road.    This instantly brought to mind for me this question: should the Yankees risk it?  

I don't know about you, but I like to see historic moments happen on a team's home field.  Whether it's 3000 hits, whether it's winning the World Series or hoisting the Stanley Cup, I like to see it at home.  I'll say this - baseball and hockey fans, in particular, are very gracious.  Toronto's fans gave Justin Verlander a standing ovation when he no-hit their team this season.  Teams have won the Stanley Cup on the road for three years straight now, and each year, the fans stick around to give their losing home-ice team a standing farewell and a congratulations to the winning team (then they go sack the city, if it's Vancouver).  But it's much more fulfilling to watch these things happen with a raucous home crowd behind the event, amping up the energy.

I'm not a Yankees fan.  I admire Jeter's perseverance and toughness and skill, but I'm not particularly a fan of his, either.  But 3,000 hits is a huge milestone - he'd only be the 28th to do it - and he'd be the first Yankee to do it.  It is something that should happen at Yankee Stadium, especially since the Yankees can control that.  If you're the road team of the Stanley Cup Finals, in a game seven situation, you play to win the game, as Herm Edwards would say.  But the Yankees can make this happen.

Jeter bailed them out on Monday, his first game back, by going 0-for-4, keeping him at 2,994 - six hits and two games before he sets foot in Yankee Stadium again.  He notched two hits yesterday, putting him at 2,996.  Even if he plays tonight - Joe Girardi says he may not - it seems unlikely he'll get four hits.  After tonight's game, the Yankees return home for a four-game series against the Rays before the All-Star Break, where Jeter should almost assuredly collect four hits.  Perhaps that's the real reason he's an All-Star this year - that his arrival at 3,000 is anticipated to happen by then and his feat can be acknowledged on that stage.  Seems okay to me.  I just hope he gets it at home, where a record and moment like that belongs.

A couple other MLB news tidbits -

Remember how Albert Pujols got hurt and wouldn't be back until August?  Well, he's back now.  I don't know what miracle of modern medicine was used, but Pujols and his wrist, with a bone fracture two weeks ago, is back in the starting lineup tonight for the St. Louis Cardinals, after being available off the bench last night.  That's pretty remarkable and just proves how much this guy wants to play and wants to win.  Maybe Joe Mauer should hang out with him in the offseason; he could learn a thing or two.

Speaking of Mauer, he's scheduled to start at 1B tomorrow night, after having today off to nurse a shoulder that was hit by a foul tip yesterday.  Mauer has never started a game at 1B in his Major League career

Around the MLB -

NY Yankees 9, Cleveland 2 - C.C. Sabathia is the first to 12 wins in a blowout that started with 5 runs in the second inning.

Washington 3, Chi. Cubs 2 - Three runs in the first was all the Nationals needed to notch a victory.

Pittsburgh 5, Houston 1 - Jeff Karstens improved to 7-4 behind a strong seven-inning performance and three runs over the first four innings.

St. Louis 8, Cincinnati 1 - Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman provided three HRs to give the Cards the power they needed to back up strong pitching.

Atlanta 5, Colorado 3 - Derek Lowe pitches for the victory and gives himself some major run support with a 3-run RBI double in the fourth.

Philadelphia 14, Florida 2 - Cole Hamels joins the 10-win club behind a 18-hit, 14-run bombardment from the Phillies lineup.

Boston 3, Toronto 2 - The Red Sox kept the Jays scoreless until Jose Bautista added to his total with a 2-run HR in the ninth.

Texas 4, Baltimore 2 - Baltimore starter Mitch Atkins held the Rangers to one run over six innings, but the bullpen couldn't back up his start.

Arizona 7, Milwaukee 3 - A four-run first and three-run third was all the Diamondbacks needed to hold onto this win on the Brewers' home turf.

Kansas City 5, Chi. White Sox 3 - All-Star Final Vote nominee Paul Konerko went 3/5 with a HR in his bid, but it wasn't enough to get the White Sox the win.

Minnesota 3, Tampa Bay 2 - Scott Baker pitches 5 sterling innings before going out with an injury, allowing 3 hits and an unearned run.  James Shields gets his second loss in a row after three straight complete games.

LA Angels 1 , Detroit 0 - Justin Verlander and Dan Haren dueled it out, with Haren getting the win on a 2-hit shutout.  Verlander got his first loss since April and was ejected in the eighth inning.

Seattle 4, Oakland 2 - Another late-night pitchers duel, this one between King Felix and Trevor Cahill, ended with the go-ahead run scoring in the top of the 10th on a throwing error.

NY Mets 6, LA Dodgers 0 - Mike Pelfrey wins again, throwing six scoreless innings for the Mets.

San Diego 5, San Francisco 3 - Propelled by a 2-run RBI triple by Cameron Maybin, a three-run sixth inning helped the Padres take the victory.