2.721

Derek Jeter, as you no doubt know, has 2,721 hits. At that, he's tied with Lou Gehrig for 53rd on the all-time hits list. He's also tied with said Lou Gehrig for first on the Yankees hit list.

Now, this is not a particularly big deal. * First of all, it's a team record. Is anybody going to make a big deal in a couple of years if/when David Wright or Jose Reyes breaks Ed Kranepool's franchise record of 1,418 hits? I hope not. It's not that big a deal. Remember, with his next hit, Derek Jeter will get sole possession of 53rd place on the all-time hits list.

*Obviously it's a big deal. Approximately 1 in 5,000,000 people on this planet are in the Major Leagues in any given year. To excel in a talent group of that caliber is amazing. To lead the Rays franchise in hits (as ---------- [guess who - answer at the end] does with 1,274) is an amazing thing. John Maine, who has 1 home run and a .107 batting average is practically an athletic freak of nature. The difference between his accomplishments and those of Derek Jeter's are as huge as the distance to right in Citi Field.

But as baseball "records" go, it's not a big deal.

Well, you might be thinking, maybe people are making a big deal about this because he's about to break Lou Gehrig's record. I mean, we're talking Lou Gehrig - The Iron Horse, the sidekick of the great Babe Ruth, the guy that baseball-reference.com says was nicknamed "Biscuit Pants." That was some special dude - of COURSE they're making a big deal about Derek Jeter. Except for the itsy-bitsy fact that Lou Gehrig's game was not base hits. Lou Gehrig hit more than twice as many home runs as Derek Jeter hit. When Derek hits his 493rd home run, you can start to argue about who was greater. (Fine, 393rd)

I have a good one. Let's make a big deal because Derek Jeter has more stolen bases than Babe Ruth. BABE FREAKING RUTH - the guy who practically invented baseball. The problem with that is that stolen bases were not Babe Ruth. Singles were not Lou Gehrig. Did you know that from 1926-1934, Lou Gehrig had over 80 extra-base hits in every single year. He had over 80 again in 1936 and 1937. Derek Jeter's never done it.

Which is not, once again, to say that Derek Jeter's not a good ballplayer. He's a really good ballplayer. But making a big deal because he is about to break a team stat from a ballplayer whose expertise was in a different field is just ridiculous.

By the way, did you know that Derek Jeter's 52nd on the all-time strikeouts list? Just saying...

Poll Results: Our poll question asked "How Many Games will the Mets Win this Year?" The winning answer was 70-74. That's optimism.

Trivia Answer: Carl Crawford. You should've known that.

New Poll: Our new poll asks you, "Who is the Mets MVP this year?"

Itch

In 2005, Ichiro hit 15 home runs. Obviously I don't follow him or the Mariners too closely, but that definitely surprised me. I recall reading a quote from his father (I think) saying that if he wanted to, Ichiro could hit 30 home runs in a season.

Okay. But there are two things.

1. The whole point was that he could - but that that's not his game. His game is about speed and offense; and
2. It's his father, so I'm not entirely certain about how much stock we should put in what he said about Ichiro.*

* I am reminded right now of Ty Cobb. Cobb, as you probably know, was arguably the best hitter of all time. (He wasn't, but people argue that he was.) He has the highest batting average of all time, and I believe I once read something along the lines of "Ty Cobb retired having set 106 records, one of which was having set most records." Point is, he was good. And to some extent, he was an Ichiro slap-the-ball-and-run type player. Which I suppose most people were back when he played. He supposedly practiced his bunting by putting down a sweater and trying to get the ball to land on the edge of the sleeve.

Anyway, while he was a quasi-slugger (I mean, he did lead the league in slugging percentage eight times), he wasn't exactly your prototypical knock-the-cover-off-the-ball type of hitter. From 1906 (his first kind of full-time season) to 1920, he topped out at 9 home runs in a year, averaging about 4.5.

That was when the live-ball era arrived. And this aging quasi-slugger, this stolen base man, the fellow who practiced having his bunts land on the cuff of the sweater, this 34-year-old sixteen-year veteran, hit 12 home runs in a season twice.

I'm not going to say that 15 home runs is such a huge total , but it sure ain't bad from a Gold Glove outfielder who will also pound out 200 hits. On the Mets he's be batting third.

2001 was one of the best (if not the best) year for the Rookie of the Year Award. The American League Award went to Ichiro Suzuki, while the National League Award went to Albert Pujols. I just want to point out that if they each keep up their pace for the next month and a half, they will have each played nine full seasons.

In only 3 of them will Ichiro not have led the American League in hits. In only 3 of them will Albert Pujols not have had either won the MVP award or placed runner up.

Just saying.