
In 2012 Derek Jeter is going to continue his assault up the ladder of the MLB All Time hits leader board. Currently Jeter sits in the 20th spot with 3,088 hits. When the season begins he will need just 23 hits to move up one more spot and pass former Yankee Dave Winfield.
If you take the last 3 seasons and average out Jeter’s hits you would come up with 184 hits. Assuming Jeter is injury free this year and continues with his new approach that could be attainable. Adding 184 to his current total of 3,088 you get 3,272. If Jeter finishes the year with that he would be passing
#18 Tony Gwynn 3,141 (20)
#17 Robin Yount 3,142 (20)
#16 Paul Waner 3,152 (20)
# 15 George Brett 3,154 (21)
# 14 Cal Ripken 3,184 (21)
# 13 Nap Lajoie 3,242 (21)
# 12 Eddie Murray 3,255 (21)
Jeter could be in the twelfth spot by the end of the season sandwiched in between Eddie Murray and Willie Mays who has 3,283 hits. If you are a Jeter lover or hater you have to agree that is pretty impressive. Even more remarkable is that Jeter is this high up with only 17 seasons in the big leagues the numbers in parenthesis (above) after the hits shows how many season it took those other hall of famers to reach their total. Jeter is signed to the 2013 season and has a player option for 2014. If you would give Jeter 165 hits (lower for age) for 2013 and 2014 and total that up with this years projections you come up with 3,602 hits. That would leave Jeter at 5th all time in hits just behind Stan Musial Hank Aaron, Ty Cobb, and the all time hits leader Pete Rose.
Stats could be a fun thing and watching a player pass all these greats is exciting especially when he plays for your favorite team the New York Yankees.
So where do you all see Jeter finishing his career at? Do you think he could make it into the top 5?