Jeter passes Cal on career hit list
Derek Jeter joined Hall of Famer Cal Ripken on baseball’s alltime hit list Thursday night. The shortstop’s single in the Yankees’ 4-3 loss to the White Sox tied baseball’s iron man for 13th on the list.
Jeter, who turned 38 on Tuesday, has 3,184 career hits.
“Obviously what he represents, what he has represented to the game, being a short- stop, he was someone I have always admired,” Jeter said of Ripken, “but at this moment it’s not something I am thinking about.”
Instead, Jeter seemed to be stuck on the hit that could have moved him past Ripken and given the Yankees a win. With a Dewayne Wise on first and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Jeter hit a long fly to right. For a few seconds, it looked like it would reach the bleachers. “They were playing no-doubles (defense), so it either goes out or they catch it,” Jeter said. “I thought it had a chance, but it did not happen.”
Right fielder A lex R ios pulled in the ball at the wall to end the game.
Ripken not only expects Jeter to pass him, but thinks the Yankee captain has a shot at Pete Rose’s record of 4,256.
“Jeter shows no signs of slowing down right now,” Ripken said on his Sirius/ XM Show earlier this month. “So it’s easy to kind of look at him and say, ‘Okay, project a few more years, he’s going to be pushing 4,000 hits.’ So he might have Pete Rose in his sights before it is all said and done.”
Next up for Jeter is another Hall of Famer, Nap Lajoie, 12th on the list with 3,242 hits.
NOVA NO-DECISION
Yankees starter Ivan Nova did not have his best stuff Thursday night, but he was not to blame for the 4-3 loss to the White Sox at the Stadium.
“I have to say with my fastball and my slider, my control wasn’t there today,” Nova said. “But I battled through to the end. I feel really good about that.”
Despite the White Sox making solid contact, Nova grinded into the eighth inning. He held Chicago to one earned run, a home run, on six hits He walked three, struck out five in 7 1⁄3 innings.
He has lost just twice in his last 31 starts dating back to June 10, 2011.
WARREN WELCOME
Adam Warren, who will make his major league debut Friday night, spent the past two spring trainings in camp with the Yankees, so the Stadium clubhouse was filled with familiar faces when he arrived from Rochester on Thursday.
“I don’t feel like I’m meeting a bunch of people; I feel like I’m seeing them again,” Warren said. “It definitely helps. I feel a lot more comfortable coming in here knowing a lot of the guys. It’s made that transition pretty easy.”
Warren will have roughly a dozen family members in the stands for his debut Friday night, but the 24-year-old is hoping to keep his routine as normal as possible leading up to what promises to be a memorable night. “It’s going to be big, but I’m not going to try to put too much pressure on myself,” Warren said. “I’m going to try to simplify it, go out there and pitch.”