Sorts of Sports

Jeter, 3000... So What?

Derek Jeter is about to enter a club of gentlemen with the likes of Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron, and Pete Rose. He closes in on 3,000 hits for his career and one would assume that he, if not already, would lock in his Hall of Fame credentials. Is the 3000 hit club what it used to be, though? We have automatically dismissed that 500 HR gets you into the Hall, so why should 3,000 hits be anything different?

A quick look at the numbers will show that Derek Jeter will be the 28th player to reach that milestone of 3,000 hits, and just the 14th right-handed hitter. Currently, all players who have amassed 3,000 hits have made the Hall, with the noticeable omission of Pete Rose and Rafael Palmeiro. Craig Biggio is not yet eligible, but that seems like a sure thing in the near future.

Jeter has a career .312 batting average, although you wouldn't know that based on his recent years, hitting .257 and .270. Ripken Jr. holds the lowest career average for anyone with 3,000 hits at .276. Why isn't 3,000 hits held to the same scrutiny as the 500 HR club? If you look at Jeter's numbers from 1998-2006, presumably when steroids were rampid in MLB, he hit .321 in nine seasons with 1765 hits. Should we look at those hits with a magnifying glass and determine if they should be omited from his total? We do that with HR, and just because Jeter doesn't carry power, should he be excluded from that microscope?

Looking at the 500 HR club, there are currently 25 players. Currently, just eligible players for the Hall are not in the Hall, Palmeiro and McGwire, while six players are currently retired, awaiting their fate, and two players are currently active, and will likely follow the same fate. Why are those players deemed any less worthy than those who have 3,000 hits?

First, steroids help with hand-eye coordination so hitting a ball 2,764 times inside the park and 236 times out of the park should be the same as hitting the ball 1,799 times inside the park and 609 times out of the park, i.e Sammy Sosa. Let's remove the notion of steroids too from the conversation. If that is the case then I am 100% ok with allowing anyone who accumulates 3,000 hits into the Hall of Fame, but by the same token, so should every player who hits 500 HR.

I don't care if each club amasses 100 players; time will do that to any elite club. So, let's stop changing the bar. Both are a measurement of excellence, but more importantly, longevity. The bar is set and all those who can top that bar should be allowed to enter. Let's not further put restrictions on what is real and what isn't. The bottom line is that these players all had to endure years of playing and excellence to achieve the numbers that they did.

This is a call to all 700+ Hall of Fame voters to relax, and open the doors. The moral high grounds you stand on is nothing without these men you continue to bury underneath it.