Berra’s eyes on history
During Monday’s doubleheader, Derek Jeter passed Yogi Berra on the all-time games played list, third most in Yankees history with 2,117.
But the catcher was on hand last night with a different number in mind.
“I hope he breaks it,” Berra, 84, said of Lou Gehrig’s Yankees hit record of 2,721 career hits, three more than Jeter had before the Yankees hosted the Rays. “Tonight.”
Jeter, of course, did not get it, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in the Yankees’ 3-2 win over the Rays.
Berra said he’s been impressed with Jeter since the shortstop was called up for the first time in 1995 and thought that he could turn into the player that he has become.
“He was up here when he was really young,” Berra said of Jeter, who was 21 when he made his debut. “They wouldn’t have brought him up if he wasn’t. He runs good. He does everything good.”
And Berra knows that Jeter was good enough to play on some of those great teams in the 1940s and ’50s.
“He would have fit in all right,” Berra said.
Regardless of how well Jeter would have done during Berra’s era, the Hall of Famer knows that Gehrig’s record won’t be Jeter’s final milestone.
“He’s still a baby,” Berra said of the 35-year-old Jeter. “He’s got a long ways to go. Five years, maybe more.”
Even if he does play that long, there’s one record of Berra’s that Jeter won’t be able to match.
“I’ve got the rings,” Berra said of his 10 World Series titles — to Jeter’s four. “I’ve got more rings than him. That’s what counts.”
