Derek Jeter passes Honus Wagner to move into sixth on all time hit list
By Mike Marteny
Derek Jeter has reached all kinds of milestones on his farewell tour this year, with the latest coming today. With his leadoff single in the bottom of the sixth inning off of Indians ace Corey Kluber, Jeter moved into sixth on the all time hit list with 3,531 hits.
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For what it’s worth, baseballreference.com had Jeter already passing Honus Wagner with hit number 3,520. They use what they call the “Macmillan Data”, which had specific game-by-game box scores that the Spalding Guides never had. The Elias Sports Bureau never accepted the findings of the Macmillan encyclopedia, hence the difference between Baseball reference and MLB, which uses the Elias Sports Bureau.
Also, baseballreference.com has Cap Anson at 3,435 career hits, which put him still in sixth place on the hit list, and Jeter at seventh. The discrepancy there comes from Anson’s 424 hits in the American Association. The Elias Sports Bureau did not count statistics from the old American Association because they did not consider it part of Major League Baseball. Baseballreference.com counts all of those statistics since, at the time, the American Association was in fact a “major” league. All teams consisted of players that were paid professionals.
So by baseball reference’s findings, Jeter will pass Cap Anson probably next weekend if he keeps hitting the way he has lately. He has 22 hits in 18 games played since the All Star Break, and has seen his average climb up to .276 on the year.
No matter which publication is “right”, Jeter will finish his career at number six on the All Time hit list. Slots 1-5 seem very safe. Here they are for you statheads:
1. Pete Rose, 4,256
2. Ty Cobb, 4,189
3. Hank Aaron, 3,771
4. Stan Musial, 3,630
5. Tris Speaker, 3,514
Jeter is still 83 hits away from tying Speaker. It seems unlikely that he can catch him with only 47 games remaining.