The Yankees' Top 10 Player Achievements and Milestones

The New York Yankees are about winning and trying to do it in the most professional manner with the best talent.  The players that deliver these expectations have not been just great, but legendary, and Derek Jeter is no exception.  As he achieves the great milestone of 3,000 hits in a Yankee uniform, we reflect on the 10 greatest personal accolades in Yankees history.   

10. Reggie Jackson's 4 Straight World Series Home Runs

In the fading moments of Game 5 of the 1977 World Series, Reggie Jackson launched a home run into right field at Dodgers Stadium.  The game was already a formality, but this home run was far from meaningless.  It was the start of a historic streak.

When Game 6 returned to New York, "Mr. October," a nickname given to Jackson from teammate Thurman Munson, turned out the most impressive offensive display in World Series history.  In the clinching game, Jackson hit three consecutive home runs off of three different Dodgers pitchers, all on the first pitch.  That meant Jackson had hit four consecutive World Series homers, a feat not reached or even approached.  

He hit a total of five in the 1977 Series, a number only matched by Phillies second-baseman Chase Utley in 2009.  Jackson also won his second World Series MVP, each with a different team, also a record at the time.

9. Whitey Ford's 236 Wins

When Edward Charles "Whitey" Ford entered the league in 1950, he was born into a career of winning.  In fact, it took him until 1954 until he wasn't crowned a World Series champion.  He was not along for the ride on his incredible journey to eight titles, but instead maybe the most important player.  

In his 17-year career with the Yankees, Ford accumulated a 236-106 record and a 2.75 ERA.  He easily holds the best winning percentage for a pitcher with at least 200 wins.  His finest season was the famed 1961 season, where he compiled a 25-4 record and a 3.21 ERA.  

His dominance under pressure in Yankees' pinstripes makes him without a doubt the greatest pitcher in Yankees history.  Behind Ford is Red Ruffing with 231 wins and Andy Pettitte with 203.  With today's treatment of starters, fewer starts and deeper bullpens, it may be difficult for any pitcher to achieve this many wins in a Yankee uniform.

8. Derek Jeter's 3,000 Hits

In 1995, a young, tall, thin kid from Kalamazoo, MI knocked his first base hit in Seattle as a shortstop for the Yankees.  17 seasons later, Derek Jeter is the first Yankee to reach 3,000 hits in their long, illustrious history.  

His critics have arisen over the past few months, claiming of his aging demise and heralding any new shortstop as the savor to the sacred ground at shortstop in the Bronx.  His accomplishments and the talent it takes to reach them cannot be criticized.  Jeter had to average nearly 200 hits a year, which simply translates into a .333 batting average in a 600-at-bat season, and a career .315 average for him.  If Jeter averages 75 percent, or 150 hits, of this pace for the remaining three years on his contract, he will easily eclipse 3,400 hits.  To put that in perspective, Willie Mays, who is in the discussion for the best player to ever live, has 3,283 hits and is tenth on the all-time list.

But does this accomplishment need perspective?  If it hasn't been seen clearly, let's refresh who has NOT reached 3,000 hits and wore the Yankee uniform: Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, and Berra to name a few.  Though he will not glorify his milestone, the Yankees and their fans will cherish him and his performance forever. 

7. Mariano Rivera's Postseason Records

Chaos.  That can define the ninth inning of a baseball game, especially one in Yankee Stadium during the World Series.  When the bullpen door opens, Metallica's "Enter Sandman" blares of the sound systems as the crowd erupts, and out runs the coolest customer in the building, ready to slam the door on another potential rally of any team entering his house.

After 17 seasons with the Yankees, closer Mariano Rivera has proven that when he enters a postseason contest, it's pretty much over.  If there any doubts of this claim, his numbers can put those doubts to rest.  His numbers are records, and he holds many in the postseason, including ERA (0.71), saves (42), consecutive saves (23), and consecutive scoreless innings (34.3).

No matter what the moment, his demeanor remains unchanged.  Whether it is searching the baseball, seemingly looking for that perfect spot to grip the ball, or calmly shaking the catcher's hand after striking out the batter with the bases loaded, Rivera's coolness under pressure is one unmatched in not only Yankees history, but in baseball as well.  

6. Yogi Berra's 10 World Series Rings

If Derek Jeter ended his career today, he would have played the same amount of seasons, 17, as legendary catcher Yogi Berra.  Jeter would retire with five world titles, certainly a fabulous achievement.  However, he would only have half that of Berra's, something he has prodded Jeter on jokingly in the past.

In the age of free agency, a tool fit for a player, but not for a dynasty, it would be hard-pressed to say anyone will ever win 10 World Series ever again.  If a player averaged even half the pace that Berra won his, it would take them 34 seasons to reach his mark.  

Like Whitey Ford, Berra was not just a spectator on this magical run, but a major factor.  He finished his career with 358 home runs and 1,430 RBI, and caught the majority of all important World Series games, including Don Larsen's perfect game in 1956.  

5. Mickey Mantle's 18 World Series Home Runs

He had it all; he could run like lightning, throw bullets and launch booming home runs from either side of the plate.  His nagging injuries have claimed to have limited his career, a scary statement considering he finished with 536 regular season home runs.  It is his postseason, however, that can tend to go unnoticed.  

Mantle belted 18 home runs in the postseason, four shy of Bernie Williams' count of 22.  But since Mantle only had the World Series for a postseason, his 18 become an even more amazing feat.  Reggie Jackson, an amazing postseason performer, hit 10 World Series home runs.  

It is not surprising that he was so good under the biggest spotlight.  His drive to win would compare to that of Derek Jeter today, who holds the record for most postseason hits.  Mantle's career makes him simply the best switch-hitter ever, and his resume in October make him one of the best to ever play in the World Series.  

4. Lou Gehrig's Games Played Streak

Derek Jeter was asked if he knew who Wally Pip was by a reporter during a press conference before coming of the disabled list last weekend.  He smiled and answered that he did know, and that he would be returning to work shortly.  Pip was the Yankees' first baseman, until one day he missed a game, allowing Lou Gehrig to fill in for him.

Over 2,000 games later, Gehrig was still the first baseman, nicknamed "The Iron Man" for his consistency in the lineup.  Not only did he play every day, but he played an all-time level, pounding out 492 home runs and becoming the Yankees' all-time hits leader (until Jeter broke his record).  

He was diagnosed with ALS however, a muscular disease that is 100 percent fatal, slowly deteriorating muscle movement until complete paralysis. After 2,130 games, Gehrig sat out.  The record stood for nearly six decades until Cal Ripken Jr. broke the record, re-setting it at 2,632.    

3. Roger Maris 61 Home Runs

For 34 years, one record stood as one that may have seemed untouchable in baseball history: 60 home runs in a single season.  It was an incredible mark, but in 1961, two players put Babe Ruth's glorious record in serious jeopardy.

One was the golden child, Mickey Mantle, a natural talent and New York favorite who wooed crowds with his good looks and demolished pitchers with his switch-hitting power.  The other was a newcomer to the Yankees, Roger Maris, who won the MVP award in 1960.  But this year was different, for both players were on incredible home-run tears.

Once Mantle became injured and could no longer chase the record, the pressure fell squarely on the shoulders of Maris, who succumbed to it off the field, but still performed on it.  Problems began to arise when he approached the end of the original, 154-game schedule, the amount of games Ruth had to hit the home runs.  Maris failed to break the record in that span, but succeeded by the end of the 162, marking 61 total.  Commissioner Ford Frick decided this record was not genuine since it was not obtained in 154 games, so an asterisk was placed next to it.  He never lived to see the asterisk lifted, passing away in 1985.

In 1998, Mark McGwire  and Sammy Sosa both broke the record, hitting 70 and 66 respectively in a legendary-but-tarnished home-run chase.  Barry Bonds also hit 73 home runs in 2001, and stands as the current home-run champion.  However, these three have all been linked to steroids, which still makes Maris the legitimate king.  Now 50 years later, a non-enhanced player has still not eclipsed this incredible accomplishment.

2. Joe DiMaggio's 56-Game Hitting Sreak

Baseball has many records that seem very difficult to reach.  Joe DiMaggio's record is in the class of records that may never be broken.  During the 1941 season, DiMaggio managed to get at least a base hit in 56 straight games, demolishing Willie Keeler's streak of 45 games set in 1897.  Amazingly, the Yankee Clipper didn't even win the MVP award, as Red Sox legend Ted Williams also batted .406 that season, another "untouchable" record in baseball history.  

Of all of the records owned by a Yankee, this one may be the most unapproachable.  In the days of deeper rotations, specialists in the bullpen, and advanced scouting like never before, for a player to get a hit in every game for two months straight seems virtually impossible.   

Babe Ruth's 714 Home Runs

Regarded as the greatest player ever, Babe Ruth is more than a baseball icon; he is a global legend of culture.  His name is known and linked with the Yankees whether someone is a baseball fan or not.  Of all of his records and accomplishments, his 714 home runs is the most recognizable, and possibly the most famous number in sports history, even more than the great Hank Aaron's 755 home runs.

What makes Ruth's record with the Yankees the most outstanding is the context in which he did it.  Nowadays, home runs are not an anomaly, but an expectation of most players.  In the 1920's, Ruth was re-inventing an offense, hitting more home runs in a season than most teams.  That is the equivalent of a player hitting 250 home runs in a single season in the current game.

From 1920 to 1931, there were only two seasons he did not total at least 45 blasts.  Of course, the Bambino held the single-season home-run record for 34 seasons at 60 before Roger Maris eclipsed it in 1961.  His total home-run record was also passed by Aaron, but it is Ruth who is remembered for the deep shot more than Aaron.  This record will more-than-likely be passed in the majors down the road by multiple players, but to say any of them will be honored and remembered with the lasting effects of Babe Ruth is hard to imagine.