Jeter relishes joining the 2,500-hit club

BALTIMORE -- Derek Jeter is honored to be part of an exclusive club with Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. For now, however, the New York Yankees shortstop is more interested in keeping his team in the playoff hunt.

Jeter got his 2,500th hit Friday night, joining Gehrig (2,721) and Ruth (2,518) as the only players to reach the mark with the Yankees.

"Anytime your name is with someone like Gehrig and Ruth, it's pretty special," Jeter said. "To be quite honest with you, I don't even think about it much because we're trying to win games here. That's something you reflect on maybe when your career's over."

New York entered Saturday trailing Boston by six games in the AL wild-card race. Jeter is doing his best to keep the Yankees' hopes alive -- he was batting .486 over his last eight games to raise his average 15 points to .296.

Jeter is the 88th player in baseball history to have 2,500 hits. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only Hank Aaron and Robin Yount were younger than Jeter (34 years, 57 days) when they reached the 2,500 plateau.

"When you think about Derek Jeter, he's been consistent through his whole career," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He stayed healthy, plays every day, works very hard at what he does. There aren't a lot of people who have 2,500 hits. Shows you what kind of player he is."