DJ the Hit Machine

photo courtesy of I4U.com

It's pretty good when you do something well that puts you in the company of just one other person. Derek Jeter joined another elite club this afternoon when he stroked two hits against the Toronto Blue Jays to become the second player with 17 straight seasons of 150 hits or more.

Hall of Fame right fielder Hank Aaron is the only other player to accomplish the feat. Aaron's streak began in    Milwaukee in 1955 and ended in Atlanta with the 1971 season. Hammerin' Hank finished with 3,771 hits in  3,298 games over 23 seasons.

Jeter's second hit of the game, a double to the gap in right-center, plated a runner and gave him exactly 150 hitson the season. 150 hits is not where Jeter generally stop though; in fact the only season that the Yankees shortstop had less than 160 hits was his injury (shoulder) shortened 2003 campaign when he finished with 156. His second lowest output was last year when again he missed significant time due to injury and finished with 162 base knocks.

The Yankees' captain has topped the 200 hit plateau seven times, as recently as 2009 when he hit .334 and the Yankees captured their 27th title. Jeter now has 3,238 hits spread over parts of 18 seasons and needs just four hits to tie Nap Lajoie for 13th place on the all-time hit list.