Derek Jeter, who has just turned 35 years old, is on the verge of passing Ted Williams on baseball's all-time hit leaders list and is now less than 350 hits away from 3,000 hits for his career. Jeter is likely to go over the 3,000 mark in early-mid 2011, when he might still be just 36 years of age.
For Jeter, the real challenge is whether he can get to 4,000 hits. Assuming he gets to 3,000 when he is on the verge of his 37th birthday, he will need to play probably at least five to six more seasons after that and maintain the same level of production. Not easy, but realistically he's the only guy in baseball right now with any shot at all at 4,000 hits.
As Jeter progresses up the all-time hit list, he will inevitably surpass many of the game's legends. This weekend, it will be Ted Williams. Of course, the Splendid Splinter's career numbers were compromised by missing five seasons during his prime to military service, and he could have quite easily had 1,000 more hits than he does (and also, figuring him good for another 30 HRs a year during his time in the service, we'd be looking at over 670 HRs). That being said, Williams's career numbers are still so superlative, that when any 35-year-old player passes Ted Williams in anything, it is worthy of being noted.
So congrats to the Yankee captain on this notable achievement, and a tip of the hat to the Great No. 9 too.