CLEVELAND — This was not how it was supposed to be.
It was not long ago that Derek Jeter and 4,000 hits were spoken in the same sentence without sarcasm; a recent time when there were legitimate projections on Jeter targeting all-time hits leader Pete Rose.
So 3,000 was going to be a breeze, with the latter parts of the chase affording the baseball world — particularly the Yankees universe portion — a chance for sustained congratulations toward the player who has pretty much been the face of the game these past 15 years.
That is why this is so awkward now. This is not the expected victory lap. Instead, what has percolated around Jeter is stuff he hates. Namely negativity and attention on his inadequacies.
Jeter is a specialist at incubating himself from outside noise. But he is human. He knows his spot atop the order, his regular role as a shortstop and his skills at age 37 are now being publicly debated. Thus, for a man who likes to control his image and avoid public messiness, this pursuit has become a millstone on the way to a milestone.
“I really haven’t been talking about [3,000] a lot,” Jeter said. “I have been talking about other things. . . . It is hard to enjoy when there is a lot of negativity out there.”
He did not even seem to enjoy last night when he was one of eight Yankees to generate at least two hits. His first looked familiar to 2011, a dribbler down the third-base line that was his 14th infield single. The second did not. He launched a bomb over center fielder Grady Sizemore’s head that was just his 13th extra-base hit.
The 2,996th hit of his career drove in two runs. Once defined by clutch, Jeter had been hitting .179 with runners in scoring position, which was 225th out of 242 batters with at least 50 plate appearances in such situations.
So he hit a ball hard and hit it with meaning, yet in the clubhouse after a 9-2 victory over the Indians his visage was rather joyless, no sense of history on the doorstep except for the boom mike overhead that is part of an HBO documentary on the chase; a project that even Jeter admitted he “was not comfortable with at all.” He was equally uneasy responding to inquiries if he will play tonight. Manager Joe Girardi has vowed a day off before the All-Star break, and the finale in Cleveland seems likely. But for Jeter it comes with this hardly subtle context: At age 37 and coming off of a calf injury, you aren’t as durable as you used to be.
“You’d like to enjoy [the milestone],” Jeter said. “It has been difficult with all the questions. I am going to try to enjoy it from now on and keep things as positive as I can.”
As much as any athlete of stature, Jeter previously has been expert at sidestepping controversy. He was masterly at being accessible, yet offering nothing but surface insights and positive bromides. Jeter also has had remarkable discipline, an ability to be uber-famous without being consumed by the trappings.
But mainly Jeter had his game. For nothing quite deodorizes like on-field success. Heck, it wasn’t too long ago that Michael Vick was executing dogs and, one successful football season later, he is a Nike spokesman.
People talk about intangibles with Jeter. And his confidence and team-oriented nature certainly helped the Yankees. But what elevated the Yankees most was his tangible greatness; that Jeter is on the short list of best shortstops ever.
Now he is open to questions about playing time and lineup position and whether athletic genius can be regenerated at 37. His cocoon has been invaded.
The Yankees recently tried to bar a New York Times Magazine reporter from access to Jeter, concerned about the potential negative bent of the article. Members of the Jeter inner circle have contacted reporters to inquire about the biting tone of some commentary. Jeter went as far as to deride his first-half production.
While that was just honesty, it is the kind of even minor negativity Jeter has disdained. Yet he has talked more about his hitting approach this season than all others combined.
This is life sputtering toward a milestone. The chase turns from celebration to interrogation. The subject of 4,000 hits devolves into how much beyond 3,000 will Jeter keep his familiar roles as top-of-the-order everyday shortstop.
So he has gone from Rose to thorns.
joel.sherman@nypost.com