Rays left-hander David Price had just unwillingly become a trivia question answer. And after Derek Jeter circled the bases in one of the Yankees’ most historic moments and accepted the congratulations of his teammates yesterday, Price walked over to the Rays’ dugout. He didn’t want to horn in on the Yankees’ celebration.
So teammate James Shields came over to Price after Jeter turned a 3-2 curveball into his 3,000th hit, a third-inning home run. Shields gave words of comfort to Price.
“He said, ‘That was a bomb,’” Price said afterward with a laugh.
Price has seen Jeter do it before. Jeter ruined Price’s major league debut in 2008 when the Captain homered at the old Yankee Stadium, a drive that tied Lou Gehrig’s Yankees mark of 1,269 hits in the House That Ruth Built. And yesterday, Price surrendered Jeter’s career hits 2,999 (single), 3,000 (homer) and 3,001 (double) as the Yankees legend enjoyed a 5-for-5 day.
And Price became an answer for the ages.
“I’d rather not be the answer to that trivia question, but I am,” Price said. “It’s tough. He’s one of the best players ever to play baseball, so he was going to do it off of somebody and it just happened to be me. Like I said, I really didn’t care if he got it off of me as long as he didn’t drive in a run or score a run, and he did all of those things in that one at bat.”
There was no way Price could avoid the fanfare of the day. When he walked to the Rays’ clubhouse before the Yankees’ 5-4 victory — fittingly provided by a Jeter RBI single in the eighth — Price saw boxes and boxes of Jeter souvenirs.
“It’s everywhere,” the All-Star said. “You’re walking down here under the tunnel and you’re looking at all the boxes and the shirts: ‘Congratulations Jeter. 3,000th hit. I was a witness.’ I saw all that stuff this morning. I just wanted to throw my game, and it didn’t happen.”
Then Price was given another unpleasant reminder. Before Jeter made history, Price looked up at the Stadium scoreboard and saw a message claiming Jeter’s 2,530th hit was the homer in Price’s big league debut.
“I looked up at the scoreboard and I saw that. It was unreal,” Price said. “If he didn’t get it off me, he was going to get it eventually. I’m glad we don’t have to deal with this tomorrow for Shields. He can just go out and throw his game. I’d rather have not done that today, but he’s Derek Jeter. He’s done that to a lot of guys.
“All I could do to him today is tip my cap. He hit some good pitches and fouled them off, and took the pitches I made mistakes on and got hits with them. That’s what a professional hitter does and that’s what he is.”
fred.kerber@nypost.com