MINNEAPOLIS — Derek Jeter doesn’t want to talk about his league-leading 208 hits or the fact he has stormed back from a tough first half a year ago.
That’s OK. Paul Molitor does.
Molitor suffered through a rotten season in 1995 and came back to lead the AL in hits a year later at age 40. If Jeter can hold off Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera for another week, he will be the oldest player since Molitor to reach that standard. Jeter didn’t help that cause in Wednesday’s 8-2 win over the Twins, going 0-for-4 with a walk and a run scored, snapping a 19-game hitting streak.
“As Derek has found out, when you have a couple of years when your production slips and you get asked the questions, you ask yourself about the decline,” Molitor said. “What’s baseball and what’s age? I always thought he had a lot of good baseball left.”
The Hall-of-Famer, now 56 and involved in player development with the Twins, made a point to watch Jeter’s batting practice during the Yankees’ three-game series at Target Field. Molitor is among the least surprised by his resurgence.
After hitting just .270 with the Blue Jays in 1995, Molitor jumped to .341 a year later in Minnesota.
“For me, a lot of it was coming back home,” said the St. Paul, Minn., native, who spoke to the Yankees shortstop briefly Tuesday. “I knew I was turning 40 and 3,000 hits was out there, but it wasn’t a driving factor. I was healthy, [manager] Tom Kelly played me every day and it just happened.”
Molitor blamed some of his struggles from the previous year on the strike that ended the 1994 season prematurely and delayed the start of the following season.
“We had the work stoppage and I was involved with labor negotiations,” said Molitor, who finished with 3,319 hits. Jeter needs 23 more to catch him for eighth all-time. “I remember thinking about retiring because I was hitting about .230 at the [All-Star] break. So you have those questions. Somehow you rally yourself and people convince you they believe that you can still do it.”
Jeter, though, has never acknowledged such self doubt.
Molitor believes all players who go through seasons like the ones he and Jeter have appreciate later success more.
“No question you do,” Molitor said. “Somewhere in the back of your mind, you know with each year that goes by, you’re getting close to not doing this anymore. So when you continue to defy the odds, you’re not only playing and finishing a phenomenal career, but you’re doing it in a way where no one can ask the questions about hanging on to attain numbers. … He’s not short-changing anybody.”
That’s one of the reasons Molitor doesn’t expect Jeter to stop anytime soon.
“When’s his birthday?” Molitor asked when told Jeter is 38. “I was thinking about that today: How long will he go? Production doesn’t necessarily have to be diminished until your late 30s or early 40s and if anyone has the qualities to keep performing at a high level, it’s him.”