Derek Jeter galloped ahead of the Iron Horse last night, passing Yankees legend Lou Gehrig for the team’s all-time hits record and giving Bombers fans around the Big Apple a major league thrill.
“Awesome!” said Kathy Leogrande, 63, of Long Island, who was among the 46,771 excited fans who watched the record fall.
“This is the best thing that has happened to this city in a long time.”
As the first-place Yanks faced off against the Baltimore Orioles in the rain-soaked Bronx, the team’s beloved captain lashed his record-setting 2,722nd hit down the right field line to lead off the third inning.
The single broke a record that Gehrig set in 1939, at the end of a historic career that was tragically cut short after he developed amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, which would become known as “Lou Gehrig’s disease.”
Gehrig, the great Yankee first baseman and former captain, will always be known for the speech he gave on the field at the old Yankee Stadium. Stricken with the disease, he uttered the memorable words, “Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”
After Jeter smacked the hit that launched him into Yankees immortality, he looked like the luckiest man himself, doffing his batting helmet as fans delivered a deafening 3-minute ovation.
“As a true Yankees fan, there’s probably no one more influential than Lou Gehrig,” said fan JP Lacor, 41, who witnessed Jeter’s historic hit from the stands. “And for Derek Jeter to reach that milestone, it’s like the passing of the torch.”
After setting the record, the Yankee squad — including his longtime pals and teammates Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera — gathered around first base to greet the newly crowned Bomber hit king with hugs and high fives.
Jeter’s mom Dorothy, dad Charles and actress girlfriend Minka Kelly, looked on from the captain’s stadium luxury box.
After the hit, Yankees Boss George Steinbrenner released a statement congratulating the player he brought aboard the team as a young shortstop.
“For those who say today’s game can’t produce legendary players, I have two words: Derek Jeter. Game in and game out he just produces,” he said, according to the statement.
“As historic and significant as becoming the Yankees’ all-time hit leader is, the accomplishment is all the more impressive because Derek is one of the finest young men playing the game today.
“That combination of character and athletic ability is something he shares with the previous record holder, Lou Gehrig.”
Ever since Jeter began his storied career in pinstripes in 1995, he has been one of the most charismatic and popular players in the team’s long history.
PHOTOS: Derek Jeter through the years
“He’s a great role model for young people. He really did it the right way,” said Leogrande. “He has wonderful character, and that’s what it’s all about.”
People who were lucky enough to be in the stands cherished the chance to see Yankees history unfold.
“Growing up here, I idolized Jeter and the Yankees for a long time,” said Yonnel Olivo, 29, of The Bronx. “It means a lot to see it in person”
Some felt it was the first of what they hope to be many historic moments to grace the new Yankee Stadium, which opened this year across the street from the House that Ruth Built.
“It’s my first time to be here at the new stadium and to see Derek Jeter break the new record is really something, especially for my daughter,” said Samuel Ruiz, 43, who brought his daughter Chelsea, 8, to the ballgame.
Fans felt Jeter deserves to assume the mantle of Yankees hit leader.
“It’s actually unbelievable. Jeter is the most deserving of any Yankee,” said David Leiber, 50, of Manhattan, who watched the game from Mickey Mantle’s restaurant in Midtown.
The hit placed Jeter at 53rd on the all-time major league hits list, some 1,500 shy of career leader Pete Rose. Some fans started looking toward the future, and wondered how high up the list the 35-year-old Jeter could go.
“It’s funny, all the great Yankees, and Derek Jeter’s the one who got all the hits,” said Alexander Martinez, 47, of Brooklyn. “I want him to break Ty Cobb and Pete Rose’s record. He could be the one to break all the records.”
Jeter quickly headed off on the road to further milestones last night, cracking his 2,723rd hit in fourth inning, an RBI single.