The first of Derek Jeter’s 3,000 hits was a low-key at-bat with little fanfare.
After being called up from Triple-A Columbus, a 20-year-old Jeter singled to left field in the fifth inning off of Seattle’s Tim Belcher in a 7-3 loss to the Mariners on May 30, 1995. He added another single to finish the day 2-for-3 with two runs scored in front of 10,709 fans at Seattle’s Kingdome. It was his second big-league game, after going 0-for-5 in an 8-7 loss to the M’s the night before.
Belcher said giving up Jeter’s first hit didn’t sink in until he started fielding interview requests after the Yankee captain reached 2,000 hits.
“Well, I don’t remember him [young Jeter] real well,” said Belcher, who earned 145 wins over 14 seasons in the major leagues. “None of us realized he’s going to be what he turned out to be.” Belcher, now the Indians’ pitching coach, got better acquainted with Jeter’s hitting style throughout their respective careers.
“Derek’s always been an inside-out swinger and really good at staying inside the ball and hitting the ball to the opposite field. You got to make good pitches on him,” Belcher said. “He’s a great hitter … and is probably going to be a Hall of Famer.”