It’s a thing now in APBA Baseball leagues. Derek Jeter is either becoming the hits leader in leagues or reaching the 3000 mark (see also: Derek Jeter approaching milestone in MWBL and OAPBA Lifetime Records showing consistencies among leagues’ stats). Now it’s happened in the Illowa APBA League as evidenced by an email from Jeter’s manager Todd Ventresca:
Derek Jeter now has 2882 career hits which means he has passed Cal Ripken, Jr. and is now the ILLOWA career hits leader.
Indeed it’s true. Here are the top five in career hits in the IAL as of this month:
| Player | H |
| Jeter | 2882 |
| Ripken | 2843 |
| Boggs | 2668 |
| Molitor | 2596 |
| Palmeiro | 2543 |
The question is can Jeter make it to 3000 IAL hits? With real life injury and rumors of his retirement, it might be an uphill battle.
Nevertheless, congrats to Jeter! Here are his lifetime IAL stats all played for Todd’s Three Rivers Gamblers:
| YEAR | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | HB | AVG | SLG | OBP |
| 1997 | 154 | 568 | 86 | 169 | 24 | 5 | 10 | 60 | 58 | 109 | 9 | .298 | .410 | .363 | |
| 1998 | 159 | 587 | 80 | 149 | 27 | 5 | 12 | 68 | 85 | 128 | 35 | .254 | .378 | .348 | |
| 1999 | 149 | 571 | 109 | 186 | 24 | 9 | 24 | 93 | 57 | 135 | 25 | .326 | .525 | .387 | |
| 2000 | 156 | 616 | 141 | 215 | 38 | 8 | 30 | 119 | 84 | 111 | 21 | .349 | .583 | .427 | |
| 2001 | 148 | 585 | 122 | 190 | 29 | 7 | 14 | 69 | 96 | 111 | 48 | .325 | .470 | .420 | |
| 2002 | 147 | 613 | 124 | 190 | 41 | 2 | 24 | 80 | 49 | 101 | 35 | .310 | .501 | .361 | |
| 2003 | 153 | 644 | 110 | 193 | 39 | 0 | 26 | 78 | 56 | 132 | 33 | .300 | .481 | .356 | |
| 2004 | 118 | 457 | 63 | 135 | 28 | 2 | 9 | 57 | 39 | 96 | 13 | 17 | .295 | .425 | .372 |
| 2005 | 153 | 593 | 91 | 142 | 49 | 0 | 14 | 59 | 37 | 97 | 28 | 23 | .239 | .393 | .309 |
| 2006 | 159 | 636 | 92 | 172 | 18 | 0 | 17 | 62 | 79 | 127 | 13 | 2 | .270 | .379 | .353 |
| 2007 | 153 | 620 | 101 | 196 | 34 | 4 | 12 | 35 | 55 | 104 | 43 | 6 | .316 | .442 | .377 |
| 2008 | 156 | 623 | 118 | 199 | 42 | 5 | 9 | 73 | 57 | 81 | 8 | 27 | .319 | .446 | .400 |
| 2009 | 150 | 596 | 96 | 172 | 21 | 4 | 12 | 55 | 47 | 74 | 15 | 8 | .289 | .398 | .349 |
| 2010 | 153 | 628 | 116 | 181 | 23 | 0 | 9 | 60 | 58 | 66 | 35 | 4 | .288 | .368 | .352 |
| 2011 | 157 | 617 | 84 | 155 | 33 | 4 | 3 | 51 | 63 | 99 | 21 | 8 | .251 | .332 | .328 |
| 2012 | 131 | 527 | 68 | 128 | 22 | 9 | 8 | 46 | 35 | 86 | 27 | 4 | .243 | .364 | .295 |
| 84 | 360 | 73 | 110 | 17 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | .306 | .436 | .352 | |
| 16 | 2480 | 9841 | 1674 | 2882 | 509 | 64 | 243 | 1070 | 957 | 1662 | 410 | 99 | .293 | .432 | .361 |
I’m thinking its almost time for a Thunderchickens update?