Where Does Recording 3,000 Hits Rank Among Sports Milestones?
When New York Yankees short stop Derek Jeter recorded his career 3,000th hit Saturday, the first thought was if that number still served as the benchmark for greatest in Major League Baseball?
The fact that just 28 players in the vast history of the game have hit 3,000 makes that an obvious yes.
But that got me to thinking about career milestones in other sports, which exemplifies consistency and greatness and here is a list of the Top 5:
NFL
10,000 Career Rushing Yards
How many have achieved it: 25
Leading the pack: Emmitt Smith 18,355 yards
Still active: No.6 LaDainian Tomlinson (13, 404); No.15 Fred Taylor (11, 695); No. 25 Thomas Jones (10,113).
300 Career Touchdown Passes
How many have achieved it: five
Leading the Pack: Brett Favre, 508 career touchdown passes
Still active: No. 4 Peyton Manning, 399.
NBA
25,000 career points
How many have achieved it: 15
Leading the pack: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 38,387 points.
Still active: No. 6 Kobe Bryant, 27,868.
MLB
3,000 career hits
How many have achieved it: 28
Leading the pack: Pete Rose, 4,256 hits.
Still active: No. 27 Derek Jeter, 3003 hits.
500 career home runs
How many have achieved it: 25
Leading the pack: Barry Bonds, 762 home runs.
Still active: No. 6 Alex Rodriguez (626); No. 8 Jim Thome (595); No. 14 Manny Ramirez (555).
Contact Terrance Harris at terrancefharris@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @Terranceharris
(Photo: Nick Laham/Getty Images)