Belcher No. 1 on Jeter's hit parade

Interested in predicting when Derek Jeter might record his 3,000th hit?

Considering the serendipitous way in which the game of baseball often works, you might want to clear your schedule for when the Indians visit Yankee Stadium in June.

That's because Cleveland's pitching coach is Tim Belcher, who also happens to be the pitcher who gave up Jeter's first hit 16 years ago. So wouldn't it be somewhat fitting for Belcher to be part of the opposition when Jeter becomes the 28th major-leaguer to reach the 3,000-hit plateau?

Belcher, to his credit, laughed when we raised this possibility to him during a recent telephone interview. And he seemed somewhat intrigued by the idea of witnessing the moment.

"Sounds like you already sat down and did the math," he said. "Is that possible? I haven't looked at the schedule that far yet."

Jeter is 61 hits shy of 3,000, and there are 47 games remaining before Belcher and the Indians come to the Bronx for four games from June 10-13.

If Jeter is within reach during that series, having Belcher in the opposing dugout would provide an interesting subplot, given that Jeter says the most memorable hit of his career was his first.

It happened May 30, 1995, in Seattle, a day after Jeter, 20, went 0-for-5 in his major-league debut. After Belcher struck out Jeter looking on a 2-and-2 pitch in the second inning, Jeter hit Belcher's first pitch of the fifth on the ground between third baseman Mike Blowers and shortstop Luis Sojo for a single.

Belcher said he "barely" remembers the moment, only because he's been asked about it a couple of times in recent years. But the questions sparked him to go back into his own notes from his playing days.

During his 14-year career with seven teams, Belcher kept his own account of each at-bat from his starts, which he used to strategize for his next game against a team. With his notes from the 1995 season still on his computer, Belcher said he initially viewed the future Hall of Famer as your run-of-the-mill rookie. That means he attacked him with fastballs inside.

"I tell our pitchers this now, that generally with young guys that you don't know a whole lot about, you start them with hard stuff in and see how he reacts to that first," Belcher said. "And then you can figure out how to go from that."

It's no surprise, then, that Belcher believes he started Jeter's second at-bat that game with an inside fastball, which Jeter grounded into the hole.

Belcher knows that at-bat will be replayed a lot as Jeter closes in on hit No. 3,000, and he doesn't mind. Belcher, 49, won 146 games and a World Series ring with the Dodgers in 1988, but if people wind up learning about him only because of his attachment to Jeter, that's OK, too.

"People for years to come are going to talk about Derek Jeter's career, and when they look at his bio and see who gave up his first hit, my name will always be there," he said. "That's kind of a neat association."

Izzy display

On Jason Isringhausen's road back from another Tommy John surgery, his fastball has lost a touch of velocity, but he's making up for it the way any knowledgeable pitcher would.

By also taking speed off his changeup.

During his best years as the Cardinals' closer, Isringhausen's fastball averaged a notch below 92 mph, according to fangraphs.com. This year he's averaging 90.8. But his changeup, which gets the most swings and misses, is coming in at 76.8 mph, down from 78 back in his prime.

The key is not necessarily how hard a pitcher throws, but how much variation there is in the speed of the two pitches.

Game of lasts

Yankees backup catcher Gustavo Molina became the final player on a 2011 Opening Day roster to get into a game, and now he's looking for another first -- a hit.

Molina, who made his debut Saturday, and Yankees backup infielder Eduardo Nuñez are among 10 position players who have been active since Opening Day and still are looking for their first hit.

Amazingly, former Yankee and Met Miguel Cairo was the last position player to get his first hit in two straight seasons, a dubious honor if there ever was one. But he's not in the running this year. Cairo entered Sunday's action with three hits in 17 at-bats for the Cincinnati Reds. Cairo homered Sunday.