Derek Jeter joins 3,000-hits club with home run

Derek Jeter long ago put himself among the list of all-time Yankees. Now, he's among baseball's immortals.

With the swing of his black wood bat, Jeter homered to leftfield to become the first Yankee and 28th baseball player ever to amass 3,000 career hits.

Jeter, a .312 lifetime hitter in 17 seasons, managed to run the count full against Rays starter David Price for his second straight at bat. After fouling off a pair of pitches, Jeter then drove the 3-2 pitch to leftfield, easily clearing the fence for a game-tying home run.

A raucous crowd gave the Yankees' captain a long standing ovation, and every member of the Yankees dugout turned out to meet Jeter at home plate. Members of the Rays also left their dugout to applaud Jeter.

Jeter recorded his first career hit May 29, 1995, against Seattle's Tim Belcher. Sixteen years, 39 days later, the Yankees' captain earned No. 3,000. In between, there was a Rookie of the Year award in 1996, a World Series MVP and All-Star Game MVP in 2000, "The Flip Play" and "Mr. November" in 2001, "The Dive" in 2004, five World Series rings, 12 All-Star selections, five Gold Glove awards and countless other memorable moments for the future Hall-of-Famer.

The Yankees captain has seven 200-hit seasons, and he led the American League in 1999 with 219 hits. From 1997 to 2007, Jeter never ranked below seventh in the AL in hits, a testament to his consistency.

SEE PHOTOSJuly 9, 2011: Derek Jeter collects hit No. 3,000