Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees' DJ LeMahieu Reflects on Journey to 1,500 Hits

LeMahieu reached the milestone on Tuesday night, looking back at his career the following afternoon.

Max Goodman

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MINNEAPOLIS — One day after recording the 1,500th hit of his MLB career, Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu took a trip down memory lane, thinking back to hit No. 1.

The former second-round pick was in his third career game at the time, making his first start with the Cubs on June 3, 2011. Stepping up to the plate for the third time of the game—in the eighth inning at Busch Stadium in St. Louis—LeMahieu singled off left-hander Jaime García.

"Albert Pujols was at first, and he was the first one to congratulate me, so I'll never forget that," LeMahieu said in the visitor's clubhouse at Target Field on Wednesday, cracking a smile. 

LeMahieu added that Pujols told him hopefully his base hit would be the first of many at the big-league level. Turns out he was spot on. Just over 11 years later, the two-time batting champion had added 1,499 hits to his career total.

It was his third hit of the night on Tuesday in a win over the Twins that gave him the milestone, a single to right field in the seventh inning off right-hander Tyler Duffey.

"I knew I was close," LeMahieu said Wednesday. "I didn't know if it was the second hit of the game or the third of the game, I wasn't sure. But I knew that I was close."

Tuesday's historic base hit wasn't LeMahieu's first career milestone of the year and it won't be his last. Earlier in the season, the veteran reached 10 years of service time. He's also one home run away from 100 in his career.

Asked if reaching round numbers means anything special to him, the 33-year-old declined, saying he never had any specific numerical goals when he began his career. He joked that he thought he made it as a rookie when he got his first one.

"I mean, it's cool. It's a cool number," he explained. "Again, it's like one of those things I'll probably look back after my career and it'll probably mean more later after I'm done but it's definitely a cool thing."

The majority of LeMahieu's career was spent with the Rockies, but he's certainly left his mark over his first four years in pinstripes. The infielder nearly won an MVP Award in his first two seasons with the Yankees before an uncharacteristic performance during last year's campaign, a season in which he wasn't completely healthy.

LeMahieu has looked a little more like the version of himself that finished third in the race for AL MVP in 2020 to start the 2022 season, though. Manager Aaron Boone added that he's played even better than his numbers dictate. The second baseman is hitting .264/.354/.402 over 47 games entering play Wednesday.

"Yeah, I think with my eyes it's been better and has been more consistent than that," Boone said. "Hopefully he goes on a DJ stretch where he's getting a couple of hits every day for a week and we'll see those numbers rise a little bit."

Factor in the fact that the Yankees have been the best team in baseball and LeMahieu admitted he's been having as much fun as ever to start this season.

"I think it's just the fact that so many people are contributing," LeMahieu said. "Obviously [Aaron Judge] is doing his thing, but it just seems like every night it's someone else. And that really makes it a lot of fun because we just don't know who the guy is gonna be that night. So yeah, it's been a lot of fun."

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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