Update On Derek Jeter's Rise Through Record Books: Passes Wade Boggs, Lou Brock

When Derek Jeter surpassed 3,000 career hits in July, I did a post on where I thought he might end up in the all-time list of hitters.

A month and 28 hits later, and Jeter is now sitting at #23 on the list of career hits with 3,028.

Who has he passed recently?

Roberto Clemente - 3,000
Wade Boggs - 3,010
Rafael Palmeiro - 3,020
Lou Brock - 3,023

Pressures Off, Time To Have Fun
Photo: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

After a decidedly sub-par beginning to his season, Jeter has regained his old form since breaking the 3,000 hit barrier. Before the milestone, he was struggling with a .256 average.  As of August 6, his average has climbed to .276, which was his 2010 season average.

Here are his batting averages, per month this season:

April: .256
May: .274
June: .239 and missed half the month due to injury
July: .292
August (through 5 games): .471

Clearly getting over the hump of 3,000 hits took some weight off of Jeter's bat. He did talk about the pressure and its effect on him as he chased this milestone, and now that the pressure is gone, he's back to his old hitting ways.  Indeed, instead of his first-half slump being due to age/swing technique, it appeared to be entirely mental and easily fixable.

At this current pace, Jeter is set to pass other great hitters such as Craig Biggio, Rickey Henderson, and Rod Carew before this season is done.