Yankees: All-Time Top Runs Producers in Franchise History

#5 Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter finished with an overall score of 29 and could have finished higher if not for a 20th place finish in on-base percentage. With Jeter, though, the numbers barely begin to tell the story of his value to the Yankees over the span of a twenty-year career.

Appointed by former Yankees owner, George Steinbrenner, as Team Captain, Jeter led his team, by example, to five World Championships. As a first-round pick by the Yankees (sixth overall), Jeter arrived in the Bronx with widely acclaimed expectations for a cup of coffee in 1995, appearing in only fifteen games.

It was in the following year, though, that Jeter would put up was to become a trademark season for him. 1996 saw Jeter hitting .314 with 183 hits, 103 runs scored, and an on-base percentage of .370. Both the hits total and OPB would improve as the years went on. But under the tutelage and watchful eye of manager Joe Torre, Jeter would quickly acclimate himself to what is required to excel at the major league level, and perhaps just as importantly, what it takes to excel as a New York Yankee.

Jeter was the type of player who always rose to the occasion with the big hit or the big play that turned a game around

From there, he became a well-oiled machine in the Yankees lineup, ranking first in total hits as a Yankee (3,465) and second in runs scored (with 1,923). But again, that is not the actual measure of the player Jeter was because he was the type of player who always rose to the occasion with the big hit or the big play that turned a game around. Examples abound, but let’s just take a couple to make the point.

The first one, ironically, is not an example of his ability as a run producer, but as a run and game saver from the defensive side of the game. It’s included here because it shows the natural instincts Derek Jeter had for the sport of baseball. He had no business being where he was on the field when Jeter made this play in Game 3 of the 2001 ALDS against the Oakland A’s, but Jeter was there, and he made the play, now known as “The Flip.”

On the offense side, Jeter had many compelling run producing moments as well. The one that follows earned him the title as “Mr. November”. It was a takeoff on the title claimed by Reggie Jackson as Mr. October, stemming from his performance in the 1977-78 World Series victories by the Yankees.

The magic occurred on October 31, 2001, in Game 4 of the 2001 World Series when Jeter stepped to the plate just as the clock ticked past midnight to face Byung-Hyun Kim.

As you might guess, Derek Jeter is the only member of this top run producing team of Yankees who are not sluggers., although he still ranks as number nine in home runs and sixth in RBI. But, it is his ability to manufacture hits and score runs that catapult him to this level.

That, together with all the intangibles he brought to the team as a leader, marks him as one of the greatest Yankees of all-time. He is on the ballot for election to the Baseball Hall Of Fame in 2020.