The crowd had to pause, the cheers for Derek Jeter's shot at history muffled by the wait for official scorer Bill Shannon's decision.
The fans at Yankee Stadium haven't had much chance to cheer for history in the final days of their beloved ballpark, so they wanted this one now. It was the first inning of another meaningless game Tuesday in the Stadium's final week, but finally there was a shot to at least have a meaningful moment. So, as Jeter stood at first, he waited -- along with everyone else -- to find out if he'd just become the Stadium's all-time hits leader.
The ball he stroked under White Sox third baseman Juan Uribe's glove and into left would be ruled ... a hit.
Jeter had done it. He'd recorded his 1,270th hit at Yankee Stadium, passing Lou Gehrig and sealing a record at Yankee Stadium no one will have an opportunity to top.
So the crowd unleashed a torrent of cheers for one of its favorites, offering the familiar "Der-ek Jet-er!" chant and the Yankees captain, appearing humbled by the moment, doffed his helmet in appreciation.
"This is something that is pretty special," Jeter, who rarely acknowledges personal milestones, said later. "I'd be lying to you if I said it wasn't. Records are made to be broken, but this one at least will never be broken."
WHITE SOX 6, YANKEES 2: Andy Pettitte lost his fifth straight start and the Yankees offense struggled as the White Sox snapped a three-game winning streak for the home team. Pettitte gave up four runs and six hits in six innings as he fell to 13-14.
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