Yankees' DJ LeMahieu has fond memories of first hit after getting No. 1,500
Yankees' DJ LeMahieu runs on his two-run single against the Detroit Tigers during the fifth inning of an MLB baseball game at Yankee Stadium on Friday, June 3, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
MINNEAPOLIS – DJ LeMahieu recorded his 1,500th hit in the seventh inning of Tuesday night’s 10-4 victory over the Twins.
Like pretty much every big-leaguer, LeMahieu had no difficulty remembering his first.
“It was in St. Louis. Off of Jaime Garcia,” LeMahieu said before Wednesday night’s game, one in which he started at third and hit leadoff. “Albert Pujols was at first and he was the first one to congratulate me.”
The date was June 3, 2011 and LeMahieu, then a 22-year-old, was with the Cubs, who lost that night, 6-1. Pujols was in his first stint with the Cardinals, where he was already well into a career that will eventually land him in Cooperstown.
“He was like, ‘hey congrats. Hopefully it’s the first of many,’” LeMahieu said, smiling at the memory.
LeMahieu was with the Rockies a year later and he spent the next seven seasons, most of them highly successful, in Colorado.
He signed with the Yankees before the 2019 season and made the All-Star Game that year. He led all of the big leagues with a .364 average in the 60-game COVID-19 2020 season before struggling throughout 2021. Recent indications are LeMahieu is starting to recapture the form of his first two seasons in pinstripes. LeMahieu entered Wednesday hitting .264 with four homers and a .756 OPS, hitting .333 with a .459 on-base percentage in his previous eight games.
“I feel like I’ve had some impactful games and hopefully can string a bunch together here and get it going,” LeMahieu said. “But I feel really good at the plate.”
The typically stoic LeMahieu laughed – a very short laugh – when asked what was the harder accomplishment, hit No. 1 or No. 1,500?
“The first one,” LeMahieu said. “I [was thinking] then, ‘I gotta at least get one while I’m up here.’”
