History and sports history are two different things

SILVIS, Ill. -- I was listening to ESPN Radio on my drive to the John Deere Classic Saturday morning and heard Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees was two hits away from making history.

Meaning, Jeter has 2,998 hits. And 3,000 would be historic.

Except ... would it? Jeter will become the 28th player to reach that mark. This isn't a first, a game-changer, something that will make us look at sports differently.

The last player to get his 3,000th hit was Craig Biggio. Do you remember where you were when you heard Biggio got No. 3,000? How about Rafael Palmeiro two years before Biggio, in 2005?

Records and milestones aren't necessarily historic, at least to my way of thinking. History in sports is Jackie Robinson breaking the color line in baseball, the Super Bowl getting created and eventually becoming an unofficial American holiday, the U.S. hockey team stunning the Soviets in the 1980 Winter Olympics.

Those things go into actual history books. Barry Bonds passing Hank Aaron as the all-time home run leader isn't history. The Steroids Era in Major League Baseball is history.

Here is real history that occurred on various July 9s:

New York elects its first governor, 1777

Rebels strike Yankees at the Battle of Monocacy, 1864

Khrushchev and Eisenhower trade threats over Cuba, 1960

President Taylor dies of cholera, 1850

First female U.S. Army officer, 1947

United States turns over responsibility for the DMZ, 1971

Germans surrender Southwest Africa to Union of South Africa, 1915

And in sports ... the Wimbledon tennis tournament began, 1877

Here at the Deere Classic, they're telling people to come watch Steve Stricker chase history by trying to become the first player to win the JDC three times in a row. Which he very well might on Sunday.

And if that happens, I'll make history by being the first Cedar Rapids sportswriter to write about someone winning three straight John Deere Classics.

I just hope the news networks can get their anchors to the studios on a Sunday night to adequately describe that important moment in time.