Nice Guys Finish First: Why Derek Jeter Will Save Major League Baseball! (PHOTOS)

Over the weekend Derek Jeter became just the 28th player in Major League Baseball history to reach 3,000 hits and the only New York Yankee to ever reach that plateau.

Think of all the Yankee greats: from Babe Ruth to Mickey Mantle, from Joe DiMaggio to Reggie Jackson, and now Derek Jeter stands alone at the top.

STORY: The Captain, Derek Jeter Hits 3,000 (PHOTO)

Not only is Jeter the undisputed leader of baseball’s most storied franchise, but he just may be the man who saves Major League Baseball. And right now MLB needs Jeter more than ever.

STORY: 3,000 Hits & All Derek Jeter Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt!? (PHOTOS)

The main baseball stories of the first half of the season have been the Los Angeles Dodgers being thrown into bankruptcy, the Washington Nationals coach, Jim Riggleman, quitting after the club did not give into his demands for a contract extension, the perjury trial for Roger Clemens and the tragic death of Shannon Stone, a fan who fell out of the stands while trying to catch a souvenir ball for his son.