With a first inning single on Tuesday night, Jeter set a record that will stand forever

After his first inning single on Tuesday night, Derek Jeter finally captured the record for most career hits at Yankee Stadium. It took close to a minute of standing applause by the 52, 558 people in the sellout crowd for Jeter to finally take off his helmet and wave it around in appreciation.

"I'm always a little uncomfortable in those situations," Jeter said.

Jeter’s hit off Gavin Floyd was his 1,270th in the 85-year-old ballpark, which is scheduled to close for good on Sunday. However, the quickly declining Yankees will, without a doubt, miss the playoffs for the first time since 1993. Their 6-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night dropped the New York ballclub another game back of the Cinderella team now known to the world as the Rays.

Absolutely noone would write this script for the final season of the ballpark lovingly referred to as “The House that Ruth Built.”

The hit, which set a record that will never be broken, provided not only the Yankee faithful with something special to gain out of their club's miserable season, but also a memory that Derek Jeter will carry with him as long as he lives.

"It's kind of hard to enjoy it because we lost the game," Jeter said. "I was talking with my parents last night. They were saying, you know, you need to sit back and try to enjoy it while it's happening, because I'm always thinking about how we can win and things like that. But this is something that is pretty special. I mean, 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."

The hit came in Jeter's 8,002nd major league at-bat, and he passed Gehrig for second on the Yankees' career list behind Mickey Mantle (8,102). Jeter also added a fifth-inning single.

Manager Joe Girardi had much to say about the dazzling superstar who will forever be immortalized in the minds of, not only every Yankees fan but, every baseball fan for years to come.

"He's a true Yankee," spoke Girardi. "I think he embodies what baseball people want to see in a player: a guy that goes about his business the right way. He stays out of the headlines. He just does a lot of great things. He's important to the community. He gives back all the time, to children, to everyone."

The man who held the record before Derek Jeter, Lou Gehrig, played with the Yankees from 1923—Yankee Stadium’s opening season—until 1939, when he was forced to retire due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ALS, which is a fatal disease that deteriorates the body’s muscle, would eventually take the life of the “Iron Horse” two years after his retirement. The 34-year-old Jeter came up with the Yankees in 1995 and, like Gehrig, quickly became the Yankee captain.

While the Yankees have faded from contention, Jeter has played his best late this year. He is batting .397 since Aug. 12, raising his season average to .306.

Jeter said of Gehrig, what he admired most about him was his consistency.

"He was as consistent probably as any player that ever played the game. What he did year in, and year out, I think it's something that all players admire," he said.

White Sox third baseman Juan Uribe, playing on the edge of the infield grass, tried to backhand the hard, grounder in the first but it went under his glove.

There have been camera flashes with every pitch thrown to Jeter in recent days. He didn’t want to react too quickly after reaching first base.

"I didn't know if it was a hit. You can't really tip your cap," he said.

Next year, New York will move to the $1.3 billion, new Yankee Stadium, which is being built directly across the street from the old Yankee Stadium.

But Jeter, surely the last of the Yankees with a single-digit number on his back, will always have the ball and the lineup card from this night. Again, this record will stand forever.

"I don't know how many can't be broken," he said. "It's pretty special, this stadium. It's kind of funny how it all worked out."

-Chris Barfield (with a special thank you to The Associated Press, and to ESPN.com and SI.com)