"Former Twins and Gophers star Paul Molitor, one of only 28 major league players to get 3,000 career hits, was asked for his reaction after watching Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter go 5-for-5 Saturday to join the elite group of hitters.

"I've got a lot of respect for him," the St. Paul native said. "I'm sure that being the first Yankee to get 3,000 hits was a little added pressure and doing it as a member of the Yankee franchise, but he seemed to handle it well.

"After coming back from his injury [strained calf muscle], he didn't waste any time with that 5-for-5 performance, and including the home run for his 3,000th hit, joining Wade Boggs as the only guys to accomplish that milestone with the long ball. He's had a heck of a career. He's handled the pressure of New York very well, and you know, it's pretty impressive to watch how he's gone about his business and see him enter the 3,000-hit club."

Molitor said he had an advantage in reaching 3,000 hits because he had the opportunity to watch teammate Robin Yount accomplish it with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1992.

"Anybody who gets to that milestone is an older player, so they should be able to kind of handle some of the things that come with a milestone like that," Molitor said. "For me, I was fortunate that I had a chance to watch Robin Yount march towards his 3,000 hits, so I kind of had an idea of some of the things that you had to put up with in terms of the press conferences and the attention and the fan reaction."

Molitor added: "It is something that should be enjoyed. You want to get it done and sooner rather than later, but it's something that you should be able to enjoy. So watching Robin helped me kind of relax as I went through that. I never imagined getting a triple on my 3,000th hit, but that's just how it worked out.""