NEW YORK -- Derek Jeter got to first base and heard the cheers. He had broken Lou Gehrig's record for hits at Yankee Stadium with his first-inning single, and the sellout crowd of 52,558 kept on applauding. Finally, after close to a minute, Jeter took off his helmet and waved it.

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

Jeter

Jeter's hit off Gavin Floyd was his 1,270th in the 85-year-old ballpark, scheduled to close Sunday. But the skidding Yankees, who almost surely will miss the playoffs for the first time since 1993, lost to the Chicago White Sox 6-2 Tuesday night.

"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 added a fifth-inning single.

"He's a true Yankee," manager Joe Girardi said. "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."

Gehrig played with New York from 1923 -- Yankee Stadium's opening season -- until 1939, when he retired due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He died of ALS two years later. The 34-year-old Jeter first came up to the Yankees in 1995 and like Gehrig became the team's 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 the attribute he admired most in Gehrig 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 sharp grounder in the first but it went under his glove.

There were camera flashes with every pitch thrown to Jeter in recent days. Jeter 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 moves to a new $1.3 billion Yankee Stadium, being built across the street.

But Jeter, surely the last of the Yankees with single-digit numbers, will always have the ball and the lineup card from this night. 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."

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press