Derek Jeter’s Chase for 3K Will Last Forever

If you were the one person on Earth wondering when people would start paying attention to Derek Jeter's quest for 3,000 hits, you can now sleep a bit more soundly.

HBO is going to give Jeter's quest the same treatment they've given the Jets, Floyd Mayweather and others when they release a behind-the-scenes documentary about the chase a short time after Jeter gets the big hit. The documentary will be produced by Major League Baseball, which promises "unprecedented access" to the proceedings.

It's wise that they stopped short of promising an all-access pass to the shortstop's life because, as former Yankee beat writer (now with the Boston Globe) Peter Abraham pointed out, such a thing is impossible. Jeter hasn't protected his image with the ferocity of a rottweiler for his entire career only to surrender it to outsiders in the middle of the most tumultuous season of his career.

That said, there does seem to be some hope that this will be more than a PR puff piece designed to further polish Jeter's legend. HBO does a really good job with getting the most out of the subjects of these kinds of shows, even if they are made with the cooperation of a league as with "Hard Knocks."

There's also the report that Jeter's girlfriend Minka Kelly will be taking part of the documentary. We're not looking for any kind of salacious content, but if you're going to do a whole movie about a subject that's been incredibly well documented it is certainly advisable to have some angle that hasn't been done to death in other places.

We'll see if things play out that way or if the whole thing winds up as a slick production with the depth of a puddle when the film makes its way to cable boxes everywhere. If it does go beyond the superficial, it has the potential to be a fascinating document of an iconic player at one of the most interesting moments in his career.

Mostly, though, we're looking forward to hearing Jeter's unvarnished opinion on being forced to wear this monstrosity of a jersey during his rehab sting in Trenton.