Six degrees
New York Yankees' captain Derek Jeter (top) became the baseball team's leader in hits on September 12, when he scored a single to right field against the Baltimore Orioles. Jeter's stroke past first base pushed him to 2,722 hits, surpassing the man whose record stood for 70 years: Lou Gehrig ...
Gehrig (above) died in 1941 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, now known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Prior to his death, Gehrig was known as 'The Iron Man' and played in 2,130 consecutive games, a record that was not beaten until 1995, by Cal Ripken Junior of the Baltimore Orioles ...
The Orioles began life as the Milwaukee Brewers and then became the St Louis Browns, before moving to Maryland. As the Browns, in 1951, the team became the only Major League franchise to send a dwarf in to bat. At 109cm, his autograph is so rare it sells for more than that of Babe Ruth. His name was Eddie Gaedel ...
Gaedel is mentioned in Talkin' Baseball, a homage to 1950s baseball by singer-songwriter Terry Cashman, who later went on to produce Talkin' Softball, a spoof version of the song, for Homer at the Bat, an episode of the animated television series The Simpsons ...
Many stars have appeared in episodes of The Simpsons, including the rock band Aerosmith, who chose Moe's Bar in Springfield as their favourite hangout and performed Walk This Way during a 1991 episode, called Flaming Moe's. The lead guitarist in the band when the episode aired was Brad Whitford ...
Whitford had previously split from lead singer Steve Tyler and Aerosmith in 1981. Until 1984, his place was taken by Rick Dufay, a Parisian musician who helped care for Tyler during some of the worst years of his drug addiction. Dufay's daughter is the actress Minka Kelly, the current girlfriend of Derek Jeter. She was a spectator in Yankee Stadium when Jeter made his 2,722nd hit.
