Friday, September 4, 2009

This Just in: Derek Jeter is Great

If you're a Yankee fan then you'll enjoy reading Jerry Crasnick's most recent article.

If you're a Sox fan or any other kind of fan then it might give you a little more respect and perspective for Jeter and his place in history.

3 comments:

Joe said...

I will show Jeter the ultimate sign of respect by asking this... when Mr. Jeter will you retire?

Dennis said...

An interesting stat about Jeter; In about 2100 career games, he has about 2700 career hits. I think this shows consistent excellence over an entire career. For comparison's sake, A-Rod has about 2500 hits in 2100 games. Great hitters are well above a hit per game, like Manny, 2500 in 2200, Barry Larkin has 2300 hits in 2200 games, Ryne Sandberg 2400 in 2200, Bagwell 2300 in 2100, Chipper 2400 in 2100, Damon is at 2400 in 2100. Carlos Delgade, who has about 2100 in 2100, Ellis Burks had 2100 in 2000.

Dan said...

Joe Posnanski wrote a similar article for SI. It's the thing to do right now. I think Jeter is simultaneously over-rated and under-rated. I will say this, if Cal Ripken never existed or if A-Rod never played short stop, Derek Jeter would be regarded as the greatest short stop, from an offensive standpoint, in history.

Yes, he does get slobbered on because he's a Yankee, and he has 4 rings. If he lived out his career on crummy teams in San Diego or Cincinnati, he wouldn't be a slam dunk for the HOF, not because of performance, but perception. Concurrently, he gets overly criticized while playing in NYC. But no matter what, it doesn't affect his play, which is actually pretty remarkable.

He may not have been Ozzie in the field, but for what he brings to the plate each season (.320 avg, .400 OBP, 100 runs, 30 sb), he has been more than adequate.