10-20-2004, 03:39 PM
tigerthelion Wrote:Sorry, I got on a rant about Jeter. I just can't take this overexposure he gets. He is by far the most overrated SS in the game.
I can understand how one can be nauseated by the level of exposure Jeter gets, because he gets a ton. But don't make the mistake of equating overexposure to being overrated. Jeter has a career batting average of .315. That's good enough for fourth-highest in MLB history for the shortstop position (both active and inactive). That's higher than Cal Ripken's average. And higher than that of Ernie Banks, Lou Boudreau, Joe Cronin, Joe Sewell, Robin Yount, even A-Rod.
The 'overexposure' you refer to is merely a reflection of the way he has performed in October. His postseason BA is .385 (392 AB). That's just sick! Whether we like it or not, nothing draws the spotlight like establishing a history of clutch performance in big games when the whole world is watching.
As far as his defense goes, he is nothing incredibly special, and I don't know too many baseball minds who try to argue otherwise....
tigerthelion Wrote:It might just be me but I think the play against Oakland was blown way out of proportion. I don't think Jeter did anything special. He tossed a ball about two feet to Posada. It wasn't that great of a play.
Sorry tiger, but I gotta dispute this, too. It's not about the athleticism of the play that made it so special (altough it was rather athletic) - it was the awareness he used which allowed him to execute it, and more importantly, the context of the ballgame in which he made it. The Yanks were down 2-0 in that ALDS, and were leading 1-0 in that game. Giambi's run would've tied the game in the seventh inning, and the go-ahead run would've been in scoring position. Furthermore, on a double to right, the first baseman is the cut-off man....Jeter saw the throw heading offline, and busted his ass over into foul ground off the first baseline to gather it in and shove it to Posada. Inning over, and the Yanks won that game 1-0. They eventually went on to the World Series.

