To become the all-time Yankees hit leader. I know this thread will probably get flamed by some, but so be it. Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...09/12/jeter/index.html?bcnn=yes#ixzz0Qt7HXs2O What is amazing to me about Jeter is that for some reason he got the "overrated" tag and people seem to think he's just an average player playing in New York getting a ton of hype. He's a career .317/.387/.470 player, giving him a career OPS of .846 (OPS+121) as a shortstop. His range at SS has been average to horrible depending on the season, but this year he's actually playing serious gold glove defense. He will get to 3000 hits easily, probably 3500 hits easily, and has an outside shot at 4000 if he plays as long as Biggio (my baseball hero as a kid) and even has a very, VERY slim shot at Pete Rose. Just a fantastic player, but also such a classy player. The new Pride of the Yankees. Congrats DJ.
He'd probably need to play another 4 seasons after this one to reach 3500 hits. And to reach 4000 hits, probably at least another 3 seasons beyond that. And this is assuming he maintains his current rate of hits.
he's been overrated from a defensive standpoint, but i don't think anyone has ever thought he was overrated at the plate. having said that, his defense has been great this season.
he's one of those players i've done a complete 180 on. of course, the yankees not winning in nearly a decade probably has something to do with that. i would like to see him make a run at rose.
Offensively it has to jeter, because of his walks and power, but he isn't a good ss so maybe it is ichiro.
Jeter is better offensively, Ichiro is a better base stealer and is one of if not the best right fielder in the game defensively. Tough call.
Phil Nevin drafted #1 overall by the Astros Derek Jeter drafted #6 overall by the Yankees. Astros passed because he wanted $1 million signing bonus. Scout from the Astros tried telling them he was worth it and when they didn't listen to him, he quit.
Interesting story really. The scout told them he would put everything on Jeter. Astros didn't listen to him, and not only did he resign, he never scouted again. The scout for the Yankees was quoted in a meeting as well; The Yankees were debating drafting Jeter, afraid he would honor his commitment to Michigan. The question was asked "Will this kid go to Michigan if we draft him?" The Yankees scout (name slips my mind) is quoted by everyone in the room as saying "The only place this kid is going is to Cooperstown."
I would have said this exactly until I looked at the numbers. While Jeter does have a pretty significant advantage in OPS (.846 against .810), when you correct for park effects, they are actually quite similar (121 vs. 117 OPS+). Remember that Safeco Field is one of the most extreme pitcher's parks in the league, and Ichiro has spent his entire American career hitting there half the time. As Max said, oddly Jeter's defensive performance has improved greatly the past few seasons - he's gone from awful to OK, maybe even good with the glove. His Gold Gloves are a joke, but he's not the defensive laughingstock he once was. That said, Ichiro is one of the best defensive outfielders of our generation, and I'm personally a bit disappointed that he didn't get more time in center field over the course of his career.
I neglected to mention that with such similar batting lines, Ichiro's ginormous advantage in base-stealing and defense make him easily a better overall player than Jeter.
If I remember the stat correctly, Gehrig had 8 120 + RBI seasons to Jeter's one season of getting 102. just a little perspective but, yes! I'm happy for the captain
There should be an OPS++ statistic that also factors in stolen bases. A single + steal is roughly equivalent to a double, right?
Not really. RF is a position filled with sluggers. While SS is a position filled with non-hitters. That's why great hitters at traditional defensive positions(SS/2B/C/CF) tend to get huge money if they could actually hit and not suck on defense.
Fair question. Would be an easier call if Ichiro were on better teams and we could have some postseason variables to consider. But since we don't and given how Jeter is one of the best postseason players ever, I think the advantage is decidedly in Jeter's favor.
I've despised the Yankees for decades and always wish them the worst. But Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera are baseball treasures. Good for Jeter and Yank's fans can be proud a guy like him broke Gehrig's record.
