Jeter's a Very Good player who is often mistaken for a Great player because his success has happened on the biggest stage. Certainly, not wilting under the spotlights is a valuable skill, but he's no A-Rod or Nomar.He's a great player. One of the greatest I've ever had the pleasure of watching on a regular basis. While his stats might not be as impressive as those of Nomar or A-Rod, they're certainly impressive. What's really important to me, however, is the way he carries himself. His leadership is remarkable, his personality is respectable, he always stops to talk to the kids, and he tends to make these amazing plays right when he needs to (remember his defensive plays in last year's playoffs and World Series?).
Wasn't he MVP of the All-Star game recently?
He pulls it out of somewhere, gets that hit when he needs to. He's a gamer, and I respect that.
I don't, however, have too much respect for an A-Rod type player who focuses on himself rather than the team.
But that's just me. I like the team players. I appreciate the Bobby Grich, the Brett Boone, etc. Superstars can go play basketball for all I care.
Anyway, I respect Nomar - I think he's a great player. But he's no Derek Jeter.
just to make Selig look (more) foolish at his team's home park.Owning a team(trust w/daughter) with 52 losses and making sure there are 2 All-Stars from that pathetic squad isn't enough to accomplish that one?
Jeter and Rivera don't deserve it based on this year and it cost Thome, Chavez, and Urbina spots on the team.
ARod, Nomar, and Tejada were the three that should have been chosen. Nomar and Tejada have been snubbed already by Torre and with their stats they were more deserving this year. Jeter and Omar should only have made it if they were in the NL. Picking 5 shortstops with a limited roster is a joke. Damon also deserves a spot over Manny, but that was voted on so there's nothing to do unless they wanted to put Fick in as a catcher instead of OF. Eliminating this required representative stuff or expanding the roster would help out a lot.
The 30th man is a fraud considering you can vote as many times as you want and the lists don't include deserving pitchers. I wouldn't be surprised if Bud has set up a system to write in Ben Sheets every 2 seconds.
Owning a team(trust w/daughter) with 52 losses and making sure there are 2 All-Stars from that pathetic squad isn't enough to accomplish that one?Not until he resigns in disgrace.
Nomar better than Jeter defensively, I begged to differ on that account.But not anymore, eh? Are you saying Jeter has gone downhill?
It's tough to quantify defense, true - neither error count, feilding percentage, or zone factor is a really satisfactory stat. The first organization that figures out a way to objectively evaluate defense will have a tremendous leg up on everyone else. To a certain extent, right now, it almost comes down to what you value.
I don't think anyone would question that Nomar has a stronger arm than Jeter - he throws people out practically from third base. The downside is that Nomar's throws can be a bit wilder, since he'll oftentime make them in mid-air while moving away from first. (Aside - this is one of the reasons we were excited that the Sox got Tony Clark; he's a big target who can stretch for Nomar's throws) I think Nomar's got more range, too - every time I've seen him and Jeter in the same game, Nomar has seemed to get to more balls.
Jeter doesn't take the risks Nomar does, so you'll seldom see a "highlight-reel error" from him. He's also pretty good at getting himself into position to handle relay throws and double plays.
Jeter's defensive reputation, like his offensive one, is bolstered because he does seem to come up big when the lights are brightest. Nobody notices him, say, misplaying routine ground balls against the Devil Rays, but they do remember the heads-up play during the World Series. But he's certainly no more than an average defender, and most things I've read comparing SS defense by people without an axe to grind has Jeter well outside the elite - with the authors fairly surprised, since he does have that great reputation.
