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April 12, 2006
The thing about Derek Jeter
I think there's a case to be made, and I've made some baseball enemies trying to make it, that if Derek Jeter played in Kansas City, or Pittsburgh, etc. he'd be above-average, but only that. Stats only: he's a consistent .300+ hitter, scores lots of runs, steals some bases and is an above-average shortstop; nothing remarkable about his HR and RBI numbers -- not the stuff of superstars. Put him in a small market in a lesser lineup, the argument goes, and he's good but clearly not "great."
The thing about Derek Jeter, though, is that he seizes his moments. He always has, starting in his rookie year, 1996. I've watched Jeter for 10 years now and it's almost impossible to explain to anyone who hasn't what is so remarkable about the guy. It's beyond the cliche "intangibles" -- he's just plain clutch. Not to make too much of an April 11th game, but yesterday Jeter did it again. He isn't a home run hitter, but once again he hit one in a huge spot. That's what he does.
A Rod seems like a nice guy, and once he was a Yankee he said all the right things about Jeter. But like a lot of Yankee fans I know, I've always had the feeling it wasn't until Jeter's full-speed face-plant into the stands that A Rod realized what, exactly, all the fuss is about.
The list goes on and on. Yesterday's HR was just the latest.
Posted by bill at April 12, 2006 09:38 AM
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