Why I Like Baseball

I’ve been feeling very spoiled lately watching Derek Jeter and thinking about how much we’re going to miss him when he’s gone. He’s be “The Man” for so long, it’s hard to remember what it was like in the days before he arrived, since when he arrived in 1996 he and Joe Torre and a World Series win transformed the franchise out of a very moribund phase.

Two media pieces have come up recently worth noting about Jeter. First, Michael Hoban points out at Seamheads.com that ranking Jeter by Win Shares and Core Value (win shares for a player’s top ten seasons), Jeter is #6 on the shortstops since 1920 list. (A-Rod is number one.)

Jeter moved up from 8th to 6th thanks to his outstanding 2009 season. Not too shabby. He still has a way to go though to surpass Cal Ripken:

1. Alex Rodriguez
2. Arky Vaughan
3. Robin Yount
4. Cal Ripken Jr.
5. Luke Appling
6. Derek Jeter

See the full article here: http://www.seamheads.com/2010/04/21/just-how-good-is-derek-jeter/

The other is MSG Networks TV show “The Lineup” in which a panel of experts pick the best player from New York baseball history at each position. Jeter was selected number one, beating out Peewee Reese, Phil Rizzuto, Travis Jackson, and contemporary Jose Reyes. The five judge panel unanimously selected Jeter.

Chip Greene wrote a wonderful article comparing Jeter to Lou Gehrig for this season’s YANKEES ANNUAL, as well. If Jeter keeps this up, we’ll need another article about him next year!