Although they have not asked me directly, out of Jeterian modesty no doubt, I know that CRH and JJV wanted to see this posted. Here, therefore, is a mild corrective to some of the more, shall we say, excessive aspects of the Derek Jeter Farewell Pre-Ascension Tour:
H/t Deadspin, which also provided this heartwarming retrospective.
3 comments:
Keith Olbermann can just shut the eff up. This is a typical talk radio shock jock style cherry picking inflammatory statement to get attention. It's wrong in so many ways that "eez too much, lemme sum up:"
Start with the classic Straw Man. No one has said that Derek Jeter is the best player ever. Yes, Posada said that, for him, Jeter was the best Yankee - that's his teammate at a press conference talking about his friend, what the eff do you expect him to say? I don't even know anyone who has argued that Jeter is the best shortstop ever (although he's likely in the top 3 or 4). But that misses the point. Jeter is a consistently excellent player who has played his entire career with an iconic team. He has done this while being an effective ambassador for the sport both externally and internally. There is a reason that not just fans, but players around the league look up to him.
And having created the Straw Man, Olberman tears into him by cherry picking. Note how Olbermann never mentions hits as a metric (Jeter has more hits than anyone else in Yankee history) - doesn't fit the narrative, so let's not mention that. And he lays on the power stats while ignoring the fact that one thing that made Jeter so f'n valuable was that he put up positive offensive stats while playing a defensive-oriented position. That's incredibly valuable.
Jeter also was an incredibly consistent and excellent postseason player. He has played one extra season of postseason ball - 158 games - and on the biggest stage and against the best competition the league could offer Jeter posted a better OPS in postseason (.838) than in the regular season (.817).
Just shut up, Keith, and go back into the obscurity you so richly deserve.
And the Deadspin playing of Jeter errors in .gif form is simply childish grade-school Nelson Muntz stuff. "Ooh, look, Jeter made bad plays!" Of course, you could make that tape of Brooks Robinson (once made three errors in one inning!) or Ozzie Smith (made more errors - 281 - than Jeter!). It's just stupidity on parade.
The irony of Jeter is that, after being somewhat overrated for most of his career, he's actually being underrated in many corners now. I get it, some are tired of the Jeter hagiography. Don't like it? Change the channel. It's not that tough.
i note that Olberman's rant has some push back:
http://www.realclearsports.com/blog/2014/09/olbermann_strikes_out_on_jeter_rant.html#.VCrQHWddVuU
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