If Ripken had played his career in New York over the same time period as Jeter this wouldn't even be a debate. Cal played on a lot of bad teams in Baltimore while Jeter played on better teams. Jeter is a great player but he ranks easily behind Ripken. Cal's defensive WAR is #4 in the history of the game at 38.8. Jeter's is (-9.6). Jeter has 3400+hits while Cal ONLY had 3100, but with a lot more power.
I don't mean to discredit Jeter, he's a great player. He'll be a first ballot HOFer. He's my generation's New York legend. I'd just pick Ripken if I had to choose between the 2 when building my ball club. But it's really just a discussion over #2 because no one is supplanting Honus anytime soon. ARod could have made my top 5 if he'd had kept his nose clean, but his numbers are meaningless in my eyes at this point.
1) Wagner
2) Ripken
3) Jeter
4) Yount
5) Vaughn
__________________
N300: 11/48
T206: 175/524
E95: 24/25
E106: 4/48
E210-1: Completed December 2013
R319: 43/240
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