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Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth
Just looked at the stats again. Jeter was 25 points higher in BA, 25 points higher in OBP, and 30 points higher in SLG. That seems a fairly substantial gap so not quite sure I understand the argument that they are virtually identical?
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Different eras and different playing conditions, Pete. OPS has a 93%+ correlation to run production. Trammell, at 110 or 111 OPS+ (depending upon your source) is hardly much different than Jeter's 115 OPS+. OPS+ adjusts for different eras and playing conditions, and is one valid means of comparing players across different eras (I personally prefer Bill James formula for runs created compared to the league average, which has been shown to be accurate within 2-3%, and achieves the same goal but more accurately--OPS+ is in reality something of a shorthand for James' complete formula--to each his own). Simply by way of example, runs created shrank pretty substantially when the slider came into widespread prominence after WWII (it existed earlier, but was not widely used), so one cannot simply compare purely basic stats like batting averages, etc. of the 1920's (when most pitchers employed only a fastball or curveball, with an occasional straight change) to the 1940's and '50's. Plus much larger gloves came into being over that period of time.
Best wishes always,
Larry