Jeter SP Foil auction

[BLongley]

"he backed up a play and didn't lose focus staying with the play. Yep, that's what a major leaguer does."

Go watch those plays again and I'd be curious if you said the same thing...

As I mentioned I'm a Yankee and Jeter fan so I know I'm biased, but I will recognize other great plays by players when they are great!

[steve B]

Originally Posted by BLongley

"he backed up a play and didn't lose focus staying with the play. Yep, that's what a major leaguer does."

Go watch those plays again and I'd be curious if you said the same thing...

As I mentioned I'm a Yankee and Jeter fan so I know I'm biased, but I will recognize other great plays by players when they are great!

Most pros can make really great plays. Didn't catch the time on many of them, but the ones at 1:06 and 2:10 are particularly nice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRUu7yNmLXo

A few more
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5qbaKuai7o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U5Yu8y0LmU

The one here at 1:13 is really similar to another play of Jeters that was raved about as the "greatest play ever"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDgL91zBVLo


None of that is to say that Jeter wasn't an excellent player and fielder. Some of the plays that are his best were I think a product of having a lot of awareness of where the throw or play in general was going and the ability to both see that and put himself in the place he needed to be to have any chance of making the play work. That's something that isn't really teachable and doesn't always rely on raw athletic ability.

[BLongley]

Ok, here is Jeter just backing up the relay in the ALDS (Yanks down 2 games to 0 on verge of elimination)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ApoJk9X7Vto


Here is an ALCS play
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oxzR0RKRWTQ

I get it you don't want to post Jeters, you want to post the top plays from around the league over different years. You're a Red Sox fan it's tough to do! But it is a compliment to Jeter that you had to search for greatest plays in history to find similar plays.

The dive against the Red Sox:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=seC63AEk4-8

Originally Posted by steve B

Most pros can make really great plays. Didn't catch the time on many of them, but the ones at 1:06 and 2:10 are particularly nice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRUu7yNmLXo

A few more
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5qbaKuai7o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U5Yu8y0LmU

The one here at 1:13 is really similar to another play of Jeters that was raved about as the "greatest play ever"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDgL91zBVLo


None of that is to say that Jeter wasn't an excellent player and fielder. Some of the plays that are his best were I think a product of having a lot of awareness of where the throw or play in general was going and the ability to both see that and put himself in the place he needed to be to have any chance of making the play work. That's something that isn't really teachable and doesn't always rely on raw athletic ability.

[BLongley]

And here is Jeter making a tough play on Big Papi at second

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KKGs-Jzy09M

[steve B]

It's probably more appropriate for the sports watercooler, but since we're here...

Plays like that one on Ortiz are some of my favorites. That both players could kid each other after says a lot about them. I can't ever recall Ortiz being accused of being a great baserunner... Good enough, but not exactly a speedster. That might just be Jeters greatest play ever!!!!!

The flip play was the one I was thinking of most when I mentioned awareness. I believe most pros, especially shortstops and second basemen could make the play physically.
What was hard was knowing the throw was going to be past the firs baseman and off line, and getting over to be in position to make the play. That's the part of it that impresses me.
Looking at the slow motion of the tag, at the end of that video, I think the ump called it wrong. But that's practically ancient history and it was very close. Sometimes I think there's a "great play" fudge factor to some calls. and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The jump and long throw was good, maybe a bit better than most. But for a while, it was almost routine for AL shortstops. Jeter and Nomar made plays like that regularly, and Arod, and Tejada weren't far behind. I looked for Garciaparra highlights, but most focus on his hitting.

The dive is what it is. It's a bit above and beyond what most players would do, but most of the great ones have that focus on getting the ball and making the play.

On the videos I found, one that stuck out was Boone? and Rose. Catcher and 1b pursue a foul, catcher just misses it but the 1b is there to grab the ball. Jeter made a nearly identical play and it was hyped for days. Great play, yes! greatest play ever as some writers claimed? Nope. It's that hype that always bugged me.
I used the compilations for a couple reasons. One was that it was quicker and I was a bit lazy. The second was that they showed a lot of excellent plays many of them from players who aren't exactly all time greats.

But yeah, even as a Sox fan, you had to respect Jeter. He always played hard, maybe even a bit extra against the Sox. And I can't really recall him ever complaining about much of anything.

[steve B]

I like this dive into the stands a lot more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQGmWv57klQ

[CW]

I was fortunate enough to pick up a PSA 9 of this card many years ago when they were only a few hundred bucks. Wish I had bought more, but such is life.

I also recently received this custom sketch card as a gift from a very cool Twitter user, IDrawBaseballCards. Check out his feed -- he has some cool creations. This card just puts a smile on my face.