Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyygameused
While I never saw paul monitor play, jeter always amazed me. 3000th hr, final all star game 2-2, "the dive" vs the redsocks, "the flip" vs the a's. Oh yeah and mr. November, no disrespect to anyone who hasn't seen jeter play everyday over the past 20 years. But these are highlights you all have seen, us fortunate enough to see him play on a near everyday basis know mr. Jeter is and never will be "overrated."
|
I didn't post the above to have this turn into a debate between those who think Jeter is the greatest thing since sliced bread and those who don't. Jeter is/was a great player. There are many great players. The thing that is unfortunate is that depending where you are and who you get to see play routinely, it is very easy to have a higher opinion of those you saw vs those you didn't.
I look at a guy like Tony Gwynn, RIP. He played in SD his whole career and got virtually no media exposure. I am sure that many of younger Yankee fans would immediately say that Jeter was better, but when you look at the numbers, they are a pretty close comparison. Gwynn is ahead of Jeter in many categories, including BA, SLG% (despite hitting 100 less HR), OPS, OPS+, AS game appearances, MVPs won, Sliver Slugger awards, and has struck out only 430 times to Jeter's 1800, among others. Jeter is ahead of Gywnn in hits, runs, HR, RBI, walks, TB, and WS championships, among others. The biggest difference is that Jeter had a much better team surrounding him, that helped him play in the post season waaay more than Gwynn. Jeter played in 158 post season games to Gwynn's 27. Jeter batted 321 lifetime in the WS. Gwynn batted 371 lifetime in the WS. Additionally, both were considered really nice guys, who were fan friendly, for the most part. Neither had any scandals or misbehaving.
Is it really fair to say one is definitely better than the other? I think you could make a pretty good case for either. I am also sure that there are other players that, if you looked, you would find similar comparisons.