Jeter and Today's baseball

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Posted By: warshawlaw

I would take Jeter over Cobb any day. At shortstop.

Jeter is a great player and anyone who says otherwise is ignoring the facts. He hits over .300 for a career from a position that is typically light hitting, and is young enough to reach 3000 hits. He also hits with power, for a middle infielder. The stat heads may say he's not a clutch performer, but the highlight reels say otherwise. He is involved in memorable play after memorable play and delivers big hits. The Yankees would have lost that game yesterday without his hitting and his fielding.

Speaking of fielding, I agree that Jeter is not Ozzie Smith. Guess what? No one else is either. It never ceases to amaze me how people criticize Ozzie's HOF selection because he was an average hitter yet criticize those who advocate for Jeter in the HOF because he is not Ozzie Smith with a glove. The overall package is what should be discussed. Oz was a HOFer because he was one of the best fielders ever at his position (arguably the best) and a decent hitter for his position. Jeter is a HOFer because he is a superior hitter and a better than average fielder for his position. Compare Jeter to his contemporaries at his position. Who rivals him at shortstop for his career? A-Rod and Ripken (maybe, as he was at the tail end of his career at the start of Jeter's run), both HOFer material. That's a pretty short list of rivals. Jeter is one of the top 2 or 3 shortstops of his era, if not the top, and he has sustained it for 12 years in the most unforgiving baseball market in the world, with class and dignity. That is a HOFer in my book.