There is no doubt Derek Jeter deserves his enshrinement in Cooperstown. What didn’t belong associated with his name is the first position player to get put in unanimously and thankfully he fell one vote short of it. New York Yankee fans are of course upset by this.
Jeter though is arguably the most overrated player to ever play Major League Baseball and possibly of any of the four major sports in the United States.
What made Jeter a hall of famer, consistency. He remained healthy for much of his career and finished with 3,465 hits, 544 doubles, 66 triples, 1,923 runs scored, 260 home runs, 1,311 rbi, a .310 batting average and .377 obp. He won Rookie of the Year in 1996.
His best season came in 1999 when he hit .349 with 219 hits, 134 runs scored, 37 doubles, nine triples, 24 home runs and 102 rbi. He only had to other seasons with 80 or more rbi and that his only season with 20 or more home runs.
Still at no point in Jeter’s career was he considered the best short stop in the game. Certainly was never the best player on the Yankees roster. He also somehow won multiple gold gloves, yet never elite defensively.
Baseball writers have used the steroid argument to keep the likes of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens out. Jeter also known as “The Captain” for his leadership abilities was on the franchise with the most named players on the Mitchell Report.
Jason Giambi and Alex Rodriguez both admitted to using performance enhancers. Other names on the report inlclude: David Justice, Andy Pettitte, Gary Sheffield, Jose Canseco, Kevin Brown, and the aforementioned Clemens. Does that really showcase Jeter’s leadership abilities? Since he wasn’t using he gets a pass right?
For Jeter his most well known play “the flip” is also a blown call by umpire Kerwin Danley. Unfortunately Major League Baseball didn’t have replay back then to overturn the call.
When it comes to similarity scores the list includes Craig Biggio, Paul Molitor, Robin Yount, Joe Morgan and Roberto Alomar. None of them came close to being unanimous.
Someone needs to shake the hand of the one who didn’t vote for him. Does Jeter belong above the names of Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Honus Wagner, Jimmie Foxx, Ernie Banks, Ken Griffey Jr, Ty Cobb and Carl Yastrzemski? Absolutely not.