Derek Jeter Gets Inducted Into The Baseball Hall of Fame Today - Have So Many Haters Out There Actually Made Him Underrated?
New York Daily News Archive. Getty Images.Growing up when I thought about baseball, the first and only name that came to mind was Derek Jeter. If you didn't want to be Jeter as a kid there was something wrong with you in my brain. The way he would deliver in the clutch, the way he'd handle winning and losing, the jump throw, the flip, Mr. November, the leadoff WS homer vs, the Mets, the 3000th hit, the championships, the dating life. He was programmed to handle the biggest moment or situation with supreme confidence and calmness. He'd never once say the wrong thing. He'd never once do something that backfired. He would always come out on top with even the biggest of haters impenetrable to his armor. I don't even care if you think he's overrated or underrated because to me he was a goddamn super hero and you cannot take away the amount of happiness he brought to me as a kid.
With no exaggeration Derek Jeter is the second most important man in my life next to my dad. Sounds ridiculous of course, but I mean when you grow up religiously watching the Yankees out of the womb like I did, all you knew was the captain #2 at shortstop. He's the only athlete in my life who will ever leave me legitimately crying my eyes out when I realized it was truly over. I'm talking 20 minutes of uncontrollably crying in my college bedroom once it set in after that final walk-off that the end had arrived. Him hanging 'em up was actually like a close family member had died. Oh yeah I know I'm sick in the head you don't have to tell me.
You think you really loved Jeter and then you see what life is like after Jeter in terms of being a Yankees fan. You don't realize how good we had it until you witness life after The Captain. It's never been the same. Not even close. The aura and mystique of him in that clubhouse and on the field has never been repaired. The Yankees have lost their consistent dominance throughout Major League Baseball. They're still the Yankees and will always have high salary big name guys, but they've never been able to replicate the impact Jeter would bring to this team. I'm not even talking on the field production, and we'll get into that and where the trolls stand. I'm speaking more towards that presence he would bring to a locker room and what he'd get out of those other 24 guys.
Take this year for example. Outside of a 13 game winning streak the Yankees have succumb to massive under-achievement. After every bad loss, and there have been many, manager Aaron Boone will drop a cliche line to try and please the media and fans without upsetting his own players. It's grown old real fast. Jeter would never do that. He'd tell you right to your face that things were unacceptable, hold himself accountable, and then elevate every guy in that clubhouse to get better until they did. The dude didn't accept losing. He had this stubborn confidence that rubbed off on everyone else and pushed them to be great. You can't measure that impact with one of those nerd stats that people cum themselves over these days.
I always love his take on losing when asked what's worse: getting to the World Series and losing, or not even making it there.
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The Yankees may have some guys right now who think the same way, but for Jeter there's no thinking when answering that kind of question. It was an involuntary action to say that. All he cared about was winning. In my lifetime the only guy who cared just as much is Tom Brady. MJ of course too, but that's not my generation. Those guys were programmed differently than others when it came to leading and winning.
Today Jeter finally goes into Cooperstown. Amidst a trash season from the 2021 Yankees at least I can have this day. And for anyone who wants to troll and try and bring him down calling him overrated…ala White Sox Dave's garbage, lazy schtick…go fuck yourselves. You are simply jealous you could never have a guy like him on your team. Over the years I feel like so many envious Jeter haters have come out of the wood works that Jeets might actually be underrated now. I really don't feel like the need to defend Derek Jeter and his greatness to the idiots out there, but let's do it real quick for ol' time's sake.
Oh so he wasn't the best fielder in the world, who gives a shit? When you need him to make a play in the field in the biggest of moments he did. He's known for making arguably the greatest defensive play in baseball history.
He has a signature defensive play that every kid growing up playing little league would try to emulate.
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Would we all either bounce it to first 5 times or sail it past first base? You bet, but we all tried it because we all wanted to be him.
Wanna really rip on his career defensive runs saved? You know what, you play as long as he did and never switch positions sure your range is going to deteriorate in the later years and destroy your numbers. Fernando Tatis Jr. has already moved off the position to better preserve his body. You really don't see guys play shortstop for a full 20 year career anymore. It was more of that stubborn confidence where he refused to switch positions. It's part of what made Jeter Jeter. He made being shortstop for the New York Yankees as important and iconic a position as being President of the United States of America. You'd have to kill him to take it from him.
Let's talk offense. Just because you play for a long time doesn't mean you end up with 3,465 career knocks. Sixth most hits of all time. Only 5 men with at least 12,000 plate appearances have had a career batting average of .310 or higher. Jeter is one of them. Pretty good. Did he hit a lot of home runs? No, but when you needed a base hit in a clutch spot, he came through every fucking time.
200 more hits came in the postseason where he maintained a .308/.374/.465 slash line through 734 at bats. What separates Jeter from the rest and made him special was how he elevated his game when it mattered more than ever. This motherfucker would always be there to make the winning play or get the big hit without fail every goddamn time in the postseason. Lots of star players crumble to the pressure of October, but Jeter thrived.
How about the numbers during some of those postseasons runs. Let me pick a few for your viewing.
1996: 15 games .361/.409/.459
1999: 12 games .375/.434/.542
2000: 16 games .317/.427/.571
2009: 15 games .344/.432/.563
Oh would you look at that, the Yankees won the World Series in all four of those years. His '98 postseason numbers don't stand up to those four, but in the '98 World Series he went for .353/.450/.353. Not too shabby.
You really won't find anyone else who raised their game like he did in the postseason. When the lights got brighter, Jeter got better. Dude's a hero to New York forever. Look at this shit now where we have to watch Gleyber Torres kicking the ball around the infield and looking helpless at the plate. The Yankees haven't gotten back to the World Series since number 2 left the stadium. Who knows when they'll be back because it sure as hell not looking like this year.
Quick thank you forever to the Houston Astros, Cleveland Indians, Montreal Expos, Baltimore Orioles and Cincinnati Reds for passing on Derek Jeter in the 1992 draft.
Everyone is always trying to find the next Jeter in New York. They tried to make Aaron Judge that guy and I love Aaron Judge, but he's no Jeter. No one will ever be Jeter. Here's to the captain as he goes into Cooperstown. Thank you for everything.