As Derek Jeter reaches 3,000 career hits, I can’t help but notice the buzz around his legacy and Hall of Fame credentials. Whether you’re tweeting, listening to sports radio or reading blogs, the debate is endless. Is Derek Jeter an overrated player? I hear the word ‘overrated’ now more than ever to describe Derek Jeter. So like any other baseball geek I simply went to the numbers.
I found the biggest critics of Derek Jeter have some pretty important statistics to back their claim. In fact he has almost as many career ground outs as he has hits (2,785). He also ranks 3rd all time in double play balls (241) and ranked 31st in strike outs (1,605). His stolen base numbers for a singles hitter is also quite unimpressive where one can argue 330 is very low for a shortstop, historically with a 17 seasons under his cleats.
I noticed however, that Barry Bonds ranks among the top 25 in career strike outs. You can add Ken Griffey Jr., Lou Brock, Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson to that list as well, all higher than Jeter. Actually, he shares a lot of statistics with some very legendary players and they are not all bad.
Let’s start with some general achievements. And how about some of those intangibles I always hear about. Including being the first Yankee to have a 3,000 hit career, Derek Jeter was also the first Yankee to ever win an all star game MVP award (2000). In the same year, he won the World Series MVP where he became the first and only player to achieve both in one season. Prior to the 2010 season, Jeter was one of the only players to actually have a higher career batting average and homerun frequency in the playoffs than in the regular season. Some notable defensive plays have also compiled into Jeters playoff legacy including “The Flip” and “The Dive”.
In regard to league MVP awards, in his 17th season Jeter, in fact has none. However, he finished second or third, 3 times (98′ 06′ 09′) and has finished an MVP candidate in several other seasons. He was arguably robbed by the baseball writers in 2009 when at the age of 35 he batted .334, won a World Series (5th), a golden glove and a silver slugger award (4th for both).
Speaking of golden gloves, why does Derek Jeter have 5? Isn’t he a terrible fielder? Well he actually ranked among the tops in the league in fielding percentage several times in his career. He ranked 1st in shortstops fielding percentage in 2 seasons (09′ 10′) and has finished in the top 5 among shortstops in half his major league seasons. The most common knock on Jeters fielding is he simply doesn’t get to the balls he used to which naturally could bring his fielding percentage higher.
So offensively, where does the Yankee captain rank among the all time greats with 3,000 or more hits? Well, including his dismal batting average in 2010 and 2011, out of the 27 other players with 3,000 or more hits Derek Jeter currently has a higher career batting average than 15 of them. Including legends like Pete Rose, Willie Mays and Carl Yastrzemski. In fact the only shortstop to have a higher career batting average is legendary hall of famer, Honus Wagner who finished his 21 season career in 1917 with a .327 life time batting average.
Derek Averages about 194 hits a season which is also among the highest all time. He finished 7 major league seasons with more than 200 hits. His average career base hit total through 162 games is an impressive 206. This average per 162 games is higher than Roberto Clemente, Wade Boggs, Ernie Banks, Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, Al Kaline and many other Hall of Famers.
Runs scored are often considered an unsung hero statistic but is one of the most important intangible, winning statistics in baseball. So if Derek Jeters Career ended today, he would be ranked 22nd all time in career runs scored. Considering he needs only 156 more runs scored he can potentially end up ranking amongst the top 10 all time in that category. He would be joining in order; Henderson, Cobb, Bonds, Aaron, Ruth, Rose, Mays, Musial and Gerhig. When his career is over, he will rank well into the top 10 in this category.
Jeter also has a multitude of good if not great playoff moments. After the attacks of September 11th Baseball paused play for a full week. This allowed the Yankees to play a World Series Game 4 on Halloween night. The game went into extra innings as the clock struck midnight in The Bronx and for the first time in history, baseball was being played in November. As Jeter broke the tie with a homer in the tenth, he instantly garnered the name “Mr. November” in a word play of Reggie Jacksons “Mr. October”.
Jeter, historically may not be the straw that stirs the drink, but rather the opposite, becoming a stable team leader. During what many consider to be “the steroid error” Jeter has managed to win 5 championships and has been recognized as one of the best roll model players the league can offer.
If Derek Jeter’s greatest moments are behind him, he still has a few tricks up his sleeve. That includes his jersey sales. Believe it or not the captain’s jersey was the number 1 highest selling jersey in 2010 among all MLB sales.
I think as fans we often believe great players have no flaws. They should throw like lightning, swing like thunder and walk on water. The truth is a player’s greatness and overall legend tends to grow long after they leave the game. When we look at the next greats, rest assure we will compare them to Derek Jeter as others before him.
