Jeter's career sparks debate: Is he greatest Yankee of all time? - USATODAY.com

"Jeter's career sparks debate: Is he the greatest Yankee of all time?"

A ridiculous question. The greatest player of all time, Babe Ruth, was a Yankee. If Jeter has surpassed him, that would make Derek Jeter the single greatest player in the history of baseball.

Hyperbole, much?

In fact, if Jeter is better than Ruth, that makes him a very strong candidate as the single greatest athlete in the history of our planet. Forget those also-rans like Gretzky, Jordan, Jim Brown, Satchel Paige or Pele. Except for Danny "Suits" Sparrow, the only serious competitor would be Secretariat.


Here's a list of a few Yankees who were/are better players:

Ruth
Mantle
Rivera
Yogi
Gehrig
DiMaggio
Rickey Henderson
A-Rod
Roger Clemens
Horace Clarke

OK, I'm kidding about Horace Clarke, but I don't know if I would take Jeter before Whitey Ford (25-4 in 1961) or Happy Jack Chesbro (a 41-win season with a 1.82 ERA) in a fantasy league. I'd have to think about it.

Jeter is not even the all-time #1 among those who were career Yankees, since Mantle, Rivera, Gehrig, Yogi, and DiMaggio never played for other teams. (Well, to be technical, Yogi actually had 9 at-bats for the Mets. But he had already been retired a year.)

And better than Gehrig? Get out of Dodge!

Do you remember that awful year that Gehrig had at the end of his career when he was deathly ill? He had 29 homers, 114 RBI, and a .932 OPS. That would be the second-highest OPS of Jeter's career, and would beat Jeter's career highs in HR and RBI. In other words, a dying Lou Gehrig hit better than Jeter at his peak.

OK, you're probably thinking, "But Jeter batted at the top of the line-up and wasn't supposed to drive in runs. He was supposed to score them." Fair enough. Gehrig scored 115 runs that year in 157 games. Jeter's lifetime average per 157 games is exactly 115, as luck would have it. So Gehrig, although crippled by a a steadily debilitating disease, was as good at Jeter's specialty as a healthy Jeter.

But ...

I don't mean to be saying negative things about Jeter. I only mean to blunt the preposterous exaggeration. In reality, even without the hyperbole, Jeter is a stud hoss.

Jeter will be (I think) a first-ballot HOFer and I would easily select him over Rizzuto as the all-time Yankee shortstop. Being the best of all time at a critical position on the greatest team of all time is still pretty damned impressive, even though he might possibly lose that foot race to Secretariat.

Maybe.