Things Jeter did not do

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Derek Jeter is retiring after this season… we get it, he was a good player that played for the New York Yankees.  Yes Jeter had an outstanding career but just because he plays for the Yankees does not mean he needs tons of fanfar, some respect yes but too much is too much.  Last year we had to deal with Marino Rivera get all the praise, so two Yankees back-to-back, enough is enough.  Where was all this attention for Chipper Jones and Craig Biggio?

Look Jeter was great, he is a Hall of Famer no matter how you look at it.  Calling him one of the best ever is a little much.  Jeter has over 3,000 hits and a career average over .310, that alone will get you into the Hall. 

There are things Jeter never did however that will keep me from calling him one of the best of all time.

Think of things this way if Jeter was drafted by the Kansas City Royals would he be called “Mr. November” probably not, but the Yankees still would have bought a few championships. Jeter still would have had a Hall of Fame career but not with as much press.

1.  Jeter was never “the guy”… Jeter always had help though, he always had steriod users like Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi batting behind him.  Jeter was never the most feared guy in the lineup. 

2.  Jeter never hit over 30 home runs, in fact the most home runs he ever hit was 24.  Jeter will not even make it to the 300 home run club.  Sure he was a great singles and doubles hitter but a power hitter he was not. 

3.  Jeter was never on a team with a low payroll.  Playing for the Yankees Jeter was always surrounded by the leagues highest payroll or second highest payroll.  Jeter never had to deal with a rebuilding team because the Yankees would go on spending streaks.  During the 2000’s and until a couple years ago the Yankees payroll was second to none. 

4.  Jeter never stopped complaining about ever pitch.   Jeter had and still has a lot of leeway when it comes to umpires.  Every pitch that was called a strike Jeter would shake his head and give the umpire a little lip.  Jeter has gotten the benefit of the doubt over the years and we all know the Yankees get their calls.  For a guy that is called the classiest player in the game he sure does complain a lot. 

5. Break a major record. Jeter did not break the MLB hits record, home run record or any kind of record.

Bonus: Remember some of Jeters awards were more popularity contest.  For example, in 2010 Jeter was an All-Star and Gold Glove winner.  2010 was one of Jeter’s worst seasons, his average was only .270.  In fact Jeter has decent range but not great range in 2009 and 2010 but still won the Gold Gloves.  There were other more deserving players of those awards that did not get them because of Jeter’s popularity.

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Brian Hradsky

The owner of MSB, I created this website while in college and it has never died.

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