Daily Archives: October 8, 2004

I talked to a lot of people yesterday about the final play of Wednesday night’s Game Two between the Yanks and Twins. Here is Joe Sheehan’s salient take from his latest column for Baseball Prospectus:

The final play of the game has been the subject of a lot of debate, with the consensus being that Jacque Jones screwed up. I don’t know that it’s so easy to grill him. Upon catching Hideki Matsui’s line drive, Jones was on his heels. He appeared to focus more on getting rid of the ball quickly rather than making a good throw, and as such becomes the first player in history to be criticized for hitting the cutoff man.

It’s a split-second choice–set up for a good throw or just fire–and I don’t know that I can ride Jones for the decision he made. What we do know is that Jeter made his own decision, to put his head down and run. That, as much as Jones’ poor throw, was the key part of the game-ending play. It’s not easy to score from third on a fly ball to right field in Yankee Stadium. Jeter did, displaying the excellent baserunning skills that are a hallmark of his game.

Stand and Deliver…Pretty Please

In case you hadn’t noticed–and I know that you have–the Red Sox are creaming the Angels. The series moves to Beantown this weekend with the Sox up 2-0. New York Times columnist George Vecsey is ready to see this Boston team go all the way and win a championship:

I know they’re trying. Let’s make it clear that these current Sox have very little to do with the past. Every year is different. Last year, Kevin Millar introduced the cowboy-up theme. This year, Johnny Damon has pronounced the Red Sox to no longer be cowboys but idiots.
Fine. Whatever it takes. These 2004 Sox need to do away with all those failures and fumbles committed by other people in other decades, other centuries. Give us all a break.

They need to do it not only for the so-called Red Sox Nation but also for baseball fans out there in America who have taken on the Sox as some kind of auxiliary cause.

…In my early childhood, I was a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers, with charismatic, skilled legends at almost every position. From 1946 through 1954, we ultimately experienced terrible pain every autumn.

Our suffering seemed like forever. In reality, it was only nine years. In 1955, the Boys of Summer won a World Series. Just one. I can still hear the bells chiming all over Brooklyn. The Sox haven’t won a World Series since 1918.

Might I suggest they are overdue?

Please, somebody, cowboy or idiot, star or sub, please take everybody – even those of us who observe from an emotional distance – out of this ancient misery.

There are articles in the New York papers this morning about Kevin Brown and some about Alex Rodriguez, but as usual there are more about Derek Jeter than anyone else. Like him or not, nobody captures sportwriter’s fancy more than the Yankee captain come October. While it may seem difficult to get an objective opinion on Jeter in New York, may I offer the following piece by fellow All-Baseball.com writer, and native Californian, Rich Lederer.

The Man Some Love to Love and Others Love to Hate

By Rich Lederer

Derek Jeter? I have no reason to like him, and I have no reason to dislike him. I’m not a Yankee fan by any means, but I’m not a Yankee hater either. What I am is a baseball fan.
I also pride myself on being non-partisan when it comes to evaluating, comparing, and ranking players. I believe statistics can tell us a lot about a player’s value, but I don’t subscribe to the theory that numbers can tell us everything.
Look, I’m not here to make excuses for Derek Jeter. His numbers stack up with the very best shortstops in the game today, and he is on pace to rack up career totals that will likely place him among the top ten at his position in almost every important category by the time he retires.
You want numbers? OK, try this on for size. Jeter was one of just four players this year to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases at a success rate of 85% or better. (Bobby Abreu, Carlos Beltran, and teammate Alex Rodriguez were the others.) Only 36 players in the history of baseball have put together such a combination of stats in a single season. Moreover, there are just eight players who can say they have performed this feat more than once.
Derek Sanderson Jeter is one of those elite eight. The others? How ’bout Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Rickey Henderson, Bobby Bonds, Eric Davis, Kirk Gibson, and Carlos Beltran. Not a bad list by any means, huh? However, did you notice something? Of the eight players, all but one was an outfielder. The lone exception? That *$%^!@# overrated Yankee shortstop!
I realize Jeter’s defense doesn’t measure up to his offensive production. But I don’t think it is quite as bad as his harshest critics in the sabermetric community would lead you to believe. Yes, he has a slow first step when moving to his left and, as such, covers less ground than the average shortstop. But he is also athletic and posseses a strong arm, and this combination makes up for some of his deficiencies. I think what annoys the studious fan is the fact that Jeter has a habit of making easy plays hard and hard plays easy.
Jeter dives into the stands and catches foul balls and gets criticized. He catches pop flies over his head with his back to the infield and on the run and gets criticized. He sprints across the diamond, cuts off an errant throw, and tosses it to the catcher to nail a runner trying to score at a critical moment in a postseason game and his critics point to his low UZR.
On Wednesday, Jeter tags up from third and scores the winning run on a shallow line drive to right field in a situation in which at least half of the players in the majors would not have had the sense, the guts, or the speed to not only challenge the throw but to beat it. Where does that heads up play show up in the alphabet soup of stats?
The guy is a winner. He plays hard. He plays everyday. He has great instincts and smarts. He is well-liked by his teammates and respected by his opponents.
Finding fault in Jeter’s game is similar to finding fault with Ichiro Suzuki. Jeter can’t field and Suzuki can’t hit for power. Don’t mind the fact that Derek can hit for average, hit for power, and steal bases. Forget the fact that Ichiro can hit for a very high average, steal bases, and field and throw with the best of them. Let’s concentrate on what they can’t do rather than what they can do. It’s kind of like looking at the Mona Lisa and questioning the slight smile rather than the overall beauty and elegance of the portrait.