Quote:
Originally Posted by penchief
I'm not knocking Edmonds. I never was. I was taking exception to your claim that Jeter was a "miserable" defensive infielder. That is simply not so. Miserable defensive players don't win four gold gloves. It's also not true that he is merely "average." He may not be the slickest SS in the game but he has proven to be better than average.
As I said before, you can't measure Jeter by statistics alone. You point to the playoff stats and clearly both Jeter and Edmonds have been superb. That said, I was referring more to Jeter's knack for being in the middle of crucial plays and always having his head in the game at the right time making the great play when it is needed most.
Jeter is a great all-round player. He's a great baserunner in addition to being a good fielder and excellent hitter. One attribute that is underrated is consistency. Nobody has been more consistent than Jeter. Dude has only batted lower than .300 twice in his career. And the lowest he has ever batted has been .292. He may be the only active player who has a legitimate shot at coming anywhere near Pete Rose's hit record.
I'm not saying that Edmonds is not worthy of consideration but to say that he should go in ahead of Jeter is something I just can't agree with.
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I'll certainly give Jeter a nod for his consistency and durability, few in baseball history can match it.
I also didn't say I'd give Edmonds a vote over Jeter, Jeter's a no-doubt HOFer, Edmonds is a guy I'd let sweat for a few year but finally give him my vote.
But when the two are both playing their best baseball, Jim Edmonds was the better player.
(and we'll simply have to agree to disagree on Jeter as a fielder. Remember - Palmiero won a GG at 1b despite being the DH all season, the GG is as much about offense as it is about defense anymore. Jeter's a glorified 2b playing SS, his range his sub-standard by any metric and his hands are only a little above average; A-Rod should've been playing SS with Jeter at 2b)