Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Worst Shortstop in the Game?

According to this article in the NY Post a study done by "Scientists" at UPenn (safety school) shows that Derek Jeter is the worst shortstop currently playing. Never mind that his colleagues in baseball routinely award him gold gloves, the numbers don't lie. Apparently the scientists, having cured aids, cancer, and found a way to reverse global warming, measured where every ball was hit from 2002 to 2005. They then forwent any romantic contact for months. Finally, they put the numbers through Mitchell's Magic Number Crunching Machine and discovered that Jeter is the worst shortstop alive. Even worse than that fat kid everyone always picks last in gym class. Truth hurts Yankee fans, I know. But they measured every ball put into play. Every ball. Put into play. You can't argue with that sort of methodology.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

gold gloves are a terrible way to measure a players defense. Rafeal Palmeiro won a gold glove even though he only played like 24 games at first base.

Fernando Alejandro said...

You're right. It is more a popularity contest. But the point still stands that their methodology was horrible and left a lot to be desired. They compared shortstops between 2002 - 2005, and decided that Alex Rodriguez was the number 2 short stop in that time. Alex Rodriguez played third base for all but one of those seasons! The results of their study favor players that haven't played much at short because the sample size is much smaller. Anyone can look like a defensive wizard for 1 inning. Its playing the position every day that makes it tough.

Anonymous said...

I agree, but you have to admit the article they wrote about it in the post was stupid. I mean if you want to use facts to back up your argument, fine. But all they did was go around and ask NY fans what they thought about it. Of course they are all going to say that the study was wrong, and that jeter is god. Just as if you were to ask boston fans what they thought about the same subject. They would most likely agree with it and say that he sucks and is terribly overrated. As for worst shortstop. I think thats a bit of a stretch. I would more than likely have to go with Lugo, or David Eckstein. Overrated, yes. Worst shortstop, no.

-Fred Trigger

Roberto E. Alejandro said...

I have to disagree with the whole gold glove thing. That's an award voted on by coaches and managers, so I think I would defer to them on most matters of on-field judgment. I just watch the games, they compete against the recipients. There may be anomalies but to say it's just a popularity contest is unfair. Further, Jeter is clearly not the worst shortstop in the game, and that's ultimately my point.

Anonymous said...

well, like i said before, obviously the coaches and managers arent paying much attention if they award a guy who started 20 something games at first a gold glove (unless he played some serious lights out D in those 20 games. Jeters not the worst shortstop, I agree with that, but he is definately far from the best. Thats why I think the gold glove is stupid. For instance, do you really think that Jimmy Rollins was the best shortstop in the american league last year? I would argue that Troy Tulowitzki deserved it more. Heck, even in 2006 when Jeter won his last gold glove. Alex Gonzalez had only 7 errors in his whole season, to jeters 15, but the GG still went to jeter. Like I said, I'm not saying jeters the worst, but he is definately not the best, as a gold glove would lead you to believe.

-Fred Trigger

Fernando Alejandro said...

Fred Trigger, I think you make a good point. The lesser known players simply don't get the same consideration. Also, repeat winners seem to be shoo ins regardless of how they play as was the case with Rafael Palmeiro, and is for Eric Chavez and Pudge Rodriguez. But from the other side, you figure that these players have somehow gained the respect of coaches and managers on opposing teams. It may have been one amazing play that left that impression, but nonetheless these coaches and managers have that impression. So gold gloves aren't the best rating of defense, but its at least an indication that the player is doing something right with their glove.