First allow me to apologize again to the readers of this thread. My angst was because I do not like to start a conversation with a negative and have to prove it wrong, but the thread has turned away from that, thankfully.

As a baseball nut, I always have trouble comparing players of different eras. For example, Honus Wagner would be my choice for best all time shortstop but with the caveat that I do not know how he would fare with all the travel of today;s game nor the relief pitching that exists which does not allow for facing a pitcher who has a pitch count well into the 100's as with his day.

On the other hand, he played with a dead ball, a glove that was not geared as todays. So comparing of different eras is so difficult.

Jeter has a place in the discussion for sure. 20 years in NYC can sure be a help, but oh my can it ever be a hinderance, and he has handled those 20 years with such grace and class. With a LIFETIME BA of about .310 I am impressed. I think in this season there are less than 15 hitters over .300 FOR THE YEAR. It is not easy; I think hitting a baseball is just about the most difficult thing to do in professional baseball. We can add the ultimate to his resume....the world championships, but they are not won in a vaccuum and I understand that, but I am so impressed that only 5 other players IN HISTORY have as many hits as he does...that is so impressive.

Thus, as I said these discussions are fun and interesting to see what is taken into consideration by people when ranking players.

Again, I apologize but the OP was sort of a "left handed" compliment and one that, in my opinion, was totally unnecessary to any conversation.

PS....another not discussed stat that amazes me is that as of today only 12 men have been on base more than him....TWELVE...behind him in this stat are Mel Ott, Honus Wagner to name two and they played more years than Jeter. No matter what, an impressive, clean, classy career and he should be cheered. If he gets on base in the next 4 games, make that number 11 men instead of 12..he trails Ted Williams by 1. Williams, of course brings to mind when comparing different eras, the war time players who missed a lot of games to help fight the war.

Jeter showed up for work every day, even when hurt. Olberman was a frequent no-show on MSNBC whenever he got into a snit with management. Viva la difference!

Joe Cronin

Luis Aparicio

Phil Rizzuto

Omar Vizquel

All good players...all deserve respect, etc, but for me..the next 4 days are about Jeter..period.

Let's guess the next time we see a class act last for 20 years with the same team.

He deserves everything and more..for me, the debate can go rest. Tonight is about Jeter, and I am sure the Red Sox fans will do him justice this weekend

I was actually hoping this thread would be about him, but whatever.....talk about the others some other time.

What a way to end your last game at home!

For all Jeeter fans, there is a very interesting timeline of his career here http://tinyurl.com/k2mfg3c

:bigbow::super::bigbow::mademyday::clap2:

Take a look at post 31. You had two paragraphs on Honus Wagner. Just sayin'.....

Not sure why certain posters are just simply looking for "trouble"

From post 31...

" For example, Honus Wagner would be my choice for best all time shortstop but with the caveat that I do not know how he would fare with all the travel of today;s game nor the relief pitching that exists which does not allow for facing a pitcher who has a pitch count well into the 100's as with his day."

That was pretty much what I said about Honus Wagner in total on that post and it was regarding the comparisons of shortstops.

I admit I said it, and I am a bad man for doing that. Hope you now are happy with "getting me".

Have a great day and I hope it improves from getting on a message board to do whatever you meant to do here.

That was almost as if Hollywood had scripted it. Have you ever looked back at a game and relished a blown save ?

Thanks for posting that.

You couldn't have scripted in better, even if it was a movie. It was a magical moment of many, that Derek Jeter has provided.

It was "the stuff, that dreams are made of".

Here are some non-traditional stats that show Jeters value:
.593 winning percentage, the highest of any Yankee to play the game
3,463 hits, the most of any Yankee and 6th most of all time.
8 two hundred hit seasons. Jeter and Gehrig are the only Yanks to do this.
17 consecutive 150 hit seasons. The only other person in baseball to do this was Hank Aaron
200 post season hits, the most of any player
111 post season runs scored
The only two players in baseball history with more than 3000 hits and 250+ home runs and 300+ stolen bases and 1,200+ rbi's are Jeter and Willie Mays.
He had more hits than Honus Wagner, twice as many home runs as him. He had more hits, homers, rbi's, obp and slugging % than Ozzie Smith as well as a career avg 47 points higher than Ozzie Smith (but Ozzie was the best defensive ss ever), and had more hits than Ripkin as well as more stolen bases, a better batting avg by 33 points, a better on base % and just about the same slugging percentage.
So, while he may not be the best ss ever, I think we can all agree that he was an elite player that had the rare quality of being able to combine superior athletic achievement and class. Greatest or not, he was still great!

Now that's "greatest" in any honest persons book!!!

:BigApplause: :bigbow:

Olberman will never get my respect!!! BUT, Jeter will