Red Sox - Yankees - The Final Showdown

[Galt]

just searing google. no idea of these people's qualifications....

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.baseballtruth.com/fielders_choice/choice_083104.htm">http://www.baseballtruth.com/fielders_c ... 083104.htm</a><!-- m -->

RAL = Range factor. Average = 0
Orlando Cabrerra = 37
Arod = 17
Nomar = 4
Tejada = 8
Jeter = -75
Carlos Guillen = -48

Career SDS (season defensive score) is some statistic he created. Based on that over their careers:
Outstanding Defensive Shortstops - Vizquel, Bell, Bordick and Perez had the numbers to qualify in this category. The jury is still out as to whether A-Rod or Gonzalez belong.
Subpar Defensive Shortstops - Garciaparra, Renteria, Aurilia and Jeter.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.booklocker.com/books/1243.html">http://www.booklocker.com/books/1243.html</a><!-- m -->

The book FIELDER’S CHOICE suggests that Ozzie Smith and Rabbit Maranville are the best fielding shortstops ever. And at the end of the 2002 season, Omar Vizquel was the best active defensive shortstop and Derek Jeter was the worst.

Jeter's response to "Fielder's Choice"'s comment that he was the worst fielder in baseball (same source)

"I'm the worst?" Jeter said when confronted with the numbers. "I don't think I would say that. But I couldn't really care less what some mathematical equation comes out with." "How do you rank defensive shortstops?" Jeter said. "I don't see how a formula can evaluate how somebody plays." "You get a strikeout pitcher on the mound as opposed to a ground-ball pitcher, it's going to affect the statistics you use to evaluate defense. So I don't really think you can."

The book actually states that Jeter is a very good player and is probably on track to join the Hall of Fame some day. But that does not change the fact that when compared to his contemporaries, Derek is a poor fielder.

But it was not always that way. What has happened to Jeter over the past five seasons (1998 to 2002) is that his range factor (the number of balls he makes a play on) has gone dramatically downhill each year. And what about those "strikeout pitchers" that Derek refers to? It is true that if a shortstop gets fewer chances then it may look like he is getting to fewer balls. But, in Jeter's case, his team's strikeouts do not seem to be the problem.

In 1997 (before his decline), Derek Jeter led all shortstops in chances (assists plus putouts). His range compared to the other shortstops was a very good 39 points above the league average. That year the Yankee pitching staff struck out 1165 batters.

By 2002, Jeter's range had fallen to a disastrous 75 points below the league average - the worst in the major leagues. And the Yankee pitchers struck out 1135 batters - virtually the same as in 1997. So, it would appear that the number of strikeouts is not the answer to Derek Jeter's decline in range factor.

some long thread on another board about this exact issue. I haven't read it, but maybe there are some other sources they have listed (the guy who started the thread agrees with Gonzno)
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.netshrine.com/vbulletin2/archive/index.php/t-14004.html">http://www.netshrine.com/vbulletin2/arc ... 14004.html</a><!-- m -->