After watching Alex Gonzalez work his magic for months, it was more obvious than ever that Derek Jeter has very little range at shortstop.
This was crystal clear in the top of the sixth inning. The game was tied 3-3 and Randy Johnson had gotten Lowell to line out to first. Varitek grounded a ball into the shortstop hole. It was playable but Jeter could only wave his glove at it. Single to left. Then Kapler hit a grounder to Jeter's left. It was a play that Gonzo would have gloved, worked through a couple of sudokus and still got his man at first. Jeter stood there and watched it go into center for another single.
The inning should have been over, but the Unit would end up throwing 18 more pitches before being pulled. With runners at first and second, Johnson walked Pedroia and allowed a two-out double to Crisp. Boston 5-3.
The Yankees came right back and re-tied the game a 5-5 in their half of the inning (Jeter ended that rally by flying to center with the go-ahead run at second). New York added two more in the seventh and that was that.
I'm pretty sure he's bringing in more with the bat than he's letting get away in the field, but damn -- he is really immobile.
MVP Watch: Jeter was 1-for-5 with a run scored; Ortiz did not play (he should have batted for Lowell or Varitek (as the tying run) in the 9th).
***
Julian Tavarez (4.74) / Randy Johnson (4.84), 8 PM
Question: When was the last matchup of two pitchers in such dire need of dermabrasion as these two gentlemen?
Sexy Lips has not allowed a run to the Yankees this season -- 7.1 innings in five appearances. And his ERA is lower than the Eunuch's.
You just jinxed him... hurry up and edit.
ReplyDeleteJinx?
As I've long maintained, the only people who talked about the "curse" and ghosts and goblins for years and years were Yankee fans.
Jinx or curse -- it's all silliness and should not be taken seriously (not that I think you were seriously claiming I put a jinx on ol' S. Lips).
ReplyDeleteExcept when it comes to no-hitters. Then all jinxes apply, I believe.
ReplyDeleteYes, the starting matchup tonight was a dermatologist's dream. Some nights you can do without the close-ups.
Somebody on SoSH said it was the ugliest matchup of the year. Cruel, cruel.
ReplyDeleteThis just taken from Buter Oney's espn page...Any comments!?
ReplyDeleteMoving Papelbon into the rotation makes sense in light of his shoulder injury, because the team can better regulate his work regimen, and because Boston might get 200 to 210 innings from his talent, rather than 75 to 80 innings. The Red Sox will have a chance to have a particularly strong rotation next year if Josh Beckett improves, with a possible five of Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield, Jon Lester in front of Papelbon and Beckett (and if I had to fathom a guess right now, I'd also bet that Roger Clemens will pitch for Boston next year).
I also thought the Sox would win more than 100 games. However, I am not a moron. Merely an optimist.
ReplyDeleteNor do I think anyone else who predicted such success is necessarily a moron.
ReplyDelete"Derek Jeter is better than Alex Gonzalez."
ReplyDeleteIn Yankee fans' minds, no human being will ever match the godliness that is Jeter. You still call his errors "rare." The guy could lead the league in errors, and each one would be called a "rare Jeter error."
But pretend for a second that it is possible that he's not automatically the best baseball player in the history of the world. Check out other shortstops. Don't just assume that since he's the only one you watch regularly, that no one else is as good or even better.
This is like when I went to a Yankees-Sox game at the Stadium in May, and the Yankee fan I was with, after a fairly nice catch by Jeter, said "YOUR shortstop couldn't do that." And I saw in his eyes that HE believed it. He was in his own world, where it's impossible for anything to outdo Yankee greatness. Do you think he knew our shortstop's name, let alone that he would've made the same play in his sleep?
That's why 2004 proved to me that Yankee fans aren't arrogant becuase of anything their team did, they were just arrogant to begin with.
Derek Jeter is better than Alex Gonzalez.
ReplyDeleteIn what way? Cuter? Debatable. Taller? I think so. More visible in the media? Obviously.
Derek Jeter is an excellent player, there's little doubt of that. He gives his team much more than he subtracts. His offensive numbers are very, very good.
He isn't very good defensively. He never has been, but in the last couple of years, he's really not very good at all.
I don't *really* understand most Red Sox fans' loathing of Jeter, except that he is the face of the Yankees, and gets more than his fair share of adulation - but that's not his fault. (I hope no one will try to explain it to me, I've heard all the arguments, they are all a little bitter and silly, IMO.)
However Gutch, you should be able to see that he's not a very good shortstop. I mean, I was able to see that Mattingly sucked for his last couple of years as a Yankee, even though I loved him. Most Red Sox fans know that Trot has lost a step or two.
If you don't see that Alex Gonzalez is a better defensive shortstop than Derek Jeter, maybe you're not the "true baseball fan regardless of team" that you like to think you are.
It was a play that Gonzo would have gloved, worked through a couple of sudokus and still got his man at first.
ReplyDeleteExcellent line!
who won the American league gold glove award for shortstop the last two years?
ReplyDeleteIf you think Gold Glove awards accurately reflect the best defensive player, then I would say you really don't follow the game at all.
Was it Rafael Palmeiro who won a Gold Glove when he had been DH'ing all season?
Use your eyes Gutch. Watch the man play. I cheered for his team for most of my life, but come on, use your eyes man. He can barely move out there. He makes a nice jump pass, sure, but everything gets past him. Don't you notice that?
Up until a few years ago, Jeter ranked near the bottom (sometimes dead last) among all major league shortstop in fielding chances per nine innings. The way pitching staffs change through the years (and inJeter's case, it would be 96-97-98-99-01-01-02) fairly negates the likelihood of being on a staff with a lot of fly ball or ground ball pitchers.
ReplyDeleteHe may have improved in recent years. I don't know for sure; I stoped checking the various stats.
He was also below average in "Zone Rating" -- the percentage of outs made on balls hit into his "area" of the field.
These metrics are not perfect, but they are the best we have in 2006. Obviously, fielding percentage is no good (it wasn't worth squat even back in 1876 -- are you listening, Remdawg?)
Let's look at 2006 stats from ESPN:
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Gonzo has made 6 errors and Jeter has made 13, but I don't think that means much.
Among the 10 qualifying AL shortstops in Range Factor, Jeter (4.16) is last. Interestingly, Gonzalez (4.24) is only 8th. Jhonny Peralta is #1 (4.96).
In Zone Rating, Jeter moves up to 9th; Gonzalez is #2. Juan Uribe is #1.
Among 25 qualifying MLB shortstops in Range Factor, Gonzalez is #17 and Jeter is #20.
ReplyDeleteJose Reyes of the Mets is last.
ESPN says Zone Rating is "the percentage of balls fielded by a player in his typical defensive 'zone'".
I always thought ZR was the % of balls in the zone that were turned into outs. That definition sounds like it could include errors also.
It occurs to me that if the Joy Of Sox community turns into "nyah, nyah, Jeter's better, who won the Gold Glove" (etc.) it will be a damn shame. I should stop contributing to that de-evolution by not responding to such comments.
ReplyDeleteIf everyone did that, perhaps those comments would go away.
Just a thought, not necessarily echoed by management.
Jeter will make $20,600,000 this year.
ReplyDeleteGonzlaez will bring home $2,682,592.
Looking at value for $ -- admittedly, not a problem for the Yankees -- but is Jeter almost 10 times as valuable as Gonzalez?
I'd rather have Gonzalez and use the other $17 million for some bats.
These metrics are not perfect, but they are the best we have in 2006.
ReplyDeleteCan't an infielder's ZR or RF be helped by having a better-than-average infielder near him? Two examples I can think of from Yankeeland - Tino Martinez helping Chuck Knoblauch look less awful, and Scott Brosius's excellent range helping Jeter. Seems to me Bill Mueller did that for Nomar, too.
I wonder how you would account for that, if at all
is Jeter almost 10 times as valuable as Gonzalez?
ReplyDeleteHe sells more tickets. But that's not a problem for the Red Sox, either.
I knew when I posted the comment that this is what would happen. It is as inevitable as the sun rising in the East.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if every comment offered something substantial and moved the discussion forward, but I don't know how possible that is.
I try to type stuff somewhat more intelligent than "Ortiz Roools!" and I hope others do also.
It's been fine here. I've only had to delete some obnoxious comments that had nothing to do with baseball.
P.S. Ortiz does roool.
Well, you are more tolerant than me.
ReplyDeleteYes, there is someone even less tolerant than you!
Can't an infielder's ZR or RF be helped by having a better-than-average infielder near him? ... I wonder how you would account for that, if at all
ReplyDeleteIt could be helped, but you could probably get a rough idea if it was by, in Jeter's case, looking at Slappy's rating. Other than that, I don't know if it can be helped. That's why it's not ideal.
With ZR, you are also relying on the STATS person to accurate measure the zone.
I do remember Tino having good range to his right. I don't if the Professional, with his creaky knees, helped Nosmarts that much.
(Damn, I miss those old nicknames-- the Napkin, the Thermos, Shrek, the Corpse, and my favorite, "Nomar Garciapopup".)
In Jeter's case, people have argued that having fly ball and strikeout pitchers will give him fewer ground ball chances. That is true. But looking at 11 years of data (hard to believe Jeter's been playing 11 years) will probably negate that one way or the other.
(Back in 1999 or 2000, I looked at the Yankee staffs and found that they had more groundball pitchers than average, making Jeter look even worse.)
And Wang is one of the most extreme ground ball pitcher in recent memory, so ...
I don't if the Professional, with his creaky knees, helped Nosmarts that much.
ReplyDeleteWe thought so at the time. We sometimes had Brosius vs Mueller "discussions".
"discussions"
ReplyDeleteHeh.
Yeah, but you have to watch Derek Jeter on a day-to-day basis in order to fully appreciate his fielding.
ReplyDeleteOh, wait. Isn't that exactly what those indentured servants who keep all those advanced fielding statistics do?
Yeah, but you have to watch Derek Jeter on a day-to-day basis in order to fully appreciate his fielding.
ReplyDeleteI did. Every game for about 8 years. That's how I know he's not very good.
You guys are so darned CUTE!
ReplyDeleteUh-oh.
It's purely unintentional.