February 18, 2014

Red Sox Vs The East; Jeter Hagiography In Full Swing

ESPN's Sweet Spot blog looks at how the defending World Champion Boston Red Sox match up against the other AL East teams for 2014: Rays, Yankees, Orioles, and Blue Jays.

From those previews, we see that Baseball Prospectus pegs the division like this:
Red Sox    89-73
Rays       89-73
Yankees    82-80
Blue Jays  80-82
Orioles    75-87
Fangraphs asks: Who Should Be Boston's New Leadoff Hitter?
Example

You may have heard that Derek Jeter is retiring after the 2014 season. Spring training has just begun and it's clear the extent to which the national media will praise Captain Intangibles this summer will make its usual Jeter Lovefest sound like non-Giants fans serenading Barry Bonds.

Jon Paul Morosi, Fox Sports, Jeter Means Just As Much To Baseball As He Does To Yankees:
Even the most obsessive Red Sox fans who jeered Jeeeee-taaaaah with irrational hatred during the tormented years before 2004 would have to agree: Jeter has been baseball's most consistent winner and greatest ambassador for the past two decades. ...

In the wake of Jeter's announcement, the debate raged on Twitter and through radio airwaves: What was the all-time best Jeter play? ...

The mere existence of that discussion validates Jeter's mystique. For how many other active players would we be able to have a similar conversation? Are there any? ...

Jeter always has possessed a preternatural sense for what was expected of a man in his position. ... Jeter's grace is not a myth.
Ian O'Connor, ESPNNewYork, As Always, Derek Does It Just Right:
Jeter is about to go down as one of the top 10 players in franchise history, and depending on how you keep score, maybe one of the top five. ...

Jeter was closer to perfect than just about any Yankee before him. ... The shortstop who made a career out of making the right call made another one Wednesday. Of course he did.
Jayson Stark, ESPN, Baseball Is Losing Its Face:
How does any sport replicate what Derek Jeter has meant to baseball over the last decade and a half -- and still does? Is that even possible? ...

[W]here does baseball find the next Derek Jeter? Good luck on that. ...

Is Derek Jeter irreplaceable?
Albert Pujols compared him to Christ! "Only Jesus is perfect, but he's pretty close to that guy." ... SB Nation had a somewhat more nuanced look. ... The Onion provided some humour: "Derek Jeter Announces 2012 Will Be His Final Decent Season".

A half-serious question: Will I have to watch the entire season on mute?

8 comments:

nick said...

I'm sure Jere will enjoy the cutaway shots to the game from the JeterCam that will be deployed in each ballpark.

I'm envisioning that ESPN games will be like this but substituting "Jeter".

laura k said...

Will I have to watch the entire season on mute?

Yes.

FenFan said...

I was wondering when you were going to post something in response to Jeter's retirement.

Just imagine how much worse it would be if Tim McCarver had not retired after last season. He was wiping his chin after almost every move Jeets made on the diamond.

No doubt Jeter had a great career if you look at his offensive value, but his defense at one of the game's more challenging positions has been average at best. I compared his RF/9 (range factor per nine innings) earlier this week in a post on my blog and he posted better numbers than his Red Sox counterpart only twice over the past 18 seasons.

Has he made some great plays, memorable players during his tenure? Perhaps, but by no means is he on a higher level than, say, Alex Gonzalez in terms of defensive value.

FenFan said...

On another note: has he already been tagged as the 2014 All-Star Game MVP?

BklynSoxFan said...

I've been watching Yankees games on mute for several years now. You'll enjoy it more.

allan said...

You'll enjoy it more.

We now have the option of having only crowd noise for each game's home broadcast. That is a nice way to go - and other non-NESN stations somehow find a way to not miss pitches! How DO they do it?!?!

I was wondering when you were going to post something in response to Jeter's retirement.

Yeah, it had been sitting in drafts and I figured I better just post it before it gets too old.

Michael said...

I don't get it. He's being praised for announcing retirement?

Also, I'm reminded of that McCartney quote (was it him?) when asked if Ringo was the best drummer in the world.

"Derek Jeter isn't even the best shortstop on the Yankees."

Jere said...

"I'm sure Jere will enjoy the cutaway shots to the game from the JeterCam that will be deployed in each ballpark."

JeterCam will be epic this year. Actually, JeterCam will be the default view--the other shots will be OtherShotsCam.