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Originally Posted by steve B
Such a very NY attitude.
Jeter was a great player. Maybe over several years the "best" but for a big chunk of his career that was debatable.
Having every great play he made hyped as "the grestest play ever!!!" got really tiresome, especially when most of those plays were great, but not even close to greatest ever.
Seeing Ortiz play more often, I'll say that he usually seemed to play with a lot of joy, something I didn't see often from Jeter, although not seeing him as much I could have missed it.
I can't think of many players who played for a long time who didn't complain about something along the way. And Ortiz was a passable first baseman. That he didn't play there more often is more a function of the team having someone better than him not being good.
Steve B
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I like Jeter a lot but he was not nearly as good as Rodriguez or Ripken among modern era shortstops. People like him, justifiably, because he conducted himself well at all times, didn't complain, and stayed free of scandal. Between that and playing in New York, it's a recipe for iconic status. But far more was at play than sheer ability and numbers.