Posted By:
Rhett YeakleyLet me be the 100th person here that isn't a Jeter fan to say... NOBODY is saying Jeter sucks, or that he is even mediocre. He is a very good ballplayer, he has been a part of some great Yankees teams. What most people that have responded here are saying is that HE gets the credit for everything the Yankees accomplish. Yankees fans will never understand why people don't like him, and non-Yankees fans will never understand why he gets so much credit for being a good (not great) ballplayer. Undoubtedly, Jeter will make it into the Hall if he keeps up what he does. The whole 3000 hits talk is a little premature (~2100 hits currently), so that doesn't even warrant a comment. About the payroll of teams not being a guarantee for success, you are right it doesn't guarantee anything, but is sure as heck helps quite a bit, imagine a team that can pay scrubs $10M and then release them or send them to the bullpen...must be nice. Every time a free agent or disgruntled player is available the first team to get a crack at him is the Yankees because they can afford to [over]pay that player the most, the Red Sox have been pretty bad the last few years as well, but are still behind the Yanks by $80M.
-Rhett Yeakley
Also, my vote for closest historical ballplayer (obviously a tough thing to do) would be Zach Wheat (quality ballplayer, average HOFer, definately not Joe D. or anybody else a Yankees fan will choose to compare him with)