Posted By:
Greg EcklundTo say A-Rod chokes in October isn't borne out by the numbers - he had a lousy division series again the Angels last year, but his career postseason batting average is .305. Jeter edges him out slighly in that category with a .307 average, but he also has four times the postseason at bats as A-Rod does. When you have that amount of at bats and highlight plays in October people will tend to remember the great moments and gloss over the lousy performances.
In 1998, Jeter hit .200 in the ALCS against Cleveland, .118 in the 2001 ALCS against Seattle and .148 against Arizona in the 2001 World Series. He also hit .233 and .200 against Boston in the ALCS of 2003 and 2004, respectively. If A-Rod has a series like any of those this year he might be run out of town, while if Jeter has one it will be talked about for a while and forgotten come next season. Certainly A-Rod's demeanor when compared to Jeter's is a factor in how they are treated, but I don't think it is entirely fair.
Give A-Rod, or most any other great player, the number of postseason at bats that Jeter has and I would bet he would produce roughly the same number of great moments that Jeter has.
I'm not saying Jeter isn't a great player and I would take him one of my teams any day. If he retired today he would still be a Hall of Famer without a doubt, especially when you stack him up against the others already in.