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warshawlawLet’s look at the real numbers for Smith and Jeter. Career as hitters, Jeter is far better than Smith, bearing in mind that Jeter has had 6,970 at bats in 12 years while Smith had 9,396 at bats in 19 years.
YRSHITSBAOBP
192460 .262 .337
122150.318.388
Jeter’s BA is 56 points higher than Smith’s; his on base percentage is 52 points higher. He reaches base far more often than Smith did, so much so that Jeter has already scored 20 more runs than Smith (1,277 vs. 1,257) in 2/3 of the at bats. Jeter is a far better hitter and a far better run scorer than Smith ever was.
Does Jeter’s edge in hitting evaporate with Smith’s purported edge in fielding so that Smith emerges as the far superior player? I think not. Their pertinent fielding stats at short through their careers (excluding games they didn’t play SS, Smith played 2511 games, Jeter played 1670 games):
NAME G PO A E DP FP lgFP
SMITH2511 4249 8375 281 1590 .978 .966
JETER1670 2533 4277 175 884 .975 .972
1670/2511 = 66.5%. Jeter has played 66.5% of the games Smith played. If we multiply Smith’s raw totals by .665 to equalize the number of games they played we get the following:
PO A E DP
282655691871057
Jeter’s numbers in the same categories:
PO A E DP
2533 4277 175 884
Bear in mind that assists and double plays are partially dependent on the skills of other players on their teams, including the types of pitchers they are behind. Ozzie played behind a lot of ground ball pitchers, who were successful partially because the Cardinals fielded teams that were superior defensively. Jeter has played behind a lot of strikeout and fly ball pitchers. Jeter has also played with some lead-handed second basemen (Alfonso Soriano comes to mind).
Is Smith a better fielder? Absolutely. Is he so much better a fielder that he cancels out Jeter’s superior hitting skills? I could see that argument being made. But was Smith so great a fielder that he overwhelmingly stands head and shoulders above Jeter? No way. Not even close. If anything, I’d say at this point that Jeter and Smith are about equal in value. If Smith is a HOFer, so is Jeter.