Tim Kurkjian and the greatest SS's

[ErikV]

Funny, I was talking to brother about this same topic a couple of days ago.
We never did come up with a consensus. I suppose it could be argued that any
name on the list you/Kurkjian provided could be considered the best SS ever.

I personally think while Ripken's consecutive game streak is impressive, his
.276 career batting average and 36 career stolen bases quickly disqualifies
him as being the best SS. The same holds true of Ozzie Smith's career 28
home runs and .262 batting average.

It's a bit unfair to try and compare players whom I've never seen play (ie
Wagner, Waner), so if I had to choose, I'd go with Jeter. For the last 20
seasons Derek Jeter had been the glue to hold the Yankees together. I don't
think we'll see the likes of another Jeter type for many years to come.

Just my humble opinion,

ErikV

[BengoughingForAwhile]

Best shortstop of all time, 7 time all star, 2 time NL MVP... Ernie Banks.

[Bugsy]

Ernie Banks needs to be on the list. Yes, he played the second half of his career at 1st, but two MVP seasons as a shortstop...

Yount should maybe enter the conversation as well.

And Jeter should have changed positions at least a few seasons ago. He still has great hands and a good arm, but his range is horrible. He shouldn't get more consideration as a shortstop just because his ego wouldn't allow him to change positions versus a guy like Cal that took one for the team and made the switch late in his career.

1. Wagner
2. Vaughan
3. Banks
4. Ripken
5. ???

[AMBST95]

If Ripken had played his career in New York over the same time period as Jeter this wouldn't even be a debate. Cal played on a lot of bad teams in Baltimore while Jeter played on better teams. Jeter is a great player but he ranks easily behind Ripken. Cal's defensive WAR is #4 in the history of the game at 38.8. Jeter's is (-9.6). Jeter has 3400+hits while Cal ONLY had 3100, but with a lot more power.

I don't mean to discredit Jeter, he's a great player. He'll be a first ballot HOFer. He's my generation's New York legend. I'd just pick Ripken if I had to choose between the 2 when building my ball club. But it's really just a discussion over #2 because no one is supplanting Honus anytime soon. ARod could have made my top 5 if he'd had kept his nose clean, but his numbers are meaningless in my eyes at this point.

1) Wagner
2) Ripken
3) Jeter
4) Yount
5) Vaughn