Jeter

[Batter67up]

You can criticize anybody you want to and that is Freedom of Speech. The point I was making is that Derek Jeter does not talk himself up like a Ricky Henderson. it is Olberman's own Media friends that blow him up not Jeter himself. Guys like Mantle and Jeter respected their fellow players and never tried to show them up. Fans are trying to celebrate the career of a classy player and it is sad that people need to take cheap shots. Kinda like a guy that has a 52 Topps Mantle and all his friend is talking about is how off-center it is instead of being happy for his friend.One thing that has grown over the last 10-15 years is arrogance, narcissism and Jealousy. Take it how you want to. If your good, you don't need to talk about yourself, tell people how great you are or put people down. Jeter has never claimed to be the greatest Yankee or thinks he is. He was successful and can't stop the media from over exaggerating things. It is funny how Dan Patrick ripped his ex ESPN partner this morning on his radio show talking about the anger that was shown in his ex partners monologue. I'm just not a fan of Narcisism and Arrogance and people who display these characteristics are not people that I respect. Jealousy brings out the worst in people!

[Peter_Spaeth]

In this day and age of pampered, arrogant, me-only, a**hole athletes, it's just stupid to be putting down Jeter in any way.

[Section103]

I haven't seen many or even any criticize Jeter as a person. The notion that Jeter cannot be criticized as a ballplayer is, of course, laughable. I've criticized Cy Young. I've criticized Babe Ruth. Everyone has holes in their game. Everyone. Its unfathomable to me that people think Jeter or anyone else is simply beyond reproach as a player.

[Vintageclout]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

In this day and age of pampered, arrogant, me-only, a**hole athletes, it's just stupid to be putting down Jeter in any way.

Well said Peter, and you forgot one other major issue with most great athletes..."use of performance enhancing substances". I heard an additional Jeter supporting fact the other day that blew my mind. In 20 years, Jeter was NEVER thrown out of a game for arguing a call!!! In an era of ridiculously pampered, spoiled and over-paid athletes, I found that truly amazing.

Joe

[VoodooChild]

This was just posted on ESPN:

http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/stor...baseball-cards

[Batter67up]

A Perfect Ending for a Yankee Great! It is Nice how the cream always rises to the top!

[Seattle799]

It's cool that he had a great last game at Yankee Stadium... but his OPS is .614... there are only 4 players worse than him this year....

[itjclarke]

Originally Posted by Seattle799

but his OPS is .614... there are only 4 players worse than him this year....

Sorry if being blunt, but who cares?? He's a stud, and ending his amazing and ever clutch career with a game winning hit in his last AB at Yankee Stadium is pretty fitting. I'm happy for him and for the Yankee fans that got to see him exit in style.

As a kid I remember seeing Mike Schmidt (an All Star that year) go 0-fer and make two errors in SF, prompting him, in tears, to call it quits right after the game (my dad had taken me specifically to see Schmidt). Do I feel this is worth pointing out if/when his career comes into discussion?--- "But he barely hit.200 and booted two balls in his last game..."--- No, I do not because it happens to almost all the greats (Ruth, Mays, Aaron, etc). Guys age, their skills, play, and stats diminish over time. That's why they retire. It does not take away from the greatness of their careers, nor from the thrills/joy they gave fans over years, even decades of great play.