That's Strike Two Peter

Written by Dave

Wednesday, 26 August 2009 10:55

Captain Cholesterol tried to explain his Derek Jeter comment in yesterday's "MMQB Tuesday edition" and as usual, it made as much as sense has handing over your team to a 42-year old quarterback who has shoulder issues and who holds the all-time record for interceptions thrown.

YES I WOULD. From no less than 500 of you via e-mail: "So you'd take Derek Jeter over Albert Pujols? You'd be the only one."

Ah, I love the smell of Peter King failure early in the morning. It's quite pungent. And just like Sex Panther, it stings the nostrils in a good way.

Never thought a baseball opinion would generate so much froth. What I should have said is Derek Jeter is the best player of my adult lifetime. Say, 1975 and beyond. And I stand behind that.

When a baseball opinion is that stupid and placed in such a well read column by the leading writer of Sports Illustrated, it generates more than froth. It makes me want to stab myself in the chin. And using 1975 as a cut-off point does not make your statement any better. It's just as dumb and will generate even more froth (and chin stabbing) because you are actually sticking with it.

It could be that Pujols will overtake him in a few years; I don't know. But Pujols is in his ninth year, Jeter in his 15th. Let's see how Albert stands the test of time. This, by the way, is not just about stats. It's about leadership, playing under the great New York microscope and consistently delivering at a championship level, and playing doggedly well, whether the game is vital or a blowout. He's everything a baseball player should be.

Don't you love it when he tries to argue a point only to dig himself a deeper hole in the process? Pujols, in 6 fewer seasons, has more home runs and more rbi's than Jeter. He edges Jeter in career OBP, Slugging and OPS. He's a superior defender and led his Cardinals to a ring in '06. Jeter might have more rings on the whole, but that's because he plays for a team that spends money like Amy Winehouse does coke.

While Jeter is known for the women he beds, people talk about Pujols' charity work and how he goes to Dominican Republic with doctors so that people get health care. When people talk about Jeter, they mention how his defense rivals that of a paralyzed iguana. Meanwhile, Pujols makes people wonder if he's actually human. Some call him the perfect player. Most of us just sit and marvel as he is doing things with the baseball bat that are too insane even for video games.

Hey, if you don't agree, that's fine; it's certainly not an open-and-shut case. I love Pujols, and I've loved Mike Schmidt, Cal Ripken, Greg Maddux and many others; Johnny Bench would be awfully close to Jeter. I just value a lot of the qualities and things Jeter brings to the game other than fielding and hitting.

See, that's the problem Spazzy McGee. In the game of baseball, it's mostly about fielding and hitting. It's also about pitching, getting on base, base-running, coaching, strategy and all that, but when we look at position players like Jeter and Pujols, we're basically looking at how good they can hit and field. It might be a strange concept, but those are usually good indicators of how good a player is.

Tune in next week when Peter tells us why you should build your team around Ray Lucas.

* image courtesy of Picture Is Unrelated