ooh, i must be really bad then because i laughed at the pulling a munson phrase.  maybe i’m just associating it with the movie Kingpin.

Craig,

I happen to think that despite the numbers being very good, Jeter is WAY over rated.  Especially by the unclean masses that live in and around the Bronx.  Keep in mind that just two or three years ago, MLB players surveyed rated him the most over rated palyer in the game.  Players know other players.  I agree with them.  Just as a side note, Michael Young was named the most UNDER rated player.  Do you think that maybe the size of the media market in question has something to do with the country’s perception?

totally understand, its all about context and perspective.  for a new york baseball writer, i would think thats a big no no.  pretty obvious too.  so definitely wasnt accusing anyone for being over sensitive or anything.

Richard—I think Jeter’s been overrated too, but that’s just because there’s a subset of writers/fans out there who have described him like he was a cross between Lou Gehrig, Cal Ripken, George Patton, and Cary Grant.  He’s not the best player of all time, he’s not the greatest shortstop of all time, and he’s certainly a below-average defender and has been for a while.

But even when you discount for the hype, the dude is still a Hall of Famer, and I’m surprised Barra thinks otherwise.

Here’s an older SI.com poll from 2006: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/players/05/02/poll.0502/

Who is the most overrated player in baseball? 
Derek Jeter, Yankees .....9%
Carlos Beltran, Mets .....7%
Alex Rodriguez, Yankees .....6%
[...]
FAST FACTS:
Among foreign-born voters, 18.2% picked Jeter as overrated…. In an SI PLAYERS poll last year Jeter was voted the majors’ top shortstop….

I think this is a classic case of “so overrated, its now underrated” thinking. Yes, he is not has good as some people think he is, but he doesn’t have to be to be a Hall of Famer. As to the question of will he get in, nothing will be able to stop him short of a PED revelation. His Hall of Famer Monitor Score is 238, placing him 25th all time. To put that in perspective, everyone eligible (and not roid ineligible) in the top 100 on that list is in except Mattingly and Belle at 98 and 99.

There’s a certain class of writers—e.g. Barra and Tim Marchman come immediately come to mind—who have become over-rated in the online, vaguely “sabermetric” community.  They are over-rated because they pay a moderate amount of attention to statistical analysis and because they are friendly with some members of the Prospectus crew and Rob Neyer.  Strip those things from them and it quickly becomes apparent that they are thoroughly mediocre old-time newspaper hacks. 

I made the mistake of buying a book that Barra wrote a few years ago about great debates in sports and there was not a single memorable insight in the entire book. 

On sheer grounds of pragmatism, you have to wonder why Barra would take a shot at Jeter when he is trying to promote a new book which has a natural audience of Yankee fans.  Of course the Berra biography has received rapturous reviews.

I definitely would NOT include Posnanski (and Neyer) in that group.  Both of them have a tremendous grasp of baseball history, both explore sabermetric findings in a serious manner, and both are enormously talented writers.

On the other hand, what do Marchman and Barra have to offer?  They report on analytic findings in a scattered, uninteresting way while holding on to typical newsprint sportswriter prejudices.  These are the same prejudices that lead to the proliferation of gratuitous cheap shots—exactly the kind of cheap shot that Barra takes at Jeter here.

Jason -

Those SI polls are weird.  There was once an SI poll about Chicago, and who their favorite baseball teams were.  Cubs overwhelmingly led the voting.  The number two team was most surprising - St. Louis Cardinals.  The White Sox were number three.  I wish I’d kept that article, because no one believes me when I bring it up.

Even though Jeter may be the most overrated player of this era, he is still a first ballot HoFer in any reasonable estimation. I think only a positive test for steroids would keep him out and I think that’s fair.

I think Jason is wrong when though when he says New York fans aren’t blind to his flaws. I live in the city and I’m a Red Sox fan. Anytime I mention the FACT (it’s a fact) that Jeter is a lousy defensive player, Yankees fan roll their eyes and assume I’m just talking s*%t.

No one seems to see just how selfish a player he is. He easily could have moved to second base in 2004 when the Yankees signed A-Rod but he didn’t. He’s let his hatred of a superior player hurt the Yankees for four years now. As it stands they have one of the worst up-the-middle defenses in the game backing two or three ground ball pitchers. His ego has done as much to keep the Yankees chasing the Red Sox as anyone, but no one ever mentions it. I guess as a Sox fan I should just keep my mouth shut and let it slide. Oh well