Why I hate Derek Jeter

Actually, I don't. Like all Yankee fans, I worship the guy as a god. Sort of. But I know that if I wasn't a Yankee fan, I'd sure hate him. There's the strut and smirk. There's the sense that he's having far too much fun out there in situations where other guys look like they have to go to the bathroom. And, yes, there's the fact that he plays in New York, and therefore gets all that extra media attention (and since he actually talks to "knights of the keyboard" courteously and answers their questions, he has an elevated status among the press).

Bruce Markusen, in his Cooperstown Confidential this week, looks closely into the phenomenon of why baseball statheads, in particular, despise New York's #2.

He concludes,

Now some degree of dislike toward Jeter is certainly understandable. He has a streak of arrogance, has become bulletproof through an overprotective New York media, and perhaps most importantly, he plays for the hated Yankees. Yet, his positive attributes far outweigh the criticisms, which makes the extreme dislike for him so irrational. He’s a talented player who responds well to pressure, plays the game hard and plays it smartly, treats the media with respect, and takes time to talk to fans during games. In many ways, he’s a role model for the way that a star athlete should behave, especially at the ballpark. And that, I believe, means a lot more than the periodic failure to reach a ground ball up the middle.

It's a great piece. Markusen looks at the criticism and determines what's fair (not great range) and what's not (he's a phony "team leader"). It's honest and for a sabermetrician, he doesn't try to deny the fact that, indeed, there are characteristics that aren't captured in the box score. They aren't "intangibles," as Joe Morgan would put it. They're real. For Yankee fans, he's one of the main reasons the ride's been so fun these past 10 years. In a game last week, while in the On Deck circle, he asked a youngster in the front row what he should do, sac bunt or hit; the kid (no "Moneyball" reader, I guess)said bunt. Jeter lined out. Walking back to the dugout, you could see him say, "Should have bunted."

This past year has been no exception. In April and May, and on into June, Jeter was hitting something like .185 and looked awful. Talk radio was hysterical with explanations, the most common (and most ridiculous), was that having a brighter star, A-Rod, on the team had him in a funk at the plate. Throughout the slump -- the worst of his career -- Jeter never made excuses. He didn't throw things after striking out. He didn't hide from the press after the games. He continued to behave like, yes, a team leader and played his best defense in several years (his range has definitely improved with the addition of Rodriguez at third). And since breaking out of the mysterious slump? He's raised his average to where no one thought it would go this year. Through 150 games, he's batting .289, with 181 hits, 107 runs scored, 41 doubles, and 23 jimmy jacks. His OBP is .350, with a .467 Slugging average (higher than his career average), and his OPS is at .817. Fantastic numbers for a year that started out looking like a lost one.

Gary Sheffield is our MVP this year, but Jeter's been an inspiration on the field.