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Study: Jeter worst AL shortstop

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How's this for junk science - even with three Gold Gloves, Yankees captain Derek Jeter has been labeled the worst fielding shortstop in baseball. But the numbers prove it, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania said yesterday at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in (of course) Boston. Researchers looked at every ball put in play from 2002 through 2005 and recorded where the shots went. Jensen said a player's success de pended on his range as well as how effectively he made decisions and positioned himself on the field.

New York Post

Derek Jeter , Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images Derek Jeter , Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images
February 17, 2008  09:15 AM ET

Gee, I wonder if this story will get any posts?

February 17, 2008  09:19 AM ET

lol

February 17, 2008  09:19 AM ET

Excellent.

February 17, 2008  09:22 AM ET

As I am in R&D I would like to see a link to their report on this... I would not say that this data is necesssarily accurate, but it would be interesting to see how they gathered and analyzed the data... to have done so they would have to have gathered and analyzed the same data for all of the starting shortstops in the league... even that is meaningless if the correct type of data was not analyzed... if anyone finds a link to this report they should post it...

February 17, 2008  09:23 AM ET

This is what happens when the Government stops funding homes for the mentally ill. They end up in Boston having meetings..

Comment has been removed
February 17, 2008  09:39 AM ET

yeah he stinks. How about lugo for jeter, straight up? Wait a minute, phone is ringing, it's Theo. Man Theo I haven't finished my post yet.

February 17, 2008  09:43 AM ET

There is nothing shocking in this report. Any objective baseball fan has known for years that Jeter is over-rated defensively.

February 17, 2008  09:43 AM ET

Jeter's great with the bat, but in the field, he is one of the worst. This also isn't new information.

February 17, 2008  09:50 AM ET

This guy Jensen is a idot. Has he seen every shortstop play? He did this study based on stats not watching then play on the field. I say he is a Red Sucks fan who hates the Yankees.

February 17, 2008  09:51 AM ET

This is complete crap. Jeter's the best short stop in the history of the game. Period.

YANKEES FOREVER!!!

February 17, 2008  09:54 AM ET

This guy Jensen is a idot. Has he seen every shortstop play? He did this study based on stats not watching then play on the field. I say he is a Red Sucks fan who hates the Yankees.

YDT8523 | 02/17/08, 09:50 AM

What's the problem if he did the study based on stats? Isn't that a more accurate and objective way to do such a study?

Besides, I don't know if that's even true. It says. "Researchers looked at every ball put in play from 2002 through 2005 and recorded where the shots went."

It sounds like they did watch every shortstop play.

February 17, 2008  09:54 AM ET

Jeter is one of the best shortstops in the game. That shows you how smart people in Boston are.

February 17, 2008  09:57 AM ET

I love how all you have to do is ask a Yankee fan about Jeter's defense to determine whether he or she is delusional or objective.

February 17, 2008  10:01 AM ET

Is Jeter great with a bat? Yes.
Is he a great leader? Of course.
Does he play hard on every play? Yes.
Is he great defensively? No.

February 17, 2008  10:05 AM ET

The headline is bullsh*t, because the story really says he's the worst (defensive) SS. He is a very good hitter that is probably no better fielder then half the SS in the league. The Gold Gloves are explained equally by the fact that 1) he hits well 2) he plays in NY and 3) he pulls the occasional great play out of his a.s.s., just like virtually every ML SS does on occasion.

February 17, 2008  10:06 AM ET

The posts on this will separate the morons from the honest objective fans.

February 17, 2008  10:38 AM ET

While this has been said for years, everytime I watch the guy play there haven't been many times where I say "Damn he should have got that!". No more that any other SS anyway.

February 17, 2008  10:39 AM ET

If Jeter played on another MLB team, New York fans would agree with this story.

 
February 17, 2008  10:40 AM ET

You know their data is flawed, they list Trot Nixon as one of the best right fielders during the same period! And Clint Barmes is listed as the best SS during the period, so the sample size is definitely off since Barmes played a total of 113 games from 2002-2005, and made more errors in 2005 than Jeter did, in half as many games! I'm not saying Jeter is the best defensive SS, because obviously he isn't, but studies like this are always more subjective than they appear. A biased statistician can make numbers say anything they want.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hEV08EENXqsT3JA3u_8wV9xZnhxAD8URHEMG2

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