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shortaaron
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Name: Aaron
Country: United States
Gender: Male
Interests: i enjoy hiking, camping, canoeing, long walks on the beach, candlelit dinners, and psuedo-intellectual conversations about philosophy, politics, and sports.
Expertise: I am in expert in being cutesy, hyper, and dismissive. I enjoy the wind and rain and the half-inch.
Occupation: Student
Industry: Textiles
Message: message me
Member Since:
4/19/2003
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| Okay, so on the advice of Matthew T., I thought I'd give a few friendly words of encouragement to Omar Minaya specifically and Mets/Yankee fans generally.
Thinking it over now, Pedro Martinez going to the Mets is a better deal than Randy Johnson going to the Yankees (although, the deal seems to keep stalling), but hypothetically...
The Mets get: Pedro Martinez, 33 years old. 4 year contract, $50 million. The Yankees get: Randy Johnson 41 years old. With a potential contract extension, Randy would be in pinstripes for about 4 years, with a contract similar, if not larger, than Pedro's $50...
So, essentially, the Yanks are paying the same for a product aged 8 extra years... and despite Randy's recent perfect game, pitchers dont get much better at that age. True, Randy is not the off-field head-case that Pedro is, but what matters more? On field production or off-field charity work?
2004 for Pedro Martinez (3.9 ERA in 200+ innings) is very similar to Randy Johnson's 2003(4.26 ERA in 110+ innings). Both were anomalies in two superb pitcher's careers. Yes, right now, it looks like Pedro's on the decline and Randy is on the rise, but can these two years really be considered "trends" given both pitcher's prior track records? Would you have counted out Randy J after 2003, citing that he was 40 years old and now an injury risk? Interesting... yet now he's more precious than gold.
Next, the league factor: Pedro moves to the National League and gets an extra out every 3 innings, Randy loses an out every 3 innings... plus, instead of facing the Padres and Rockies for 5-6 games out of a season, he faces the Red Sox and the revamped Orioles. Pedro, conversely, faces a dismal hitting Phillies, Marlins, DC Nationals, and even Atlanta Braves (whose success has always been as a result of their pitching).
Not to mention that, in going to the Yanks, Randy J would have to shave his hair (no luxurious tresses in pinstripes)... and we all know that, like Samson, Randy gets his strength from the mullet.
So whose the better fit? Hands down, Pedro with the Mets. He'll be a better pitcher next year. And injuries be damned... outside of 2001, Pedro has pitched in 29 or more games every year. This man is a pressure pitcher whose going to win games. All we need is some strong relief pitching to help him out, and that's what it comes down to for the Mets. Getting those supporting players to bridge the gap between the 7th and 8th innings and Braden Looper in the 9th. Lets see it Omar. | | |
| So Thanksgiving was a hoot... we went up to Canada for a wedding of my Father's Cousin's Son, AKA my second cousin Jason. He looked studly, and his wife was not too shabby either. All the women in Canada were blonde... all of them. But we shouldn't hate them for that (at least not that alone). I also met some new friends and relatives and that was also enjoyable. At one point in the evening, I got into an argument with one of my 7th cousins (or some abusrd relation such as that) about whether or not Derek Jeter was a great shortstop. He's hysterical and we've been carrying on an email debate ever since so I though I would post the argument for people to read so that they may share in the laughter and the mayhem in the holiday season. Enjoy:
Me:
Subject line: Why Derek Jeter can kiss my....
Intangibles, perhaps... but that doesn't negate the fact that his numbers this year (offensive, mind you) were comparable to Jimmy Rollins. It's also kind of sad considering the loaded lineup offering Jeter plenty of protection that STILL didn't help him. Let's face facts, if he weren't playing in New York, few people would know him (more people would like him) but he'd just be a "pretty good" shortstop. And just because he has "heart" doesn't make him the best shortstop in the game. Say what you will about Manny Ramirez, he's belligerent and not a great clubhouse guy, but when it comes to it, he puts up the numbers. Jeter HAS to have heart, or he would be as useless as John Starks in game 7...
Rk Player, Team AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB BA OBP SLG OPS
1 C. Guillen, Det 522 97 166 37 10 20 97 12 5 52 .318 .379 .542 .921
2 M. Young, Tex 690 114 216 33 9 22 99 12 3 44 .313 .353 .483 .836
3 M. Tejada, Bal 653 107 203 40 2 34 150 4 1 48 .311 .360 .534 .894
4 J. Wilson, Pit 652 82 201 41 12 11 59 8 4 26 .308 .335 .459 .794
5 D. Jeter, NYY 643 111 188 44 1 23 78 23 4 46 .292 .352 .471 .823
6 O. Vizquel, Cle 567 82 165 28 3 7 59 19 6 57 .291 .353 .388 .741
7 J. Rollins, Phi 657 119 190 43 12 14 73 30 9 57 .289 .348 .455 .803
Aaron DeRosa, distant relation
Chris's response:
Ok Tough-Guy,
Are you ready to go to school? Hope so, because your ass is gunna get a lesson in, what I like to call, “Quiet Down, and Don’t Talk Shit About Mr. Jeter, Cause You or Any of Your Favorite Short Stop(s) Ain’t Got Nothin on Jeter.” Lets look at some more in depth stats, rather than just a simple cut-and-paste screen. Keep in mind though that these numbers are what I know are some of the most important stats to analyze as a defender and fan of Derek Jeter. This looks primarily at the 2004 MLB #1 ranked short stop Carlos Guillen vs. Derek Jeter. There is though a comparison to a couple of today’s other great players because I really don’t feel comfortable simply comparing Derek to just one marginally-good short stop in Guillen. You stated the Derek is just, “pretty good,” so lets take a closer look at that comment and I’ll try my best to help bring you back to a quaint little world called REALITY. And I’ll completely disregard the comparison of Derek to Jimmy Rollins. Yea maybe this past season the numbers were comparable but don’t ever put the name Jeter in the in the sentence as Jimmy Rollins
* As my student, the first thing we’ll look at this in this class is something Major League Baseball likes to refer to as On Base Percentage, or OBP. Please make note of this as I will require you to begin to appreciate a stat such as this moving forward in the future courses that I will be teaching you. The OBP of a player is a vital cog in helping opposing pitchers, managers, team owners and of course the fans, to determine how well a player can potentially help his team offensively. And hey, lets be honest, no team is going to feel confident that they will score in any given inning if the player at bat (AB) has a par or sub-par OBP. Clearly this first comparison shows us that Derek Jeter’s OBP is roughly 11% higher/better than the #1 ranked MLB short stop. OBP is HUGE ! Don’t forget it !
Carlos Guillen – OBP (lifetime) .346
Derek Jeter – OBP (lifetime) .385 *Note, Alex Rodriguez OBP (lifetime) .381, Garciaparra OBP (lifetime) .370
* As a result of your needing your hand held through the aforementioned in an elementary fashion, I’m going to need to speed things up with regard to the following. Please hang in there because we’ll review the upcoming data in our next class to make sure you’re up to speed and your fully understanding of this first chapter of this course.
* Next we look at BA or Batting Average. BA is something I know you are familiar with so I will elude defining how BA’s work. While BA’s are very important, they are not everything. Although they do help in defining how good a ballplayer is. The numbers below, once again, broken down into two types: lifetime and four year averages, empirically suggests the Derek is again the better batter. In 2004 Jeter was below his norm, but with that said, one cannot define how good a player is by examining just one particular year of a player’s stats.
Carlos Guillen – BA (four year) .278 (lifetime) .277
Derek Jeter – BA (four year) .306 (lifetime) .315 *Alex Rodriguez BA (lifetime) .305, Garciaparra BA (lifetime) .322, props go out to Nomar. Oh by the way, none of the top seven short stops in the majors this year even come close to Jeter’s lifetime BA of .315 ! Taaa Dowwww!
* Now we move on to fielding errors also known in baseball as (E). As compared to the rest of the MLB short stop leaders. Derek consistently, year after year, continues to net the ball better than anyone else in baseball. Also, sorry to inform you that Derek won the Golden Glove Award for 2004 Short Stops. Moving on, here are the numbers:
Carlos Guillen – E (135 games played, referred to as: GP) 17
Derek Jeter – E (154 games played, referred to as GP) 13 *Quick note, 17 errors compared to 13 results in a whopping 30% higher error percentage. Nearly a 3rd more errors…….a 3rd…….. UUUUgly !
* And finally for today’s class we look at important aspect of baseball stats that isn’t promoted as a number which defines how good a ballplayer is. On the contrary however, this statistic is one of those things that fans and players alike hate to hold a high average in. This is what I call the, “Morale Assassinator.” AKA the SOP or Strike Out Percentage. Players with high SOP’s are the ones that you know deep, deep down that there is a real good chance, especially against a good hurler, that that batter will straight-up whiff and break down the morale of the their teammates and fans. This stat is magnified even greater when a player you know with a high SOP is at bat during the final three innings of a tight game. Lets go to the numbers……….
Carlos Guillen – SOP (lifetime) 18.24%
Derek Jeter – SOP (lifetime) 17.63% * Since I feel a little guilty schooling you in the way that I have, I am going to inject other SOP examples to you can hopefully appreciate the SOP curve. Alex Rodriguez – SOP (lifetime) 20.14, Nomar Garciaparra – SOP (lifetime) 10.16, Mark Bellhorn – SOP (lifetime) 33.50.
* This brings us to the conclusion of today’s lesson. If you only learned one thing I hope you now see the stark reality that maintaining your position as an individual who cannot appreciate a great MLB short stop would be an ill-advised position for you to continue to take. I’m kinda embarrassed for you but its ok, you’re my cousin and it all good DOGGG !
Peace-Out and don’t be late for class next week.
C. Birli, close relation and mentor
My response:
I can't imagine what it must be like, as a mentor, to watch yourself surpassed by the pupil day in and day out. It must be tough to feel that pang of "over-the-hill"-itis banging against your tonsils, but mine is not to reason why, mine is but to do and die, and I don't feel comfortable dying without telling you how awfully wrong you are about one Derek Jeter. I will take this step by step so that you understand my position, and in turn, how monumentally ignorant teachers can be.
As you may or may not have noticed, the copied and pasted stat sheet I sent was sorted based on batting average. I was not suggesting that Carlos Guillen is a better shortstop than Derek Jeter (though despite what interpretive voodoo dance you do with the numbers, Guillen was a better shortstop in 2004, but that is an argument for another time). Perhaps it would be best to look at a number of your own arguments first, and from there we'll see whether or not you have passed the peace pipe onward, or whether you still insist on wallowing in the muck and mire of Jeter-dom.
The first thing we'll look at is On Base Percentage. This stat IS a better statistic than batting average, this I do not contend with. Now you're jumping between lifetime and yearly statistics. That's fine, we can work with that. Derek Jeter is consistently in the top 5 shortstops in terms of OBP, and usually at the top, that's his gig. Kudos. Let's throw a party. But there is more to a player than merely getting on base. If you're talking about shortstops that produce at the plate, Jeter is certainly capable, but not "elite." In the past 4 years, Jeter's numbers are consistently outstripped by the likes of Edgar Renteria in 2003, Nomar Garciaparra in 2000, Alex Rodriguez pretty much every year, Miguel Tejada, Rich Aurilia in 2001, and so forth. And these are, for the most part, players on vastly inferior offensive teams. For Edgar Renteria to hit 34 homeruns and score 100 times on an anemic Cardinals offense that features Albert Pujols and.. Albert Pujols, I'd say that's a better performance than Jeter hitting 310 on the Yanks. The fact is, in terms of the key production numbers, Derek Jeter is not an elite shortstop. Consistent, perhaps. Talented, surely. But elite, not a chance.
Batting average is the same as OBP. It's all well and good that he can get on base, but if he's not doing anything with that time, then how good can he really be? Randy Johnson didn't win the Cy Young this year despite a perfect game and an ERA south of 2.5, because he couldn't get his team the wins. Jeter doesn't give his team wins. He gives them opportunities, but nothing more. And all this, again, on a Yankees offense that is far superior to any other offense in the league. This, however, was not the case in the late 90s
with the Paul O'Neill, Chuck Knoblauch, Scott Brosius gang.this was a gritty team and everyone contributed. However, I would argue (not right now, but perhaps next class), that it was in those years where Jeter peaked, and has since gone on a decline, not living up to the potential he might have had.
As for fielding, there is more to fielding than errors. Put outs, double plays, chances, etc. these all combine to form what the MLB likes to call a "Fielding percentage." I, for one, don't buy into the whole "error" statistic because of its horribly offensive subjectivity. However, there is something to say for fielding percentage which takes more of the elements of being a good fielder into account. In 2004, Jeter ranked 9th (behind Jimmy Rollins, Craig Counsell, and Cesar Izturis, all shortstop heavy-weights, no?), in 2003 Jeter ranked 20th, in 2002 he ranked 13th, and in 2001 he was
12th. Does he make sparkling plays? Yes. Does he do it consistently? Sure. But does he also consistently bury his head in the dirt behind the second base? Yes. Not an elite defender. There is no question of this.
Your SOP argument is compelling, but again, he still doesn't produce. I'll take a Miguel Tejada homerun potential over a Jeter strikeout potential any day. I'd rather have a guy like A-Rod who is consistently putting wood on the ball, and also consistently driving the ball into the stands.
All of this being said, if we look at sheer offensive production numbers, Jeter ranks highly, but not high enough to warrant "elite" status as a Garciaparra or an A-Rod does. He has hit 100 RBIs once in his career, and although he scores more than 100 runs a year, so does Garciaparra and A-Rod, and A-Rod has never had any protection in his lineups. In terms of all around players (offense and defense), I'd still choose iron-hands Nomah over Jeter any day of the week (A-Rod being the clear favorite, and Miguel Tejada, who is finally coming in to his own, a third choice). All of these
players have comparable or better fielding percentages than Derek, and all of them outstrip the offensive production of Jeter.
Anyway, I hope this finally alleviates the mental block that you have put on yourself. Accepting Jeter's second-tier status and moving forward with your life seems like a great way to finally prove to the world that Chris Birli is no chump.. At the very least your pupil won't be so disappointed in his selection of mentors.
Aaron "the Bitch Slapper" DeRosa
His response:
First off you used the word "elite" not me, so as the judge would say to the jury.....please bar that from the record. I put Ozzie Smith in the classification of elite short stop, even though he too had a lifetime BA less than Jeter's. Why you try to inject words into my mouth puzzles me. Ohh wait, I got it, its because your treading water and all you can do is attempt to try to inflate the position that I'm taking.
To refresh your memory: You expressed that if Derek Jeter was playing anywhere other than New York he would just be viewed as "pretty good." I responded by proving to you evidential statistics that you are flat-out incorrect sir. Every short stop you brought to the table in both of your weak-ass emails, with the exception of Nomar, all fell below Jeter in the lifetime BA numbers.............as well as OBP, where even Nomar fell short of Jeter's number. And when you use the poor excuse of the Yankee's "loaded lineup" and compare them to the lineups behind the other players you list, as a cushion for Jeter to do well, don't even think of bringing that whole, "on vastly inferior offensive teams" bullshit. Let me explain something to you as an individual who was bustin-out 350 foot home runs in the 7th grade, and not playing bad mitten in my backyard versus my neighbors pet hamster....like your unfortunate self. When a baseball / softball / cricket batter enters that box, baby its you against the hurler, and absolutely nothing or nobody else. There exists no excuses for a batter, so don't forget it! What Jeter does to accomplish a substantially higher BA and OBP as compared to virtually every short stop you listed is simply due to his know-how and batting talent......with a little touch of ice water in the veins. It has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of his team. Batting is 'mano y mano,' and again don't even forget it! Tattoo it to your redheaded ass if you'd like.
In closing, as I unwillingly prepare to depart for a business trip that is getting in the way of showing my former student and now my redheaded step-child the best way to understand why somewhere in the chasms of the labyrinth of your pea-headed mind, you need to unlock your love and appreciation for Derek Jeter. I know you can do it.... keep trying, just put the December issue of Hustler down, step away from your bucket of vaseline stashed away in your closet and go turn out the lights in your bedroom, lie down and try your best to tap into that part of your mind where you and I both know Derek is there waiting for you to embrace him. So as I go now I leave you with this: In golf, tennis, basketball, football, hockey, soccer, and yes even bad mitten, the only thing that makes an athlete great at the respective game they play is.............you guessed it, consistency. All great players in the history of sport, from Jim Thorp to Pele' and Mickey Mantle, all needed to be consistent at an above average level in order to achieve the status of 'great' at what they do. Sure they find themselves on different levels of greatness, but the key to achieving greatness is to be consistent. BTW you used the word 'consistent' in your last email eight times! Hmmmm, wonder if consistency really is a trait entwined into the fiber of all great athletes? I appreciate your confirming that for me, as I will sleep well tonight knowing that you and I both understand that consistency is the key to greatness....not just in sport, but in life....thanks buddy, You-Da-Man!
Sincerely,
Your very understanding
Step-Daddy
My response:
I inject words in your mouth because the one's you're using are stupid. Leave it to a Birli to latch onto a single microbe of an argument (the equivalent of a misspelling or a split infinitive perhaps) and milk it dry like $10 call-girl on a pack of Luckys. I'll try using sign language this time... they say the hearing is the first to go, old timer.
Use any adjective you would like, "elite," "superstar," "great," "pretty good," "adequate," "dismal," "pathetic," "Jeter".... it doesn't matter. He's New York hype... that's all he is. He's a no-name if he plays for the Phillies (though, he was practically interchangeable with Jimmy R this past year, just thought i'd mention that again). You're still stuck on this whole BA/OBP kick. Sure... those are Jeter's strong suits... but what's he DOING with those trips to first? Nothing. He scores a 100 times a year? so did 38 other people this year (Brad Wilkerson even outshined DJ). What else does he do? he's not a base-stealing threat (though he COULD be), he's not a homerun threat (though he COULD be), he's not an RBI man (though he bats second and third in the lineup), and he's nothing special in the field (a position that you were adamant about, though you let that one fall by the wayside--curiouser and curiouser). The point is that there are other shortstops who outperform him, and i'm not just talking power numbers, i'm talking PRODUCTION numbers. Comparable batting averages, comparable runs, but more ribbies, more homers, more hits, more total bases... Nomar, A-Rod, Tejada... they outproduce Jeter year in and year out. You want to talk about Jeter's consistency? Let's see it? What does he consistently do? Get on base? then what? nothing... he consistently does nothing. And that's the ball game.
And to go back to an argument in your first email briefly, you mentioned strikeouts and specifically how they are rally-killers... Jeter grounded into 19 double plays this year... 2 more than Alex Gonzalez of the Marlins, and third most among shortstops. He also strikes out more than you'd care to admit. His BB/K ratio is ranked 15th... right next to my man Kaz Matsui. If this is the company you root for, then by all means, root for him. I'm just saying that for my money, i'll stick with the production rather than the hype of a media monstrosity known as NYC.
And when you bring up this macho maimy bullshit about "mano a mano" like you're Al Capone gunning down bootleggers in the 20s, pardon me while i jam this shiv into my leg to keep from vomitting laughter all over your precious Gucci 3-button... maybe in tee-ball or whatever it was you thought you were good at when the ball inched for 30 seconds through the strike-zone or when pitchers were throwing heat no matter who was at the plate, that sort of isolationist dogma might have flown, but when you've got a pitcher out there whose working for 7 innings and trying to figure out how to pitch to whom and what for and whose on deck, you're god damn right it matters what team you're on... why do you think Bonds got intentionally walked something like 60 times more than any team combined? because alone he's dominant, but there's no one around him whose any threat. Put Bonds on the Yankees next year and watch him SMASH the homerun record. No one's gonna walk him to get to Sheffield and A-Rod... So how bout you sit your cricket-sniffing ass back down on the "short bus" and lick some scotch tape.
Sincerely,
Your Big Papi
More to come (no doubt)... | | |
| For those of you who did not see the other night the brawl that took place between the Pacers and the Pistons, read this article: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1927380
It's despicable. What's more despicable is the article's slant against Artest. To be honest, if i were Artest, I would have done NOTHING differently. He knows he's not supposed to fight so he goes and sits on the sideline. Then a fan throws a cup at him?! Damn straight he'd beat the shit out of that guy. I'm surprised he didn't hang him from the jumbotron.
And we're not talking chucking batteries at John Rocker from 50 yards away. John ROcker was a racist who insulted and provoked New York ire. Artest fouled a guy, and fans 2 feet away, start throwing bottles, cups, food and fists...
Of course Artest is going to be suspended for a long time as if he were responsible for this all and thats outrageous. The fans piled out into the court and start threatening him, so he lays them out. Fuck yeah. The moment he turns his back you know he's getting clocked in the head. Every action by Ron Artest (save the foul) was either self-defense or retaliatory (and in today's political climate, I don't know if retaliatory actions can really be frowned upon, though if they are, that's kind of interesting).
And screw the argument about "oh, they're professionals, they should show restraint." YOU trying showing restraint when someone throws something at your face. I side with the players on this. There is no excuse for this. Jermaine O'Neal was almost hit in the head by a CHAIR!! Try coming up with an excuse for that. Ron Artest tried to get off the court and fans were hurling shit at him, his coaches had to cover his head and act as personal shields.
This is about as unprofessional as Don Zimmer rushing Pedro Martinez, or those two drunks rushing the Royals first base coach. Absolutely you retaliate. There are repercussions for our actions, and a basketball game is no different. And I swear to God, if (and when) these fans sue the NBA, i'll be at the courtroom with bells on screaming for these people's heads on a pike.
Thoughts? | | |
| Alright, so now that my GRE subject test is out of the way, I'll be posting more regularly. My first story/rant comes from my trip home from Bucknell to Boston... I'm travelling through the construction in Hartford and in front of me is an oversize load flatbed truck... Color me reactionary, but doesn't it seem kind of ludicrous to construct something that can't be transported in the normal lane of traffic? I think next time i buy a car, it's going to take up two full lanes... It will have a pool table in the back. It'll be flat like a pancake, but so help me god its going to block two lanes of traffic. If you're building something you know you have to transport... MAKE THE OBJECT SMALLER! Cut it in half or something. This particularly object (must have been a cooling unit of some sort, was wider than the width of a car, but not very tall at all... why not flip the fucker on its side? That seems like a reasonable solution, no?
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| It is November 3. Kerry has lost the election. I'm not sure what's scarier for me... the fact that Bush has won, or the fact that despite losing the popular vote by over 4 million, Kerry came 200,000 votes from winning the election. This system is pathetic.
Anyway, since I enjoy making predictions and I need to undergo some sort of catharsis, this is my semi-objective prediction for the next 4 years.
1) Bush will have the opportunity to appoint anywhere from 1-3 Supreme Court Justices. If there is more than 1 spot open, Bush would be in a position to radically alter the balance of power in America in a situation very similar to Star Wars and the training of Anakin Skywalker
2) The economy will improve.
3) The education system will be in shambles
4) Health care will not change
5) There will be no substantial changes in social security
6) We will drill in Alaska rather than making the switch to clean sources of energy.
7) The ban on gay marriages will NOT go through, despite tremendous popular support through the country and Bush's personal moral outrage at homosexuality.
8) Roe v. Wade will NOT be repealed
9) THere will be no draft
10) Democrats will not retake COngress or the White House for another decade.
11) The defecit will nearly quadruple
12) Environmental law after environmental law will be repealed
13) AMerica will make few significant advances in science and technology, specifically in terms of stem cell research. Our top scientists, instead, will go overseas.
Thats all I've got right now. Perhaps more to come. | | |
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