Monday, June 13, 2011

Captain Jetes, Honus Wagner, and Great Moments in Ignorance

By The Common Man

This Sporting News article, and writer Stan McNeal, purports that Derek Jeter may just be the best shortstop of all time (h/t to Craig Calcaterra).  He also suggests that "Wagner never was regarded as a great defensive player," which is like saying that Lou Gehrig wasn't ever regarded as tough, Ty Cob never seemed cranky, and Stan NcNeal is not a sycophant.  In other words, it's blatantly and demonstrably untrue. 


Perhaps, then, today is a good day to just link to TCM's Top 40 Shortstops in baseball history, and let you read up.  Spoiler alert!  Captain Jetes is not #1.  Enjoy.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Which Sporting News article? Did you mean to hyperlink to it?

The Common Man said...

Indeed, TCM meant to. Thanks for catching that. Updated.

Theo said...

Just to play devil's advocate, you could argue that it's much harder to stand out in the modern game, with larger talent pools, modern health, bigger leagues, etc. (just look at how many of the largest WAR totals came from the game's early days). Granted, that still isn't enough to put him at the top, and that also doesn't explain away Ripken or Yount (although you can easily say A-Rod will finish a third baseman). But I'm sure with enough arguing, weight on postseason performance, etc., I can at least see how Jeter would be in the discussion.
I think he's probably around the top ten or so, myself.