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Jeter, ARod, Bonds and.... Vizquel

infielddadinfielddad10,000+ posts
I was lucky enough to spend about 4 1/2 hours at AT&T on Saturday watching these 4 future HOF'ers.
We were sitting just a fews rows up from 3B.
The ball ARod hit in the 9th was hammered, as was most everything he hit this weekend, but that one was WOW.
Jeter is truly amazing.
Bonds can play the game for a few days and play it like few others ever did.
But Vizquel is unique. Smiling from pregame to postgame and he is just amazing. As good as Jeter is defensively, he does not compare with Vizquel.
Omar makes the defensive part of the game look effortless. He is a gift to watch and, even with his plate struggles, and even with Jeter, ARod and Bonds, Omar stands out on the ball field.
I guess that is one reason I love baseball so much. It is the sport where someone like Omar can truly be recognized as a HOF player when he is on the field with bigger, stronger, faster and much higher paid guys.

'You don't have to be a great player to play in the major leagues, you've got to be a good one every day.'

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D dbg_fan1,000+ posts
Excerpted from a column by Jerry Crasnick at ESPN.

John Dewan, founder of Baseball Info Solutions, is on a mission to quantify defensive excellence in a way that fans, front office people and the statistically oriented can embrace. Since 2003, Dewan's staff has charted every ball hit in the majors and assigned it a percentage of difficulty based on direction, distance, speed and the route the ball took (ground ball, popup, fly ball, liner or "fliner"). The more plays a player converts above what the average defender would have made, the more points he receives. The more he fails to make, the more points are deducted.

The findings, released last year in "The Fielding Bible," are a testament to Adam Everett's skill. From 2003 through 2005, he received an aggregate rating of plus-76, compared to a minus-64 for the Yankees' Derek Jeter. Bill James examined the disparity in a 4½-page essay in Dewan's book and concluded that Jeter can't carry Everett's jock, never mind his glove, as a defender.

That would be a -64 to the AVERAGE fielder.

ps - To which sandbox do you refer, TR? You post with nearly as much negativity towards others on this site as BeenThere.
Last edited by dbg_fan
coach2709coach270910,000+ posts
How does John Dewan measure and place value to those players who make plays in the more pressure packed situations?

If you want to say Adam Everitt will catch more groundballs than Derek Jeter in games that don't mean that much that is fine with me. But if I am filling out a lineup card I want to put the guy at shortstop who has proven to be a winner and made the best player in the game move to a new position.

Besides you want to take the OPINION of Dewan who probably spent the majority of his life behind a calculator instead of on a baseball field.

Also, ask Everitt who is better between he and Jeter. I think his answer will surprise you.
infielddadinfielddad10,000+ posts
Actually, I happen to think Jeter is a good defensive shortstop. I know he is a Hall of Famer.
From what I have seen, Everett is terrific but you don't see him much on this Coast.
My point really related to Vizquel. He is magical with the glove and makes every play. When guys like Duane Kuiper say he is with the very best ever, including Aparicio and Ozzie, I tend to pay attention. But there still is nothing like being at field level, close to the field, and watching Omar play.
ARod was terrific on Saturday.
Bonds was terrific on Saturday.
Jeter was terrific on Saturday.
Each played like a HOF'er.
Other than the BLAST ARod hit to tie it in the 9th, I came away most impressed with Vizquel.
B BeenthereILHSBBWeb Old Timer
Just happened to see my screen name mentioned again.

I tell it like it is, dbg. No sugar coating because sugar coating just hurts kids later on as they continue playing baseball.

If you can play, you can play.

If you can't, no amount of daddy ball or mommy ball or anyone appearing on this type of website, and hyping someone or being politically correct, will help you/the kid.
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