Lupica Goes After Jeter

[brettac1]

LINK

 

Not that I think he's really very correct, but it's kind of funny to see one of the old guard NY writers actually sort of criticize Jeter:

 

This time A-Rod isn't the only one wearing the horns, as Looie Carnesecca used to say. This time the shortstop, the captain of the team, hurt the Yankees every bit as much as the third baseman did. It goes on his record with all the winning.

This one goes on him, really for the first time.

After all the hits he has gotten at this time of year, after all the plays he has made - The Flip against Oakland in 2001 is the greatest play in Yankee postseason history, which means all the Octobers - this time Jeter left even more runners on base than A-Rod did.

BUT, there's also some really funny parts:

 

Jeter got to 200 hits again during the regular season, hit .322 this year. But if you saw it, you know it was a soft .322. Even from the No. 2 hole in the order, you would think that he could have produced more than 73 RBI almost by accident. He did not.

 

Huh?

 

There is more. For the first time - and maybe this was because of a sore knee that we kept hearing about but Jeter never discussed because it is never his way to make excuses - his range in the field seemed to decline, sometimes dramatically. That got no better against the Indians. Only a scoring call more generous than the Salvation Army got him out of a bad error in the first inning of Game 3.

 

Yeah, I usually got Jete's defense confused with Ozzie Smith.

[Thurston Fluff]

A soft .322? Where can we find that? I think his purpose was to make a point that the problems of thisteam are not the manager. What better way to do that than to take the Yankee version of Brett Farve to task?

[homer]

Lupica is really a moron....and that may be an insult to morons.

[LS Brewer]

What a petty load of garbage. These New York sportswriters have such a skewed view of themselves and their own importance. I am not a Jeter apologist typically, but if this is the garbage he has to deal with, then maybe I'll become one.

[dadofandrew]

He lost all credibilty when he used a counting stat, RBI's. It isn't 1983, Mike, use numbers that mean something.

[adambr2]

This is kind of off topic, but it seems like a good time to bring it up.

 

Has anyone seen, on highlight shows over and over again, the play near homeplate where Jeter tossed the ball about 4 feet backwards to the catcher while facing the other way? A play that the New York faithful announcers hailed as being one of the greatest defensive plays you'd ever see?

 

Was that not the most overblown and overrated defensive play you've ever seen?

[pitchleague]

no, Adam, I think that was a heck of a play. It was a last ditch effort play but it worked ONLY BECAUSE JEREMY GIAMBI WAS AN IDIOT AND DIDN'T SLIDE.

 

I'm still mad at that and I'm not an A's fan.

[AdvantageSchneider]

It was Jason Giami wasn't it?

[TooLiveBrew]

Bum knee or not, "Captain Clutch" seemed more like "Captain DP" in the postseason. Just 3-17, with 3 GIDP, and an OPS of .353. Ick.

 

EDIT: Nope, it was Jeremy.

[sbrylski]

I've always thought they would have had him anyway, and Jeter actually slowed the ball down.

 

Here's the best video I can find of it, the throw looked on-line to me: http://www.ifilm.com/video/2763965

[RU Rah Rah]

This is kind of off topic, but it seems like a good time to bring it up.

 

Has anyone seen, on highlight shows over and over again, the play near homeplate where Jeter tossed the ball about 4 feet backwards to the catcher while facing the other way? A play that the New York faithful announcers hailed as being one of the greatest defensive plays you'd ever see?

 

Was that not the most overblown and overrated defensive play you've ever seen?

Much like the signing of Roger Clemens this year was such an earth-shattering event.

[bklynbrewcrew]

Jeter is the most overrated athlete in all of sports. Him winning multiple gold gloves is proof of that.

[fondybrewfan]

I didnt realize that he had good range of which he could decline from?

[crewcrazy]

Derek Jeter has never won a World Series without Paul O'Neill. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[BrewerDawg45]

Lupica taking a shot at someone? No way.

 

Whether or not Jeter is overrated or not sounds like something all of those East Coast Red Sox-Yankee dorks can decide on their time. I will say this, Jeter was the man his first five years, in all of those WS games. Has his game declined? Yes. At least Lupica is right on one front ... the Yankees didn't just lose because of just A-Rod.

[dvoiss]

Lupica is really a moron....and that may be an insult to morons.

 

I couldn't agree more. The problem is that he thinks he is god's gift to sports fans. But he is nothing more than a moron with the typical New York cockiness.

[rluzinski]

Jeter had another good year with the stick and another horrible year with the glove. Same old, same old.

[danzig6767]

Jeter is the most overrated athlete in all of sports. Him winning multiple gold gloves is proof of that.

 

I don't agree at all.Jeter will likely end up being a first ballot HOF once his career is over and he'll have deserved it.Yea he probably has been given more hype because he's a Yankee,but he's been a very good player for a long time.

As for the Gold Gloves,it's not like Jeter is the only undeserving winner over the years.There is a long list of winners of that award who got it either based on their big name or via past reputations,but it was ignored that the player is no longer as skilled defensively as they once were.

 

[Mike Felder]

no, Adam, I think that was a heck of a play. It was a last ditch effort play but it worked ONLY BECAUSE JEREMY GIAMBI WAS AN IDIOT AND DIDN'T SLIDE.

 

I'm still mad at that and I'm not an A's fan.

Giambi was a moron for not sliding, but I've seen that play a ton of times, and I still think he was safe anyway.

 

[Weirdos19]

What Lupica is saying is that Jeter should have more RBI, which may hold water with me.

 

Hitting second and hitting .322 with 600+ plate appearances?

 

 

But, that's just the NY media being the NY media. Nobody is untouchable.

 

And Jeter is horrible defensively. I watch alot of baseball at my establishment and compare Jeter's range to mine, if my barstool were at the shortstop position.

 

Sure he goes to the hole well, but does anybody recall him getting to anything behind second base? I seriously do not.

[foamboy1]

I'm not a fan of either one. Lupica is full of self-importance and I think Jeter, while a good player, is overrated to epic proportions.