The Bronze Glove

It was the first Friday night basketball game my senior year of high school. I had long since quit basketball but I attended a bunch of the games to watch some of my good friends who were still on the team.

My high school was playing the school of my good friend, who we will call J-Murder, a kid who used to go to our school.

Midway through the third quarter, J-Murder, a Bo Outlaw type, caught an elbow to the nose. J-Murder's nose started to bleed, just a little bit. But then I saw it. See, me and Murder go way back and I have always known him to be a kid who wants to showcase his toughness. Whether it was how much he could drink or how much he could lift, he had something to prove.

I'm not trying to knock the guy by any means -- he's one of the best... But what did J-Murder proceed to do? He took the little bits of blood gushing from his nose and wiped it all over his face...

This kid was tough.

This story triggered a comparison in my head as I watched last night's game 4. With 1 out in the 9th inning of yesterday's game Juan Uribe made a tremendous play...

He dove into the stands to make the catch on a Chris Burke pop up. This was a huge play in a 1-0 game, but it was also an amazing play. It didn't seem possible when the ball was coming down, but he made it look easy. So what did Uribe do. He got up, threw the ball to Joe Crede and ran back to his position.

I rewind about a year to this call:

"A fly ball just foul down the left field line...Jeter is under it, and makes the play....and wait, Jeter is still running, and look...He just dove into the crowd...WHAT A WARRIOR!!!"

Jeter's play was annointed as one of the grittier plays of our time, even though it was unneccesary. You can look back at the tape for yourself here: http://derekjeter.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/players/jeter_derek/multimedia/index.jsp -- just scroll down to the "2004 Video Highlights" and click on "7.01: Catch in Stands vs. BOS". What's amazing is how Deej caught the foul ball some 5 feet in foul territory and could have easily stepped to his right and allowed his momentum to carry him up the left field foul line, but instead decided to dive into the stands.

(Incidentally, if you'd like a clip of someone diving into the stands when they actually need to, you can see David Wright doing just that by clicking on the following link and scrolling down to the highlights from June 18: http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/multimedia/tp_archive.jsp?c_id=nym&ym=200506).

I bring all this up because I have been dying to write an article about how bad a defensive player Derek Jeter is.

Sure he is tall and yes he has patented the jumpman Jeter (which makes the women of New York go crazy) but this guy is flatout a below average defensive player.

He has an average arm and subpar range, but when he throws and runs to his left, yes, he looks like a leader...

In a number of defensive statistics created by Stats. Inc, to measure a player's defensive efficiency, Jeter ranks in the middle or below amongst all other American League shortstops.

Range Factor: 12th, 4.46

Range Factor = (Putouts + Assists) x 9 divided by Defensive Innings Played

Range Factor, simply stated, is the number of plays MADE per game at the fielding position. It is better than Fielding Average in several respects: It can be calculated for almost any player this century and it takes into account the fielder's own ability to get to a batted ball -- thereby rewarding the more gifted players at each position. Note that players can only be meaningfully compared to other players of the same position when using this statistic, and early in the season numbers are often skewed as players chances are not yet normalized.

Zone Rating: 8th, .847

This statistic tracks the locations of EVERY hit ball for EVERY game played. The Zone Rating (ZR) system is different because the area of responsibility, or zone, for each fielder is considered a "playable" area and does not account for balls hit into a "Bermuda Triangle", a "No Man's Land" or other impossible-to-field balls. A fielder that turns a double play is credited with 2 outs in the ZR system as their play on the ball actually resulted in both outs versus Defensive Average which only credits the 1 out.

STATS, Inc. books area available at every bookstore and their work is updated on a yearly basis for player comparisons.

These stats show a couple of things.

Most importantly they help to highlight why Jeter's defensive celebrity is so unwarranted.

These stats are statisticians' more complicated ways of showing that Jeter lacks range. A ground ball in the hole that forces him to field and do the jumpman on is a ground ball that most other SS' make look routine. His reaction to the ball is slower which forces him to make a more difficult play.

Second, whereas Derek Jeter needs to run and then keep running to make his "heroic catch," Juan Uribe can get under the ball, set himself and make a play.

Unfortunately inefficency gets you on Wheaties boxes whereas skill finds you in baseball annonymity. Flash is better than skill...Thats New York for you, I guess.

That said, I just wanted to congratulate the Yankees on a 5th straight World Series Championship-less year.

Time to start talking Konerko and Burnett... You guys definitely deserve them.

Kind of slow today but needed to get this one off my chest.

true,

Sippy Momo