Derek Jeter: Defensive Butcher

Bill James and nine of his statistically inclined buddies conducted a study in which they watched every ball hit this year by MLB batters. They then examined the defensive result (or lack thereof) that occurred after the ball was hit. They used this study to determine overall defensive effectiveness.

The most interesting result?

Derek Jeter came out as the worst defensive SS in baseball.

Now this isn't the first time Jeter came out on the short end of these defensive studies. Granted, they are FAR from infallible, but over and over this guy ends up at the bottom! There HAS to be something to that, despite the fact that meat-headed Yankee fans will swear he's Ozzie Smith only better looking.

However, this is neither here nor there for the purposes of this blog. I've sworn Derek Jeter was an overrated player for years, a sentiment echoed by MLB players when they named himthe most overrated player in baseball in a fairly recent SI poll.

Cutting to the chase, Boomer and Carton were talking about this study this morning, and it was truly great radio. Carton mentioned the results of the study, and Boomer replied with, "Yeah but that study doesn't measure the intangibles."

You're right Boom. The study doesn't measure the "intangibles" because, get this: THEY DON'T FUCKING EXIST!!!!!!111!!!!111!!! For the love of God, why is this such a difficult idea to accept? You can't just make shit up and pass it off as truth. Prove to me that Derek Jeter provides "intangibles." Please, just show me some factual evidence. You won't be able to do it, so it makes it an unwinnable argument for someone who disagrees with you. It's hokey, cliche'd crap. For YEARS statisticians have been saying Derek Jeter sucks defensively, what's more they have been BACKING IT UP with statistical proof that he does, in fact, suck at defense. And these stubborn idiots flat out refuse to even acknowledge the possibility that these studies just might have a little bit of merit. They'll even go further, and attack the men who conduct such studies, calling them "stat geeks" and "nerds" and "pussies who never played the game."

So then Boomer got on his soapbox about "clubhouse leadership" and garbage like that. Carton responded with "I am convinced that all of you guys who actually played the game make this crap up. Show me a team that's winning and I'll show you 9 leaders on that team."

Truer words have never been spoken.

"Clubhouse leadership," "chemistry", "intangibles" and all of that other shit is just BS that helps people like Bill Plaschke and Jon Heyman collect paychecks. On this blog, we have a simple mantra: Prove it to be true, and we'll believe you.