Derek Jeter’s MVP Case – By The Numbers
Posted by Steve L. on November 20th, 2006 · Comments (12)
Stats from this season via The Hardball Times and FanGraphs:
Ortiz, as always, had Ramirez to help him. Mauer had Morneau to help him. Who did Jeter have to help him? Giambi?
Giambi batted .233 in May, .186 in July, and .192 in September. That’s not much help. In fact, Giambi batted .204 this season when he batted third in the line-up.
I can’t say that Jeter will win the MVP this season. Nonetheless, if he does win, anyone who says that he did not deserve it is talking without looking at the stats.
The hard, cold, facts – meaning sabermetrics – clearly state Jeter’s case for winning the award.
Oh, Steve. Don’t you know the naysayers’ gibes will always supercede cold, hard evidence? No doubt we’ll hear ad nauseum over the next few decades how Jetah robbed Ah-teez.
It’s funny, I went to the joyofsox to go and read his analysis on his blog and there’s no way he would have voted for Jeter.
Ah, yes, but statistics lie. I watched all of the games and I just know that Jeter did not have an MVP season last year. (I saved MJ the trouble of posting.)
A classy, unprovoked shot at me from a small-minded homophobe.
By all means feel free to search through all of the comments I’ve posted here and show me one time where I said a) that Jeter doesn’t deserve the MVP or b) that all stats are bad and that statistical analysis should be done away with.
Jon, let me know where I should send my email address. You can either write to me to apologize or you can tell me where to meet you so and I can settle this in a far less mature manner. I assure you that I’m not joking.
The basic premise, that these hitters did or didn’t have someone “protecting” them in the order is flawed.
Steve, if you’re going to bring up Giambi’s ‘protection factor’ for certain months don’t forget to factor in Manny’s mediocre September and Morneau’s mediocre April and May protecting Mauer.
I think each of them are worthy candidates with no one heads and shoulders above the other.
Hey MJ,
Why don’t you lighten up? I was just kidding around.
But, that homophobe charge is just plain idiocy. I support gay rights more than anyone – full marriage rights, etc. Speculating about one’s sexuality does not make someone a homophobe. In fact, the liberal in me wishes that Jeter actually were gay. I think that there is no current star athlete who could better handle the fallout from coming out than Derek Jeter.
I still think you should email MJ. He wants to go all unmature on you. Whatever that means.
Guys, please, play nice. I just started the new job this week and am stressed enough.
RICH – Fair point. But, Giambi was MIA for 3 months – almost 1/2 the season. Were the others that bad for that long?
Raf – I said “help” – not “protection.” By help, I mean that they had another hitter on their team who was a consistent great performer. So, if it’s hard to say they were the best performer on their own team, how can you say they were the best in the league?
Steve,
Good luck on the new job. It’s impressive that you’re even posting at all this week.
And, MJ, I apologize for offending you.
jonm – thanks for apologizing.
impressive this week? probably more like nuts!
I can sympathize, Steve. I started a new job a month ago and it is getting in the way of my web surfing, too.
F- work. We should start our own software company and it is centered around strictly baseball – I have no idea where to go after that very high level idea. Baseball is the only thing that keeps me motivated – women also keep motivated.