Jeter Allows for Weaknesses Around Him
Depending on how you want to look at things, at one point the Yankees had gone about 40 years without having a star shortstop. From the decline of Phil Rizzuto to the arrival of Derek Jeter, the Yankees patched together a long line of good-field/no-hit (and sometimes no-field/no-hit) shortstops. When Jeter arrived, it changed everything. In the before-Jeter era, the Yankees had to play it straight when it came to building their teams. Since his coming, Jeter has excused a multitude of sins — not that he should have been asked to do so.
Prior to Jeter's annual standout performance, the Yankees had enjoyed just a few seasons where their shortstops contributed both offensively and defensively. Phil Rizzuto won the MVP award in 1950, then rapidly declined, having his last decent season with the bat (by the standards of shortstop) in 1953. Gil McDougald was a better hitter than Rizzuto and a fine fielder, but he was rarely a regular at the position. Tony Kubek was a strong fielder but was never much with the bat. Tom Tresh won the 1962 Rookie of the Year award as the team's shortstop, batting .286 AVG/.359 OBA/.441 SLG with 20 home runs, but he was an outfielder playing the infield and it showed.
After Tresh and Kubek there were years of gloves and nongloves — Ruben Amaro; Tresh again, after his bat had died; Stick Michael; Chicken Stanley; Jim Mason, Bucky Dent and that one key home run (but little else). After that, there was increasing instability and desperation: Roy Smalley, whose glove was shot; Bobby Meacham, who once angered George Steinbrenner so badly he was demoted not one but two levels; Wayne Tolleson; Rafael Santana; Alvaro Espinoza, a good fielder who had one of the worst seasons at bat in team history when he hit .224/.258/.274 in 1990; Andy Stankiewicz; Spike Owen; Mike Gallego, and, finally, Tony Fernandez, who had the good grace to hurt himself in spring training 1996 and close down the merry-go-round.
With respect to Rizzuto, Jeter is the first true Hall of Fame claimant the Yankees have had at shortstop — Rizzuto went in for his glove, for being an important part of a great team, for being a nice guy, all qualifications that are more amorphous than Jeter's. Having a player of that ability at short, where in most games his potential for generating a run might be a third or twice as good as the opposition's shortstop, has given the Yankees a special kind of flexibility. The manager wants Joe Girardi as his catcher despite his lack of power and patience, and predilection for bouncing into a double play once ever two at bats? Jeter will make up for it. Tino Martinez is the only first baseman in the league not on steroids — and it shows? The extra offense you get from Jeter makes it disappear. Paul O'Neill is still young enough to be a warrior but too old to hit like a right fielder? Jeter can compensate.
Jeter is doing it again this year. Batting .343/.421/.479 after Saturday's 4-for-5 against the Mets, the shortstop (along with catcher Jorge Posada and third baseman Alex Rodriguez), has helped the Yankees survive Johnny Damon's ineffectiveness at two positions, Robinson Cano's long slump, Melky Cabrera's general lack of offense, and a first base crew that has slugged an aggregate .419.
What's most astounding about this is not Jeter's production, but the degree to which it's taken for granted. That is, Jeter is appreciated by the fans and Madison Avenue, and the team professes to love him, but they often haven't properly exploited the advantages he confers upon them. To a large extent, winning in baseball can be figured out by playing a childish game — my blank is better than your blank, as in "my first baseman is better than your first baseman." The more "betters" you have in a given game or season, the greater your potential to win, because what "better" really means is that your guy is more likely to come up with the big hit or big play than the other guy's. Stack up a majority of betters and you're going to win most of the time. Stack up a lineup of betters and you will dominate.
Traditionally, one of the hardest positions to find a decisive "better" at is shortstop because of the prevalence of pure glove men who play the position. The Yankees have had a lock there for a dozen years, but they've used it as an excuse to forgo acquiring standouts at other positions, opening up the league to competition where none need have existed.
It's ironic that Jeter has missed winning two MVP votes that should have gone his way. Not only did the voters miss the obvious reasons to select him, but also the more subtle one: When the Yankees decide not to have a first baseman or right fielder in a given season, they're really asking Jeter to hit for two positions. Imagine how good they'd be if he only had to play for himself.
Mr. Goldman writes the Pinstriped Bible for yesnetwork.comand is the author of "Forging Genius," a biography of Casey Stengel.
