If Jeter is great, is Ray Durham great? - (written 6/21/06)

All I ask is to look at Jeter vs. Durham. Look them up, they both played 11 seasons around the same at bats. Please be objective, its a good debate. Durham played on bad teams, Jeter batted second in 10 great Yankee lineups. If you are objective you will be surprised that Durham and Jeter are close, but nobody will EVER say that Durham is great, neither will I. And Jeter is no Robin Yount, Jeter can never win an MVP....ever. And WS MVP? so was Pat Borders. Jeter will be in the HOF, no doubt, but for the 3000 hit automatic entry. 3000 hits is tough and Jeter will do it, but in my opinion its a soft 3000, he didnt develop into the offensive player they thought after his great 1999 season.

"Jeter always plays great against Boston", the media has it wrong again. - (6/15/06)

Just wanted to keep you guys updated on the Jeter pool. After Arod started 10 homers and 29 RBI in the first 3 weeks, I asked when everyone thought Jeter would touch those numbers. My pick was August 3rd., but many of the others have nice picks. John Relay came in with "Jeter doesn't even hit 10", a bold one. Smod is looking at September 1st for Jeter's 10th. All of these predictions for "the best player in the game". I might as well repeat this because you guys love to switch it: Derek Jeter is a good player. I do not hate Derek Jeter. You guys overrate Derek Jeter. That's all. I watched the Red Sox series. Jeter didn't have a good series, not bad, but not good. He made a few bad errors, and went about 3 for 16. Not many articles in the paper yesterday or today about..."Jeter ALWAYS plays great against Boston", or "don't have to worry about Derek in these big series, bigger the game, the bigger he plays". After those 2 errors, thank God we didn't have to read that made up crap. Jeter had 2 bad series against Boston in the LCS, but you never read it. But, this is where power and run production come in. His home run was big. It gave them the lead. 3 for 15 didnt matter, because the home run put his team in position to win. It was Scott Doctor or whatever who couldn't hold it. Posada, Varitek, Lowell, Jeter, Arod, etc all hit home runs that turned the games around on a dime. Who cares what these guys did the rest of the series? These homers were huge. And speaking of "power isn't important"...where did all the David Eckstein emails go? I check my mailbox everyday for emails telling that Eckstein does all the little things for his team to win. Someone let me know when Larussa has him in the 10 or 11 hole, because Larussa can't find a spot for him...leadoff...second....sixth...now eighth......only one more place to go.

Some observations: Jeter is now down to 13th in you guys favorite category: batting average. That's in the AL rankings. We all agree, he is the BEST player in baseball. He is 34th in RBI, 20th in runs scored, 32nd in doubles, 26th in OPS, and forget slugging, etc. he's non-existent. Don't you think the greatest player in the game should crack some categories? Now I know numbers don't matter, its field presence. I also know that Arod is not clutch, and if he is clutch it has to be against Boston. If it is against Boston, it has to be a walkoff. And if it is a walkoff, it has to be in the playoffs. If it is in the playoffs, it has to be in the clinching game. And if it is in the clinching game, it better be off Papelbon or Okijima.....and on and on and on....

PS Singles are nice, but what separates good players from great players is Arod's 0-2 right center field missile off of Papelbon to give them the game. Only a certain amount of players can do that.

PSS Jeter got up last night against Bobby Jenks, down 6-4 and a guy on first. Not a worry in the world, a grounder to short.PSSS Anyone see Arod's numbers versus Boston over the last 4 of 5 series? maybe he is "stepping it up"???? just a thought I still love you guys.

Love always, Joe Bruno
Crack Committee Member of the Year 2005, 2006

Goes 12 games without an RBI, yet media says "He's Smoking" - (4/20/07)

I don't want to get into this Jeter thing again, but I just wanted to update my fellow Crack Committee members on the continued brilliance of the New York media. In today's New York Post, they did a player vs player analysis of Yankees/Red Sox over the weekend. When you get to shortstop, the Post, year after year, always says things like, "Jeter here in a landslide", "Jeter of course has a big edge", but today was tremeundous for laughs. Us committee members over here at my work, , were laughing out loud. It is on page 136, and it says: SHORTSTOP "Derek Jeter has six errors, but he is smoking at the plate." You guys still think Jeter "is smoking" this year. He has one RBI since the second game. They see .323 and think he's amazing. He has the least RBI on the Yankees among starters (tied with Melky). He is playing good, but smoking? Stand strong Committee members, the tide is turning. When Baseball Tonight is on, and Jimmy Rollins is running around, and Jose Reyes is running around, the Jeterites get that little pit in their stomach, and they curse Joe Bruno. But don't blame me, he has NOT developed into the player you all thought he was in 1999.PS: I am starting a pool, please email me your picks, and the question is: When will Derek Jeter get to 10 HR, and 26 RBI? My pick is July 3rd.

Baseball is a game of runs, not hits - (7/6/06)

No, not enough said. Do you expect Cashman to put together a team of Brosius, Leyritz, Charlie Hayes, David weathers, Graeme lloyd? Guess what, you don't make the postseason. You bring up throws that jeter made, or when Jeremy Giambi decided not to slide, but Arod's doubles, home runs, rbi's make up for that and more that Jeter's flip plays. Jeter is a very good player, plays every day, plays hard. great baserunner, good average hitter. But don't tell me he's the best player in the league. That's a joke. What is batting average if you don't drive in runs and score runs? Baseball is a game of runs. If Jeter hit .434 this year, shattering Ted Williams record, but drives in 75 runs and scores 110, is he more valuable than Manny Ramirez, Guerrero, Ortiz, Arod, Giambi who drive in 130, but hit .290? Of course not. He's a good player, but a singles hitter. You keep bringing up rings, and those teams were great. The Yankee teams were great, but that was 2000, what is Jeter waiting for? If he "turns it on" tell him to turn it on, hit 2 doubles, a HR, drive in 5, and take over (like Arod did last night), but, Joe .....he can't do that, he doesn't have gamebreaking talent. Why can't Jeter have the year like he had in 1998? The era of juiced balls, watered down pitching, and expansion, Jeter can't even get to 40 doubles or 20 homers. He's good, but not great. You are not allowed to criticze him, but Arod (who will break Aaron's, record, possibly the best player of all time) gets booed. I dont get it. Joe, what has Jeter's slugging percentage declined every year since 1998? You will reply: Jeter's number don't matter....but I ask, why not?

But again with the rings..... - (7/3/06)

But again with the rings.....if Jeter was the reason for the rings , why isn't his fault for not winning the last 6 years? So the rings were his doing, but its arod's fault for no rings? But how do you expect a GM to go out and get marginal players like brosius, chad curtis, leyritz, duncan when you have a chance to get Sheffield, arod, giambi, mussina, damon, pavano, johnson? Do you not bring in Arod and bring in Joe Randa? Do you pass on signing Giambi and bring in JT Snow because may have intangibles? No you bring in the best players. How do you determine best players? You look at their production over time. why isn't Tino playing anymore, shouldn't the Cardinals trade Pujols for Posada? trade a loser for a winner, sign Tino, put him at first because he's a "winner"? Of course they wouldn't. This offseason if the Yankees have an oppurtunity to bring Jason Schmidt, should they? I say of course, but you would say no, he has no rings. But doesn't Pavano have a ring? all this ring stuff is a joke, measuring players on rings?

Remember when Arod wasn't clutch? (6/26/06)

A NO BRAINER MVP: Before the season began, ESPN's Harold Reynolds (expert analyst), told us that his pick for MVP was Oakland A's shortstop Bobby Crosby. After I was done laughing at that, I welcomed in the new season. After watching Travis Hafner, Vernon Wells, Alex Rios, Joe Mauer, Troy Glaus, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, Jermaine Dye all get off to thier usual strong productive years, Harold Reynolds decided to switch his MVP pick to Derek Jeter. "Best player in the game", he proclaimed. His panel on Baseball Tonight of course remained silent. I don't have Jeter as the MVP this year. I don't even have him as the MVP in the AL East. I don't have him as the MVP of AL East teams located in New York. I don't even him as the MVP of the in field of Yankees. I don't even have him as MVP of the left side of the infield on a AL East team from New York. Can someone win the MVP with 14 home runs?

THE NEWEST EXCUSE: Over the past 11 years we've heard everything under the sun explaining Derek Jeter's statistics. We've come across his sister's health (his numbers are down because she was sick), we've heard contract discussions (numbers down because he was worried about his long term deal), health issues (his numbers are down because he is hiding injuries), we'vw heard numbers don't matter (his numbers are down because he only hits when they need him) . The last one is my favorite. Why would someone not "want" to hit if they could? Another favorite: "He doesn't hit alot of homers, but he hits them when they need them" My question is: The Yankees haven't needed them? I guess not. Another small tidbit: Since Matsui and Sheffield have been out, Jeter has 1 HR and 7 RBI over the last month. Doesn't this qualify as the "step it up" moment these maniacs talk about on the FAN? We all know Jeter has this ability to "turn it on", and "step it up when the lights are on" We are all waiting.THE NEW STAT CATEGORY: The WFAN callers have a new stat category. For years they've been trying a find a category where Jeter tops Arod. The rings category is always a favorite of mine. Arod played on the Mariners and Rangers, 2 towns that haven't won. If Jeter was in Texas or Seattle, they would still not have won, any sane human can say that. But, getting back, the Yankee fans' new category: LATE INNING PRESSURE SITUATIONS. They call and try to sound intellectual. They try to sound baseball savvy. This stuff is great, "Hi, Mike and Chris, I was looking at Arod's numbers, he's 4 for 39 in late inning pressure situations" "We know all about it", Francesa says. The guy feels all smart because he found this website telling him Jeter IS better than Arod. He is relieved, he was starting to struggle to find Jeter's greatness. He knows the 4 ring thing is getting stale because we are in 2006 now. Every time the Yankee fan puts on SportsnetNY he sees Jose Reyes running around the bases, knocking down balls in the hole, stuff like that. So he's has found his new savior......the Late inning Pressure situation stat category. A simple search on the internet turned this up:
2005 Late inning Pressure: Derek Jeter was 19 for 72 a .264 clip. Had 11 RBI. 7th inning and later: He was 44 for 181 with 23 RBI, a .243 clip.

2004 Late inning Pressure: Derek Jeter was 14 for 61 a .230 clip. Had 11 RBI. 7th inning and later: He was 43 for 181 with 21 RBI, a .238 clip.

2003 Late inning Pressure: Derek Jeter was 8 for 46 a .174 clip. Had 3 RBI 7inning and later: .200 blah, blah, blah, you get the point

Now, you will never hear this anywhere. You are not allowed to hear this. If you call the FAN with these numbers, they will hang up and will hear 4 rings. Arod's stats are allowed to be dissected, anything Jeter related is off limits. Derek Jeter is a very good player. The reason why his numbers lag behind the great players is his extra base hit power. He does not have it. He does not hit alot of doulbles, triples, or home runs. You can TRY to tell me he does, but he doesn't. He is a good player on a good team. Hitting singles gets you to first base. Hitting singles with a guy on first, puts that guy on third. There aren't many RBI. Why do Hafner, Ortiz, Pujols score alot of runs? Are they fast? Great hitters score runs because they are among the leaders in Total bases, singles, doubles, triples, homers. Yankee fans used to love the Runs Scored category. They don't say much about that anymore, because during A-Rod's "pathetic 2006", he still has more runs scored.

CRACK COMMITTEE TIDBITS: I heard Ken Singleton say this about the Yankee lineup the other night, "With Matsui and Sheffield out, the power hitters are now: Arod, Giambi, Posada, and Jeter"......he has 5 HR, Ken.................Ever notice when Jaret Wright has a 1-2-3 inning, Suzyn Waldman can't wait to say things like, "Jaret is showing glimpses of his young days with Cleveland" My question is "Jaret Wright was good with Cleveland?"...............David Wright is in the middle of stretch that Derek Jeter can never and will never be at.......David Wright has no rings........If I could talk to David Wright or his agent I would tell him to stop hitting right now. If he wants to make it in this town and be a legend among Joe D, Mantle, Ruth, Gerhig, and Jeter, stop right now at 18 and 65.............. The Mets winning this division by 15 games is worrying me, because the first round against the 85 win Dodgers has upset written all over it............... If Andy pettite is a "money" pitcher, why isn't he stopping these Astro losing streaks (the answer is: no such thing as a money anything)................After watching Johnny Damon the first few months: He is no doubt a better offensive player than Jeter..............As always I welcome the 4 ring email. I also welcome the the "get a life" email. I know this is beating the dead horse, but do you guys see it yet? I still love you all, great friends of mine............

Reggie Jackson's LCS numbers were terrible, why? - (10/10/06)

I know that this is a stretch, but I feel that sometimes this Mr. October thing for Reggie gets taken a little too far. Nothing against Reggie, I just do not believe in any "big game player" theories. Francesa and Russo were analyzing Reggie's World sreies numbers and just drooling. Mike was saying things like, "when the big game came, Reggie was ALWAYS there" I'll probably get screamed at for this, but Reggie hit .227 with 20 RBi in 163 at bats in the LCS. Were these games not "big"? Reggie was great, but I think I can rebut all these stupid "money player" things. Reggie went nuts in the World series but did not hit in the LCS, now which is it? I think if there are bad numbers along with good numbers, there is NO theory. there is no such thing as a "big game player" I am a Bill James theorist, am I wrong?11 Lg Chmp Srs 6-5 45 163 16 37 7 0 6 20 17 41 .227 .298 .380 5 World Series 4-1 27 98 21 35 7 1 10 24 15 24 .357 .457 .755