As you may know, last night Derek Jeter got his 2,000^th hit. Since Jeter is treated more like the mayor of New York City instead of a ball player, it was all over the local papers. However, Newsday was the worst out of the three. What do I see on Newsday? “Mr. 2000” ON THE FRONT COVER! The headline was Mr. 2000 in big bold letters, and the page contained a picture of Jeter standing on first base.

 

Now c'mon, this is getting ridiculous. Why does he deserve to be on the front cover? The 2,000 hit plateau is not a big milestone, especially when 100 players have at least 2,400, let alone 2,000. I guarantee you that any other player who hit number 2,000 as a Yankee was not on the front cover of the papers the next day. This is why Derek Jeter is overrated; everything he does is so glorified. I really don’t know what bothers me more, ESPN covering every step that Barry Bonds takes or the New York media bowing down to every play that Jeter makes.

 

But hold on a second, I’m not done yet.  On Friday afternoon, a few hours before Jeter got his “milestone” hit, Mike Francesa and Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo were discussing the topic. Mike and the Mad Dog are radio hosts, and any sports fan that lives in tri-state area knows who they are. Mike is a HUGE Yankee fan and Dog is a HUGE Yankee hater. They went on to discuss where Jeter belongs in Yankee history.  So, Mike ranks his top 10 Yankees: Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Berra, Dickey, Ford and then says that it’s a toss up after that.  Dog went on to say, “After Jeter is finished, don’t you think he’ll be better than Berra?”

 

Whoa. Whoa, Whoa!  I’ll say it again, WHOA. I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard that. So let’s see, how many MVPs does Berra have? 3.  Jeter? 0. Berra is arguably the best catcher of all time. Is Derek Jeter arguably the greatest shortstop of all time? No.  Top 5?  No. Top 10?  Ehh, maybe when his career is finished.  Berra also played the hardest position a man can play. Jeter does have a higher career batting average, however he isn’t the run producer Yogi once was.  When he finished his career, Yogi had the most homeruns and RBI as a catcher. He still holds the RBI record.  

 

Of course, people love to talk about how great Jeter is in the post season. Yet Berra still has the most hits and doubles in World Series play, and the second most RBI. Jeter has records for the post-season, not the World Series.  Berra does have the advantage in playing in more World Series games, but he averaged almost a hit per game.  So please, Dog, next time you’re going to say something stupid like that, think before you do it.

 

 

For the record, here are my top 10 Yankees of all time.

 

Ruth

Gehrig

Mantle

DiMaggio

Berra

Dickey

Ford

Rivera

Mattingly

Jeter

 

Jackson isn’t on my list because he only played 4 years with them.