My First Baseball Post of 2008

The only way my first baseball post of 2008 could be better would be if it were theorizing about the chances of a Cleveland Indians repeat. However, as they discovered a strange new hell for me and countless others to suffer through last year (3-1?? YOU COULDN'T WIN ONE MORE FUCKING GAME?????), I'll have to settle for posting about Mr. Clutchiosity himself. A new study that evaluates defensive studies based on statistics confirms what many baseball fans who actually use their heads to THINK have always known: Derek Jeter's defense sucks.

While it's always fun to add to the arsenal of arguments against frothing Jeter fans ("look at his clutchness! But he's a captain! World Series! Clutch hits. clutch Clutch CLUTCH!!!!!!ONE!!!!111!!!!), I generally stay out of the fray because trying to convince Yankee fans that Jeter is not, in fact, the second coming, is like trying to convince my mother-in-law that Lula is not the devil - it's just not going to happen.

However, I can't help but jump in this time. Winter often provides us with a respite from the Yankeedolatry, and the first violent Yankee freakout each spring is like the sun breaking through again. And the sun has broken out, thanks to the New York Post's absolute freakout over this statistical, reasoned study. Refusing to believe a bunch of "professors" at some good "university" like "Penn," New Yorkers (and the Post) fall back on a bunch of typically arrogant-yet-whiny "what are they smoking"/"look at his character!!!!"/"But he's the CAPTAIN"/"YOU'RE WRONG YOU'RE WRONG I KNOW WHAT'S REAL YOUR PANTS ARE ON FIRE STOP YOUR LIES MISTER POOPIE HEAD!!!!" type arguments.

Who needs statistics when you have such STRONG arguments as to Jeter's greatness? In some ways, die-hard Yankee fans of this type (and there are Yankee fans who actually do follow stats and are aware that nobody is perfect, even if they are few) really remind me of the current Republican administration and its followers - "statistics" and "data" must be ignored at all costs if they actually put your sanctity and sanity in question.

(And as the guys at Fire Joe Morgan say, "Although I've learned nothing yet about this junky "science" study and of course I will learn nothing further by reading the rest of the article (thank you, Post!)." So for an actual explanation of the ratings system, see this article, via dday in this comment thread).