04/20/24
May 05, 2014
SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
With a .240/.311/.271 batting line and (more so than usual) sub-par fielding, this is probably not the way Jeter wants to be remembered by his friends/fans.
posted by grum@work at 08:44 AM on May 05, 2014
Anyone having this Jeter in their book of memories 10 years from now is not a baseball fan. Babe Ruth hit .181 for the Boston Braves in '35. Aaron hit .232 his last two years with Milwaukee. Mays, Halladay, Bob Gibson, Alomar - lots of greats had completely forgettable ends to their careers.
So long as he's a class act and his piss is clean all year, Jeter's memories are already forged.
posted by dfleming at 12:19 PM on May 05, 2014
Anyone having this Jeter in their book of memories 10 years from now is not a baseball fan.
Why not? It's the last two seasons (2013-14) people have watched.
It's the same as when Steve Carlton stumbled around the league for a couple of seasons at the end of his career.
Mays, Halladay, Bob Gibson, Alomar - lots of greats had completely forgettable ends to their careers.
Agreed, and it adds a bit of tarnish to the wonderful careers they've had.
Some players know when it is time to go:
Ted Williams, Tom Henke, Will Clark, Larry Walker, Chipper Jones
After getting injured in his final playoff game, Jeter could have decided that was the end (carried off on his shield, so to speak) and finished with a very nice last season for a 38-year-old.
I can understand him wanting to come back and end things on his own terms, so I forgive him for his attempt in 2013.
The difference between the guys you listed and Jeter, is that they only had ONE horrible final season. Jeter is working on his second one right now.
Edit: Alomar had a couple of terrible ones at the end (and the aborted return during spring training). Does Jeter really want his end of career to be compared to Alomar's?
posted by grum@work at 02:16 PM on May 05, 2014
The difference between the guys you listed and Jeter, is that they only had ONE horrible final season. Jeter is working on his second one right now.
Hank Aaron hit .234/12/60 and .229/10/35 his last two years. I think people will remember those years exist, but when you go looking for Aaron/Mays/Gibson memories, they're not going to be the ones people go for as summing up your career.
Plus, we're talking about a small sample size here. His line in 2011 after 27 games (.250, .577 OPS) is nearly identical to this year's. Couple that with last year and it's not unthinkable he's got some rust to shake off and something left to give.
That said - if it is July, and things haven't improved and the Yankees are still in the midst of a pennant run, I think the thing to do would be retire early - given it'd be sacrilegious to bench #2 no matter how he plays in his final season, it'd be pretty damn selfish to finish your PR tour at the expense of a team that's trying to grow its next group of leaders into playoff veterans.
posted by dfleming at 03:14 PM on May 05, 2014
Coach Kirk Muller Fired By Carolina Hurricanes Assistant coaches Dave Lewis and John MacLean also told to take a hike by new GM, Ron Francis.
posted by NoMich at 04:25 PM on May 05, 2014
Brendan Rodgers said the title race had one more twist in it and was proven right tonight by his own team, as they threw away a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 with Crystal Palace.
Liverpool are a point clear at the top of the table, but they have one game left, while Manchester City have two, both at home - against Aston Villa and West Ham.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 06:31 PM on May 05, 2014
Peyton Manning comes to watch his old pal Derek Jeter play one last time