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I was just curious where would you rank Jeter among all-time players. He has the most post-season hits of any player, he has 4 world series, Where would you rank him?
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That's extremely difficult to answer. Not sure how the ranking system would work. But he's had an outstanding career and I admire how he's handled the pressure of New York. Certainly one of the better players that I've seen in my lifetime, especially when it comes to stepping up in the clutch. - Roch

I don't dislike Philadelphia teams, with the exception of the 76ers during the Iverson Era. The Phillies are likable. Cliff Lee pitched a most impressive game on the biggest stage in Baseball -- he struck out ten and walked no one. He played with a measured pace, as if he were in a trance.

Someday, in the near future, may Guthrie, Bergesen, Matusz, Tillman, and Arrieta command a curveball similar to Lee’s last pitch to Posada. Very impressive.

The Yankees, for obvious reasons, are far from being likable. Before Game 1, I would have predicted a win for the Yankees. And, I am rooting hard for them to win because I have an agenda that transcends my natural instinct to cheer for the “Phightin’ Phillies.”

A win for the Yankees -- a team with an unfair advantage, which MLB will not address -- will underscore the incredible imbalance that “permanently” tips the scales in the A.L., especially in the A.L.E.

Two franchises in the American League East are positioned to buy players, motivated by need, or by whim. Which players do we want to add next year for the enjoyment of our fans and to further inflate our egos and coffers?

Hank says to Hal, “You know the Old Man would get a kick out of Holliday in right field; Swisher is O.K., but he doesn’t look as good as Matt would in pinstripes, plus he is the best Free Agent. And if the Red Sox drag their feet, maybe we’ll pick up Bay to replace Johnny in left; JD would be a nice bat off the bench and a pinch runner next year.”

Hal says to Hank, “Don’t forget we really, really want to sign “Doc” Halliday, but shouldn’t we pay Halliday an additional $1 million to relinquish his nickname to Holliday and pay Holliday whatever it takes to convince him to ask Halliday for his nickname and to adopt it with tears of joy for uniting him with his rightful sobriquet?

On and on it goes … leaving little chance for other teams in the A.L. to earn a Wild Card to the Playoffs, short of divine intervention or a deal with Mr. Scratch: If Your Evilness turns Michael Aubrey into Lou Gehrig for an injury-free season - in return Mr. Scratch gets a soul to be named later (STBNL).

How bad is it? The Yankees signed a player for an embarrassing amount of money when no other team was in the hunt for that player. If New York is capable of such a jaw-dropping, unnecessary demonstration of conspicuous consumption – it is incumbent on management and players to figure out how to restore balance to MLB, especially in the A.L. East

And that's all I have to say about that.

Hey Roch, who was pitching in that AFL game? That's worth noting.

Also, the next film in the ESPN 30 for 30 series is titled "Without Bias" and airs on Tuesday, Nov. 4. I want to read a post with your thoughts about Len since I think you were at the U of MD or were a recent graduate when Bias's tragic death occurred.

Roch,

What is up with those "ropes" that the pitchers are wearing around their necks? AJ has one, Joba has one.
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Just a popular necklace that a lot of players wear. - Roch

Roch, what I was referring to earlier was that you had a story to tell about an incident of some sorts with a player a few months back, but you said at the time you couldn't go into detail because the player was on the roster...thought you had a Mel Mo story.

I was at the old Yankee Stadium with my boys and enjoyed an Orioles rout of the Yankees, with Sidney Ponzon beating Jose Conteras. Jose had nothing that night and ran off the mound when removed by Joe Torre. He was traded to the White Sox three days later.

Who played right field that night for Baltimore and made a diving catch in the first inning? Jerry Hairston.

NEW RULES/OLD RULES:

Tim McCarver has got to go. He just flat-out ruins the game for anyone who has ever held a bat in his/her hands. Maybe he should do closed-circuit for old folks homes, who can't hear anyway.

Roch,

I am very excited about the future of this ball club.

We have players in our system that have 0-fer games and LOWER their averages to .340 and .368!!!

I will take that any day!!!

Thanks again for the updates.

Roch-
I just read an article on MLBTR. I am now going to vent a bit.

I just read how Chapman is really high on the Red Sox, very impressed.
Then I had to read Melewski write how its not the O's fault some Free Agents don't sign here because, despite the O's being the highest offer, they want to play for the winners.

WELL WHO'S FAULT IS THAT!!!!

I remember when the O's brought in Jimmy Key, Palmiero and Alomar in their primes, Eric Davis.
The big timers WANTED to come and play here.

It is the OWNERS and anyone left over from the years of total franchise destruction that we the few remaining fans have to suffer.
I HATE Texiera. But I still think if the O's were the O's of the mid-90's, and not a laughing stock, maybe things would be different.

Whats done is done, but some writers, and even Macphail saying "we were the high bidder", its not our fault kinda thing, is very upsetting for me and I am sure many others with orange blood.

The hitting in the AFL may be cooling off due to the very cool temperatures the last couple of days. It went from mid 80s to low 60s from Tuesday to Wednesday during the day and 40s at night. Normal is more like 80. So I'd imagine it is a big advantage for the pitchers, at least during the night games. Suppose to be back in the 80s Sat or Sunday.

That was a great game, even if the Yankees won. One of the better WS games I have seen in a while.

Hairston was always a favorite of mine. I even thought we should keep Hairston and trade Roberts at the time (I sure was wrong on that one), but he played the game hard and to me was a true Oriole. Actually, comparing Mora to Hairston, and no one is doing that, but I choose to remember Hairston as one of the better Orioles and am not crazy about Mora bashing the Orioles at times and to me I will not have fond memories of him.

All in all, this World Series has got me depressed. The Orioles can't even hold a candle to either team and I don't see it getting any better unless MLB does something about the Yankees signing everyone in town w/the name "Superstar".

Matt at JMU, I will chime in on your question. I have been discussing Jeter with several guys at work (of course a couple Yankee fans who say he is the greatest short stop of all time). I don't want to take anything away from Jeter, he is a great player and, like Roch said, you can't compare how he comes through in the clutch. But my thought is this, if he played for any other team but the Yankees, he wouldn't be given a second look by most people. I have no doubt that he will be in the Hall of Fame but I really don't know why. Compare his numbers to "good" shortstops like Tejada. He has less HR and less RBI in 2 more seasons than Tejada. Jeter will probably end up with 3000 hits but thats the only thing on his resume that impresses me.

The WS rings only come because he plays for Yankees, all the hype only comes because he plays for the Yankees. Can someone explain to me why we would even be having this conversation about where Jeter "ranks all time" if he didn't play for the Yankees?

My best memories of Jerry Hairston was when I was introducing my new wife to baseball (she grew up as a football fan in SoCal), and she decided that Hairston sucked because every time she saw him at bat, he got out. Mind you, he hit .268 that year, so she didn't see him play every game, but still...

The one thing to consider about Jeff Datz is, is he a guy that Trembley is comfortable having alongside him? That’s the thing that was talked about a lot a few weeks back when we were debating who should be the next bench coach after Jauss was let go. I have no idea if Datz is a solid yes on this question. Hopefully, Trembley feels so. For now, that works for me.

Roch, back in Earl Weaver’s day, the hitting and pitching coaches were the bench coaches. They’re there in the dugout and sit on the bench, which was why I was confused when I first heard about the bench coach position. How many coaches do you need? Perhaps the bench coach is a good thing, and maybe I’m just not appreciating what such a person provides, but like everything else in baseball, this seems to be another layer of specialization and you have to wonder if lesser wouldn’t be better.

I despise the Yankees but will admit Jeter is a great player, even if, as has been well documented, his defense isn’t as stellar as you might think. He comes up in the clutch both at the plate and in the field. He’s had seven seasons of 200 or more hits, has a lifetime .317 average and a .847 OPS (both better than Miguel Tejada, and Jeter has always batted higher up in the lineup), and will end his career likely well past 3,000 hits. Just when people were ready to declare him in decline, he has one of his best seasons at age 35. Tejada’s career is questionable with the steroid accusations and Jeter is a certain first ballot Hall of Famer. Maybe he wouldn’t get all the attention he does if playing for another team and not having 4 championships on his resume, but seriously, we can’t penalize him for playing for good teams, can we?

I'd like to address the "OMG Jeter is so clutch!!!" argument.

First of all, Jeter is a heck of a player, and should be a first-ballot Hall Of Famer. I hate the Yankees, but I can't hate Jeter, who came up thru their system, plays the game the right way, and has never been involved in any of the myriad scandals to plague pro athletes.

But to say that he (or anyone else, really) is "clutch" is just hooey. Jeter has a .317/.388/.459 line in the regular season, and a .311/.383/.481 line in the postseason (all numbers including the current season and postseason). Those lines are virtually the same. How does that make him clutch? Derek Jeter is a great hitter in the playoffs because he's a great hitter. Tiger Woods puts a lot of tournaments away on Sundays because he's a great golfer. It doesn't mean they're clutch; it just means they're very good at what they do.

Postseason performance -- good or bad -- can often be attributed to a small sample size. Take Jeter in the 2007 ALDS, for example. He hit .176, with three hits, all singles. No one said he was bad, or wasn't "clutch." In his career, thru the current game, JEter has played 134 postseason games, with 540 AB. That's almost a full season, so it's a relevant sample size. And shockingly enough, he's put up almost an identical line to his career line in the regular season.

He's not "clutch." I don't know that anyone is "clutch," since the term could be defined in a lot of different ways. I do know that Jeter is a great player, and that more than anything should be used to explain his postseason success.