Comments on: Where Does Derek Jeter Rank Among All-Time Yankees?

By: Ranking the All-Time Yankees |

Ranking the All-Time Yankees | — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:06:55 +0000

[...] Keri went over this topic a few weeks ago. This was his list: 1 Babe Ruth 2 Mickey Mantle 3 Lou Gehrig 4 Joe DiMaggio 5 [...]

By: laherman

laherman — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 22:41:21 +0000

Thanks, Jonah. I follow Nate Silver’s 538 blog and have great respect for him as an analyst. I will check out the book.

By: Jonah

Jonah — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:30:57 +0000

Someone has indeed. Check out “Baseball Between the Numbers”, specifically the chapter by Nate Silver titled:

“Is Barry Bonds Better than Babe Ruth?”

The chapter title is purposely controversial, but the main thrust of the chapter compares players across eras. We may never be able to isolate each and every variable that separates one era’s level of competition from another. But this essay is as close as I’ve seen to doing just that.

You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465005470?ie=UTF8&tag=jonahkericom-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0465005470

By: laherman

laherman — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 18:26:27 +0000

Jonah,

Has anyone ever tried to assess just how much easier it was for pre-integration players not having to compete with that 12% of the population? Has someone tried to crunch numbers on this, also assessing whether expansion, competition from other sports, the size of the minor legues, and other factors has made things easier or harder?

I’m not saying you’re wrong, but is there a definitive study, or even nondefinitive studies? The methodology should be better than just going by righteous indignation.

By: Rating the best Yankees of all time | River Avenue Blues

Rating the best Yankees of all time | River Avenue Blues — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 13:31:57 +0000

[...] Jonah Keri, writing on his personal site, takes a look at the top 10 Yankees of all time. He only counts time spent with the Yankees, and it’s limited to position players, but all in all this looks like a quality list. Personally I’d put Gehrig above Mantle, if for no other reason than his dominance relative to the league at the time. So head over and take a look. It’s something to kill time on a dreary Friday afternoon. Posted on Saturday, August 29th, 2009 at 9:30 am in Asides. RSS feed | Trackback URI [...]

By: briand23

briand23 — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:39:18 +0000

Nice job Jonah. I just wasted 30 minutes on baseballreference trying to poke holes in your ranking, but really couldn’t. The only one I found close was Dickey and Jeter. I actually think I would have Jeter slightly behind Dickey. Dickey provided the Yanks with average (at worst) to great (at best) hitting production from the catcher spot for 17 years. I actually didnt even realize how good his career was. Obviously if Jeter has a couple of more years like the one he is having this year, he would pass Dickey. I believe the top 5 is locked in stone for the foreseeable future (unless Arod plays another 10 years as a Yankee at a high level).

By: bellylard

bellylard — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:10:53 +0000

I’d have Randolph on there now that defense has some better metrics.

By: clintoncheney08

clintoncheney08 — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:54:03 +0000

Where do you slot Mariano Rivera if you’re ranking all Yankees?

By: ryanrosso

ryanrosso — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:16:46 +0000

What would your list look like if you included pitchers?

By: hentrose

hentrose — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:48:37 +0000

Top Ten Tigers:

Ty Cobb
Al Kaline
Hank Greenberg
Sam Crawford
Lou Whitaker
Charlie Gehringer
Alan Trammell
Bill Freehan
Norm Cash
Harry Heilmann