Cal Ripken Jr vs Derek Jeter

[Rain City]

Had this debate with a friend.....Cal could do more on the field with his power, he got 2 MVPs, but Jeter is playing so well into his late 30s staying at SS, and he has more rings and post season accolades. Their IQ on the field and intangibles are as good as it gets.

It might not be fair, but who is the better all time SS?

[todu82]

Cal Ripken Jr

[mtf]

I like Ripkin more but I'll admit my bias against Jeter might be clouding my judgement.

[EricU812]

I hate the Yankees, but still have an incredibly high amount of respect for Jeter.

However, I do believe its Ripken and I don't believe its that close.

[oak2455]

Jeter and thats that.......Biatches

[Pinstripe power]

only rings matter on PSD, so jeter is 5 times better than cal

[sexicano31]

If you want to go by WAR,
Jeter-70.4 in 17 seasons
Ripken-89.9 in 21 seasons.

Jeter has the better OPS, .833 to Ripkens .788.

[stipe1280]

I would like to have seen what Ripken could have done hitting in the lineup Jeter has been privileged to hit in. I don't like Jeter, but I won't take anything away from him...he is a great SS. Still, I think Ripken is the better of the two.

[The X]

poll?

[the_jon]

Ripken probably could have put up better numbers had he not played every.single.****ing.day

[cubbybear2290]

Ripken, and it's really not even that close in my mind. He's a much more tremendous defense on the field in terms of consistency, and his bat had more pop, plus the whole consecutive games played thing kind of plays a part in this for me also

[bagwell368]

If you want to go by WAR,
Jeter-70.4 in 17 seasons
Ripken-89.9 in 21 seasons.

Jeter has the better OPS, .833 to Ripkens .788.

But Jeter only had 8 years at/above 4.5 rWAR (8.0, 7.8, 6.3, 6.1, 5.6, 5.5, 4.6, 4.6)
Ripken had 9 years at/above 4.5: (11.0, 9.2, 8.3, 7.0, 6.6, 6.1, 6.0, 4.7, 4.5)

So Ripken's peak is a bit longer, and heavier with elite years (4 vs 7 above 6.0)

Ripken played through age 41, Jeter has a few years to go, no telling when the decline hits him hard.

In Jeter's time the league OPS is .029 above Ripken's time.

Ripken was clearly a better fielder, although Jeter was a better baserunner (not as important). Ripken more of a slugger, Jeter more of an OBP guy.

[Rain City]

They are both incredibly durable and consistent, they know where the ball is going before it is pitched, great base runners.

THe thing that amazes me about Jeter is he has been so consistent for so long and he plays deep into the playoffs just about every year, and he is barely showing a sign of slowing down.

Say what you want about his lineup but Jeter is one of the most prolific players in post season history, excelling at the highest level of competition with pressure, that for me puts Jeter on top, but it is very close...

[Carlznerson]

Ripken easily.

[bagwell368]

THe thing that amazes me about Jeter is he has been so consistent for so long and he plays deep into the playoffs just about every year, and he is barely showing a sign of slowing down.

Say what you want about his lineup but Jeter is one of the most prolific players in post season history, excelling at the highest level of competition with pressure, that for me puts Jeter on top, but it is very close...

Jeter is far from his peak of the late 90's. His 3 year peak was Nomar's 3 year peak, and Nomar was easily better. The best SS in the Majors in a hundred years is on the Yankees, but he plays 3B. Only rose colored glasses could hide how far Jeters fielding has dropped.

Jeter's "clutch" hitting in the post season is a myth. He's quite close to his regular season stats. His fielding is the thing I notice picks up. If he played his whole career for KC, he's about 1/3 as famous as he is. Don't ever forget that.