Adios El Capitan

[MFS62]

I'd love the see the expression on the faces of Yankee fans if they find out that one of the gifts he gets will be a basket containing an autographed picture from Michael Sam.

Later

[Guest d'Kong76]

I've gotten like five emails about this, I guess they think the
internet nearly exploding yesterday wasn't enough to get the
word out or something.

[MFS62]

Kong76 wrote: I've gotten like five emails about this, I guess they think the internet nearly exploding yesterday wasn't enough to get the word out or something.

You know that many MFY fans?
And you allow them to know your email addy?

Later

[Guest d'Kong76]

MFS62 wrote: one of the gifts he gets will be a basket containing an autographed picture from Michael Sam.

I'll take twenty of those! Then sell 'em on eGay ...

Later

[Theoldmole]

What's the worst thing we can wish on Jeter? A .143 season batting average? A groin pull on the first day of the season that turns gangrenous? Paternity suits in every city he visits?

[Benjamin Grimm]

A repeat of 2013 for him would suit me.

[MFS62]

Kong76 wrote: MFS62 wrote: one of the gifts he gets will be a basket containing an autographed picture from Michael Sam. I'll take twenty of those! Then sell 'em on eGay ... Later

Sorry. Like Jeter, you have to earn them.

Later

[bmfc1]

By October, Wallace Matthew will dehydrate because of his constant flow of tears.

[dinosaur jesus]

TheOldMole wrote: What's the worst thing we can wish on Jeter? A .143 season batting average? A groin pull on the first day of the season that turns gangrenous? Paternity suits in every city he visits?

Only this. That on the last day of the season, when he takes the field alone in the top of the first while his teammates wait in the dugout, their hands over their hearts, and a roar of applause rises above the stadium, and the leaders of the nations of the world, come to pay tribute, wave their colorful home-made banners, saying "WE LOVE YOU DEREK!" in every script known to man, and the press box flows with writers' tears, and the ghosts of the great ballplayers of the past gather in a pale ring around the infield, bringing an even deeper chill to the October night--that Derek, in the midst of all this, feels suddenly an immense hollowness within, a crushing realization that he is not the man they're cheering for, that he is only a blank screen on which humanity projects its dreams, and that the show is almost over. After the game, he has nothing to say to the cameras, nothing to say to anyone. There's nothing left to say. Only a weak smile as he presses through the throng, a last wave as he climbs into his limousine, and he's gone into the darkness. Exuding quiet class to the end, say the stories the next day. Will we ever see his like again?

That, or he hits into five double plays on the day the Yankees miss the playoffs.

[Frayed Knot]

btw, the Yanx final scheduled game/series for this year? ... Fenway Park

[Edgy MD]

Confused Yankee Fan on Facebook wrote: As a Yankees fan you can never replace Jeter but THANK GOD he's retiring!

Or "I love him, but pretending he's better than he is has just been EXHAUSTING!"

[seawolf17]

Been arguing with all my Yankee fan friends who are trying to say he's a Top 5 All Time Shortstop all day.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

TheOldMole wrote: What's the worst thing we can wish on Jeter? A .143 season batting average? A groin pull on the first day of the season that turns gangrenous? Paternity suits in every city he visits?

Smoking gun revelations that he was juicing all along.

[Theoldmole]

There's no point arguing with Yankee fans. Just shoot them.

[seawolf17]

There's no point arguing with Yankee fans. Just shoot them.

Highlight:

Me: JAWS puts him 12th among SS (http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/jaws_SS.shtml), which I think is reasonable.
Friend: Some of the guys ahead of him played more than half their careers at other positions. Banks, Yount, Ripken, A-Rod. The list needs some fine tuning.
Me: Only Ernie Banks on that list played "more than half" of his career at another position, and even then, just barely (120 more games). Yount played 300 more at SS than OF, Ripken only played 3B at the end of his career (and moved because the O's got someone who played the position better). ARod started playing third because the Yankees got someone who played the position better but Cap'n Intangibles, Mr. "Class," couldn't be bothered to make his team better by keeping the better player in his natural position. So let's not get too crazy there.
Friend: My mistake on Ripken and Yount (so Yount played almost half his career in the OF), but their time at other positions was significant enough that they accumulated the necessary stats they wouldn't have otherwise had to make the HOF. I also love how you hold A-Rod above Jeter when it suits your arguments. Ask anyone who they would rather have hitting in a clutch situation (regular season or postseason), regardless of fan affiliation.
Me: OH COME ON. "When it suits my cause?" Career OPS with RISP (ARod .929, Jeter .816), career OPS with 2 outs, RISP (ARod .862, Jeter .833), career OPS "late and close" (ARod .896, .792), career OPS in the ninth inning (ARod .836, Jeter .673).
Friend: Break out the postseason too, please.
Me: Postseason: ARod .263/.369/.464, Jeter .308/.374/.465. So they're THE SAME, except Jeter had a few hits where ARod had walks. And Arod had 41 RBI in 326 PA to Jete's 61 in 734 PA, so he's got a higher RBI/PA ratio too in the postseason. All of Jeter's "value" is in "intangibles," which are only a thing because he had great talent around him his whole career. Players with a career OPS+ of 117: Derek Jeter, Jesse Barfield, Carlton Fisk, Steve Garvey, George Hendrick, Matt Stairs, Lou Whitaker. And you know what? That sounds about right too.
Friend: They're the same in OBP & OPS. It's not a contest when it comes to BA. Jeter has 128 more hits in slightly more than twice the games A-Rod has played, which shows he has been able to maintain that high level across more pressure situations. .308 over .263 is not due to a few more hits.
Me: Actually, mathematically, that's exactly what it is. Did you forget how to calculate batting average?

Oi.

[Ceetar]

Mets � Willets Point wrote: TheOldMole wrote: What's the worst thing we can wish on Jeter? A .143 season batting average? A groin pull on the first day of the season that turns gangrenous? Paternity suits in every city he visits? Smoking gun revelations that he was juicing all along.

I think "strong evidence" is better than a smoking gun. Enough that there is little doubt, but just enough that he denies it and throws hissy fits whenever it's mentioned.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

No, I want the whole shebang: receipts, photographs, blood tests results from the 1990s, multiple witnesses, signed affidavits.

[nymr83]

I'd like the Mets to win the World Series. Short of that, I can't think of anything baseball-related that would give me greater enjoyment than undeniable proof than Jeter Juiced.

[bmfc1]

Kong76 wrote: Somewhere there is a bright-eyed Yankee blogger scheming to start a campaign to change the five-year-HOF-wait rule so that Captain Unanimous can be voted in in 2015.

Not a blogger, but a columnist from the Poughkeepsie Journal!
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20140214/SPORTS/302140037/Sideline-Talk-Hall-Fame-should-bend-rule-Jeter-join-Mo?gcheck=1&nclick_check=1

[Edgy MD]

I'm more offended by the "stumbling Willie Mays" comment.

[Benjamin Grimm]

That fool in Poughkeepsie wants them to bend the rules so that Jeter and Rivera can go into the Hall together. "It's the right thing to do," he says.

If a joint induction is so important, then the simple solution, which doesn't involve "bending" any rules, is to not vote for Mariano in his first year of eligibility.

There! Problem solved!

[Edgy MD]

Even the title doesn't make any logical sense.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

Best part:

This is a plea to the Baseball Writers� Association of America to bend the rules. It�s been done before, so do it again. Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera deserve to be inducted together into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019. It�s the right thing to do. Jeter and Rivera came up through the New York Yankees organization together, won five World Series titles together with class on and off the field, and belong together on the stage in Cooperstown delivering their induction speeches on the same July day in 2019. Yes, this will require bending the rules because a player must be out of the game for five years before being on the Hall of Fame ballot. Jeter and Rivera are deservedly both first-ballot Hall of Famers, but are slated to enter the hall one year apart if chosen on their respective first ballot. So why not bend the rules? It�s been done before and for Yankee greats. Lou Gehrig � the only player on a special ballot � was elected in a special vote at the 1939 Winter Meetings because it was uncertain how much longer Gehrig would live with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis � now also known as Lou Gehrig�s Disease.

Yes, we are asking the change the rules not because Jeter has a terminal illness, but so he can go in with a teammate, which would make for a nice ceremony.

[MFS62]

Speaking of special circumstances.
Did Clemente have to wait five years? If not - there IS another way.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

No, they waived the five year rule for Clemente too.
The special election for Gehrig was to get him in before he died but there was no five-year rule at the time!

[nymr83]

Maybe we should induct Smoltz and Jones this summer with Maddux Glavine and Cox too?

Im already sick of this. Its going to be a long year.

[Frayed Knot]

Why even wait for Jeter to retire? Just hold a special election this weekend so we can get them both in by August.

[metirish]

Mother of God, can we just name the HOF after Jeter , and change JKF airport to DJ2 international.....these fucking twats make me sick.....

[Centerfield]

I'm wiling to meet them halfway. If Jeter dies this year, I'm ok to reduce the waiting period to 3 years.

[metirish]

Centerfield wrote: I'm wiling to meet them halfway. If Jeter dies this year, I'm ok to reduce the waiting period to 3 years.

LOL....yipee ....