Every few posts, I will post an archived story that I have written, but is not posted on my newspaper articles page. This article was written in Fall of 2006, for Christopher Newport University's Captain's Log, and addresses the concept of some players being in the right place at the right time...
They say that luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Well what happens to the prepared people who are never in the right place at the right time? Are Major League Baseball players simply playing a role that the fans give them? I’m here to tell you that two of the league’s star players may not be as irreplaceable as they seem. Those two players come from separate sides of baseball’s biggest rivalry and are none other than Boston’s Mr. Clutch, David “Big Papi” Ortiz, and New York’s Mr. Clutch, Derek “the Golden Boy” Jeter. They also are competing with one another for the AL MVP award this season…but are either of them really worthy of it?
Over the last few years David Ortiz has become “Big Papi” in the hearts of Red Sox fans. He has been that big lovable bear of a man who comes up to the plate in the clutch and crushes the ball deep to right field as if on cue. Papi has a knack for theatrics, impeccable timing, and has even developed his own trademark “helmet toss” while trotting home after hitting a game winning bomb. What makes his story and aura even sweeter is that he was a “nobody” in Minnesota when Boston decided to take a chance on him. Well it looks like the move paid off in countless ways as the Red Sox found their franchise player who could always be relied on for years to come…or so it seems. Is David Ortiz really that clutch? Statistically, the answer should lean towards a no. Even though it always seems that Papi is getting the game winning hit, as good as he is, maybe it has more to do with the man standing in the on-deck circle. When you look at the numbers, you see that Ortiz is batting a respectable .286 with runners in scoring position, but then take a look at Ortiz’s protection, Manny Ramirez, and see that he is batting an intimidating .325 in the same situations. So maybe Ortiz is getting so many game winning hits because he has a player who is hitting 39 points better then him in clutch situations, waiting in the wings. So that leaves us the question…is David Ortiz in one of the most envious positions in baseball…batting in front of Manny Ramirez? There are hundreds of players who I’m sure would love to hit in the same spot, and may do just as well, if not better, than Ortiz. Two that come to mind are Travis Hafner of the Cleveland Indians and Raul Ibanez of the Seattle Mariners. Hafner is batting .305 with RISP and has 15 homers in such situations…5 more than Papi’s 10. Even more alarming is Ibanez, who is hitting an amazing .343 with 12 homers when there are runners in scoring position…now that is almost as clutch as you can get. So was David Ortiz simply in the right place at the right time when the Sox grabbed him from Minnesota? Maybe if they had got Ibanez or Hafner instead, one of them would don the title “Big Papi” and David Ortiz would just be David Ortiz. It seems as though the fans influence the game more than they know. They made David Ortiz into “Big Papi,” and in their eyes, he can do no wrong. But since “Red Sox Nation” decided to not like Manny…he gets a bad wrap. He’s just “Manny being Manny” instead of “the guy who gets Ortiz good pitches late in the game.” Now I’m not saying that Ortiz isn’t a good player, he’s definitely proven his worth, but all I’m saying is that it’s worth wondering…maybe countless other players are prepared to prove their worth the same way if only provided with the right opportunity.
Next we have Mr. Jeter. The pretty boy of New York who everyone is in awe of (although David Wright is stepping on his toes nowadays). Jeter is an even better example than Ortiz of how the fans have molded him into what they want. The most recent example is with Yankee third baseman, Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod was well known as the greatest all around player in baseball throughout his career, and then he was dealt to the Yankees. Well what were the fans to do, they just received the greatest player, but they already had a face for their team…Jeter. So A-Rod was moved from his natural position of shortstop to third base, in order for the golden boy to keep his prime spot in the infield. Well I don’t think I have to tell you about the heat that A-Rod takes from the home fans for his defense, or lack there of, at third base. What’s funny is that if Jeter were there, they would never dream of booing him. If Jeter were the selfless captain that everyone claims he is, why wouldn’t he be humble enough to give up his position to a better player in Rodriguez? Now Yankee fans would beg to differ, but the fact is that stats don’t lie, so check these out…all time at SS, Derek Jeter has a .975 fielding percentage, while A-Rod has a better .977 fielding percentage at the same position. So it begs the question why do Yankee fans flaunt themselves all over Jeter, but shun the better player in A-Rod? The answer is quite simple, Jeter got there first. It is a clear cut matter of being in the right place at the right time.
Jeter has this entire mystique about him, but is it well deserved? He was given the name “Mr. November” in the 2001 World Series when he hit a game winning home run only 4 minutes into the month. Interestingly enough, his November batting average rounded out at .250 with no other RBI’s than the home run, not to mention the Yankees lost the series. Meanwhile, Arizona’s Luis Gonzalez hit the same .250 in November that Jeter did, but he actually had the hit that won the World Series. And Gonzalez’s teammate, Steve Finley, hit .444 in November, so why wasn’t Gonzalez or Finley given the title of Mr. November when they were clearly better than Jeter? Oh, it’s because they weren’t as popular…but I’m pretty sure they got the rings that year while Jeter got his title. For a man who is supposed to be consistently clutch he also had a poor showing in his most recent World Series appearance in 2003 against the Florida Marlins. He went 6 for 8 in games that they won and had plenty of other offense. But in the rest of the games he hit .166 and that includes an 0 for 4 showing in the final game when the Yankees needed their captain the most against a dominant Josh Beckett. Then again, why should he be perceived as clutch when his most famous postseason moment was a hit that should have been a routine fly ball out, but was instead a home run. That was because Jeffrey Maier decided to lean over the wall (fan interference) and grab it before Orioles outfielder, Tony Tarasco, could make the play. I am not alone in my questioning of Jeter’s fame…this season in the Sports Illustrated players poll, MLB players voted Derek Jeter as the most overrated player in the game. For a player who has never made an all-star team on his own, but instead always needs the fans vote, I don’t find the players’ opinion hard to believe. So is Jeter simply playing a role given by the fans? It seems that he will feed them as long as they will cheer him, like when he made his miraculous dive into the stands. It was a play that is made routinely in baseball, but the difference was that after Jeter caught the ball in fair territory, he took four extra steps to dive into the stands…sure it looked pretty, but it’s just another part of playing the role that the fans give you.
So in final summation it may look like I am discrediting guys like David Ortiz and Derek Jeter, but that is not the case. I am simply crediting the great positions that they have been in, and those players who haven’t been lucky enough to get the same opportunities. Could any other power hitter take Papi’s spot and hit walk-off’s day in and day out? Could any disciplined contact hitter have been drafted in Jeter’s spot and ride coat tails to 4 world championships by having some kid reach over the fence and catch a fly ball? Who knows? I sure don’t, but I’m just putting the facts out there so that you can decide for yourself.
In Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator,” Proximo tells Maximus that to achieve ultimate gladiator status, he must “win the crowd.” Well being a baseball player is just like being a gladiator. Of course there is no killing, but it seems a majority of a player’s success is based on their ability to “win the crowd.”
