I’m kidding of course.  This baseball season has been the ‘Season of Jeets,’ to a degree I certainly think has been ridiculous.  There was the initial wave of adulation and reflection…

followed by a understandable backlash…

…followed by last night.  In his last game wearing Yankees Pinstripes, Jeets hits a walk off single to win the game for the Yankees.  Surely Joltin’ Joe and The Kid smiled down from the heavens.

I hate the Yankees, like most rational thinking baseball fans in this day and age not living in the greater New York Metropolitan area (or unabashedly front-runners, who are probably moving over to Mike Trout Angels jerseys as we speak).  That doesn’t diminish, however, The Captain’s legacy.

Derek Jeter was a constant, a great player, a sure-fire hall of famer, who exuded class even in an era when the Yankees payroll became as bloated as C.C. Sabathia at the Old Country Buffet.  He’s one of the few stars of the Steroid Era to not be under suspicion – and that includes many of his pinstriped teammates (we see ya’ A-Rod, Giambi, Rocket and Petite).  He was a great player.

Now with that said, I would invite those heaping attention to take a second and look at the career statistics of one Alan Trammell, who also played a 20 year career in one place.  Detroit may not be the Big Apple, but Trammell was part of a record setting double play combo, and the glue that held the Tigers together for 20 years.  He wasn’t quite as good offensively as Jeter, but was better defensively, and with a comparable WAR and advanced sabermetrics, maybe some light could be shed on his career before it’s too late for him to be enshrined in Cooperstown.  Down the hall from Jeets – two great shortstops who were leaders on the field.

Congrats to #2.

#freesimmons