Home Run Derby
 

Raf-fy, Raf-fy, Raf-fy, Raf-fy, Raf-fy...

Leads after first round with nine.

...and an Oriole wins it! Miguel Tejada is the best shortstop in baseball.

Tejada is the best shortstop as long as you don't count Jeter, and A-Rod.

Well, at least the O's won something this year.

Re: Home Run Derby
 

that was impressive and was enjoyable to watch despite never having heard of him as far as I can recall.
I have of heard of this Tejada fellow at least once or twice in my life and saw the 15th home run but would have no clue who he was if someone mentioned that name in a conversation without context. Those are the kind of events in baseball that can hold my interest for more than 2 minutes not counting bench clearing brawls.

He's a third baseman ;)

Sorry...would you like to name a good shortstop next time?

Tejada may be offensively a good SS, but defensively I'd take Omar Vizquel over anyone. And his bat doesn't hurt you.

Even with his age Omar is still magic to watch. I've seen greats, Ozzie, Davey Concepcion, Larkin, Ripken (who wasn't a great defensive SS but was reliable) and Omar is the greatest defensive SS in my lifetime, he puts all others to shame.

I wish we were in the NBA 'cause we'd more than likely be looking at a number 1 draft pick!

That was the first time I've seen a stadium cheer for someone to lose. I was at the Derby last night and the crowd was dead silent when Tejada started hitting his 15 in round 2. Then when Palmero got up, they cheered on the outs. It was rather interesting.

But boy o boy did the crowd go NUTS when Berkman got up and started jacking them. The electricity behind him was amazing. I had such a blast. Too bad he struggled in the final round, it would have been pretty nice to see the reserve home-town hero win the Derby.

sammy swings and misses...my favorite part

seriously thought that second round was great to watch. between berkman hitting just about every ball out of the park and tejada hitting 15 it really made for some entertaining viewing

to bad he can't pitch. And as far as jeter being the best, have you seen his range? You'll have to look close its very small.

Defensively, Tejada and Jeter are a wash. Both are overrated with the glove and really only average to below average. Offensively (and neglecting payroll concerns) I'd take Jeter. Tejada has only had one outstanding full season. He's never been an OBP guy and his career OPS+ is only 106. Jeter has a career OPS+ of 122 and he's always had a high OBP.

However, if you're building a real team, I'd take Tejada and the extra money (The Yanks owe Jeter $126 through the 2010 season and O's owe T $70M through the 2009 season).

ARod still owns both of them, on the field and at the plate.

Back on topic, the derby was fun. Berkman's blasts were fun to watch and Sosa embarassed himself. He strikes out in batting practice!

Tejada has a much better arm and range then Jeter. He also has more power, although I will admit (I don't WANT to :D) that Jeter is an overall better hitter.

Nowhere near a better SS though. He has Phil Rizzuto's career.

And I will agree that Visquel beats them all at defense, although he is starting to lose his range and arm a little.

Trust me...the pitching will get better :)

If Alex Rodriguez hadn't moved to third, he would be the best shortstop in baseball. Jeter aint half bad either ;). If I were building a team and I had to choose between Jeter and Tejada, I would choose Jeter. Not only for his bat and glove, but for his leadership abilities.

A-Rod is so far above the others, it is a sham that HE was forced to move to third. Hell, Jeter's biggest problem, his range, would be that much less of a problem there, especially with A-Rod at short.

Ok, now I'm off to whip myself as penace for thinking up ways to improve the Yankees...

Miggy's 15 was great, but the highlight had to be Berkman putting charges in those shots in the second round, with the crowd just going nuts. That was great. And I love watching Palmeiro swing that bat, he's sooo smooth and easy with that swing, looks like he would never get tired.

I'd take Jeter over Tejada. Neither one is A-Rod, but as someone already said, Jeter has leadership and untouchables. His web gems aren't just fun to watch, they mean a lot to the team. Also, let's not forget that Jeter is stellar in October...and we'll be finding out about A-Rod in October this year too. Not Tejada.

Jeter has had his share of postseason heroics but over the course of his career his postseason numbers are right in line with his career statistics.

Playoffs
392 AB, 69 R, 13 HR, 33 RBI .314/.380/.470

Career
5237 AB, 122 R*, 18 HR*, 83 RBI*, .314/.385/.461

The asterisks are seasonal averages over 654 AB

Tejada has been bad in the postseason, but he's also only had 85 postseason at bats. The same could be said about Bonds. Outside of 2002, his postseason numbers have been crap.

Jeter's case shows that given enough AB, a player's statistics will converge to his career averages. I'm sure Tejada's and Bonds's numbers would do the same.