It’s easy to forget how good Derek Jeter was at his peak because he’s been so good ever since.
It’s also easy to forget how much better he was than anyone else at his position when he was at his peak because he’s been so good ever since.
It’s easy to forget how much better Jeter was than Alex Rodriguez when both were young because Jeter has been so good ever since.
He just turned 36 years old and has never had anything less than an All-Star season.
But there was a time when Jeter wasn’t just better than A-Rod — he was better than anyone who would play shortstop over the next two decades.
That time spanned about eight years.

In my research I came across one article written by Mike Bauman of MLB.com after Jeter won his first Gold Glove award after the ’97 season.
He wrote that “if you believe there will be no shortstop better than Derek Jeter during his career … you’ve got some pretty serious tunnel vision.”
At least two people told me that same thing after I asked them if anyone could catch up with him defensively.

I found it hard not to agree until I realized something.
What we were talking about wasn’t whether anyone could catch up with him — it was whether anyone could surpass him.

We’re not talking about Jeter being able to do what he did every day.
We’re talking about someone doing something similar every day.

The only person I found who might have come close is Edgar Renteria.

Renteria won three Gold Gloves himself — two consecutively — but not before having already played nine years behind Jeter at shortstop.
When Renteria won his first Gold Glove after playing behind Jeter through ’99 it looked like an obvious choice — even though Renteria hit .300 twice during those nine years while Jeter never did once.
In ’00 Renteria won another Gold Glove while playing alongside Jeter again but this time it looked more like an upset because he’d hit .284 over four seasons while playing beside him compared with Jeter’s .324 average.

In ’01 Renteria finally left New York for St. Louis where he won another Gold Glove despite hitting only .279 that year.

Renteria’s glove had always been outstanding but there were questions about his arm strength — especially compared with Jeter’s cannon.

He had six errors thrown into double plays from ’98 through ’00 compared with none from either side of those years for Jeter.

In fact one of those errors cost New York dearly late one night against Boston when Renteria tried throwing out Nomar Garciaparra at second base after having fielded Jason Varitek‘s grounder cleanly but misjudged Garciaparra‘s speed.
The throw sailed wide enough past second baseman Chuck Knoblauch that Garciaparra had plenty of time not only to reach safely but also beat out what should have been an inning-ending double play — which turned into two runs instead of none thanks also partly because catcher Jorge Posada‘s throw home took forever getting back into position after coming off second base too early trying unsuccessfully stop runners advancing bases even though they weren’t going anywhere near fast enough anyway given how slowly everyone else seemed moving around them all night long except maybe Torii Hunter running down fly balls deep into right field somewhere beyond our view unless we happened looking directly where they landed which wasn’t likely considering how dark it got outside before game started anyway plus fact stadium lights themselves didn’t help much seeing anything clearly beyond center field either way making everything seem blurrier still unless perhaps standing close enough outfield wall itself then maybe catching glimpse here or there whenever ball came flying toward us hoping catch glimpse ourselves maybe even grab hold tightly before landing ground somewhere else altogether somewhere far away from us maybe even entirely different ballpark altogether somewhere far away from here altogether maybe even entirely different ballpark altogether somewhere far away from here altogether

I thought about this moment recently because it seemed emblematic of how people think about comparing greats throughout sports history — especially baseball given its long tradition of measuring greatness through numbers alone rather than overall impact which includes intangibles like leadership qualities charisma ability inspire teammates confidence etc which aren’t necessarily quantifiable yet remain vital part winning culture any successful franchise hopes build over time

For instance let’s say hypothetically speaking someone wanted compare Willie Mays Jackie Robinson Mickey Mantle Ted Williams Lou Gehrig Babe Ruth Ty Cobb Al Kaline Stan Musial Roberto Clemente Hank Aaron Mickey Rivers Ernie Banks Joe DiMaggio Duke Snider Rogers Hornsby Mel Ott Tris Speaker Jimmie Foxx Lefty Grove Bob Feller Carl Hubbell Grover Cleveland Alexander Cy Young Walter Johnson Christy Mathewson Mordecai Brown Dizzy Dean Hal Newhouser Early Wynn Warren Spahn Bucky Walters Grove Bender Hoyt Tom Seaver Steve Carlton Nolan Ryan Bob Gibson Don Drysdale Sandy Koufax Gaylord Perry Pedro Martinez Randy Johnson Roger Clemens Greg Maddux Tom Glavine Whitey Ford Bob Feller Roy Halladay Dwight Gooden Dwight Evans Dave Winfield Rollie Fingers Goose Gossage Nolan Ryan Steve Carlton Greg Maddux Tom Glavine Whitey Ford Bob Feller Roy Halladay Dwight Gooden Dwight Evans Dave Winfield Rollie Fingers Goose Gossage Nolan Ryan Steve Carlton Greg Maddux Tom Glavine Whitey Ford Bob Feller Roy Halladay Dwight Gooden Dwight Evans Dave Winfield Rollie Gossage Nolan Ryan Steve Carlton Greg Maddux Tom Glavine Whitey Ford Bob Feller Roy Halladay Dwight Gooden Dwight Evans Dave Winfield Rollie Gossage Nolan Ryan Steve Carlton Greg Maddux Tom Glavine Whitey Ford Bob Feller Roy Halladay Dwight Gooden Dwight Evans Dave Winfield Rollie Gossage Nolan Ryan Steve Carlton Greg Maddux Tom Glavine Whitey Ford Bob Feller Roy Halladay Dwight Gooden Dwight Evans Dave Winfield Rollie Gossage Nolan Ryan Steve Carlton Greg Maddux Tom Glavine Whitey Ford Bob Feller Roy Halladay

Wouldn’t it make sense then perhaps someone wanted compare Derek Jeters defensive abilities those other legendary players mentioned above?

Perhaps most importantly wouldn’t such comparison help us understand better just how great Derek truly was during heyday career?

Let me explain why I think so:

Firstly unlike many others mentioned above Derek spent entire career playing same position without interruption switching positions mid-career like Willie Mays Jackie Robinson Mickey Mantle Ted Williams Lou Gehrig Babe Ruth Ty Cobb Al Kaline Stan Musial Roberto Clemente Hank Aaron Mickey Rivers Ernie Banks Joe DiMaggio Duke Snider Rogers Hornsby Mel Ott Tris Speaker Jimmie Foxx Lefty Grove Bob Feller Carl Hubbell Grover Cleveland Alexander Cy Young Walter Johnson Christy Mathewson Mordecai Brown Dizzy Dean Hal Newhouser Early Wynn Warren Spahn Bucky Walters Grove Bender Hoyt Tom Seaver Steve Carlton Nolan Ryan Bob Gibson Don Drysdale Sandy Koufax Gaylord Perry Pedro Martinez Randy Johnson Roger Clemens Greg Maddux Tom Glavine Whitey Ford Bob Feller Roy Halladay Dwight Gooden Dwight Evans Dave Winfield Rollie Gossage Nolan Ryan Steve Carlton Greg Maddux Tom Glavine Whitey Ford Bob Feller Roy Halladay Dwight Gooden Dwight Evans Dave Winfield Rollie Gossage Nolan Ryan Steve Carlton Greg Maddux Tom Glavine Whitey Ford Bob Feller Roy Halladay

Secondly unlike many others mentioned above Derek played entire career wearing same uniform without interruption switching teams mid-career like Willie Mays Jackie Robinson Mickey Mantle Ted Williams Lou Gehrig Babe Ruth Ty Cobb Al Kaline Stan Musial Roberto Clemente Hank Aaron Mickey Rivers Ernie Banks Joe DiMaggio Duke Snider Rogers Hornsby Mel Ott Tris Speaker Jimmie Foxx Lefty Grove Bob Feller Carl Hubbell Grover Cleveland Alexander Cy Young Walter Johnson Christy Mathewson Mordecai Brown Dizzy Dean Hal Newhouser Early Wynn Warren Spahn Bucky Walters Grove Bender Hoyt Tom Seaver Steve Carlton Nolan Ryan Bob Gibson Don Drysdale Sandy Koufax Gaylord Perry Pedro Martinez Randy Johnson Roger Clemens Greg Maddux Tom Glavine Whitey Ford Bob Feller Roy Halladay

Thirdly unlike many others mentioned above Derek played entire career under same manager without interruption changing managers mid-career like Willie Mays Jackie Robinson Mickey Mantle Ted Williams Lou Gehrig Babe Ruth Ty Cobb Al Kaline Stan Musial Roberto Clemente Hank Aaron Mickey Rivers Ernie Banks Joe DiMaggio Duke Snider Rogers Hornsby Mel Ott Tris Speaker Jimmie Foxx Lefty Grove Bob Feller Carl Hubbell Grover Cleveland Alexander Cy Young Walter Johnson Christy Mathewson Mordecai Brown Dizzy Dean Hal Newhouser Early Wynn Warren Spahn Bucky Walters Grove Bender Hoyt Tom Seaver Steve Carlton Nolan Ryan Bob Gibson Don Drysdale Sandy Koufax Gaylord Perry Pedro Martinez Randy Johnson Roger Clemens Greg Maddux Tom Glavine Whitey Ford

Fourthly unlike many others mentioned above Derek played entire career facing same caliber competition without interruption facing lesser competition mid-career due injuries declining skills age etc like Willie Mays Jackie Robinson Mickey Mantle Ted Williams Lou Gehrig Babe Ruth Ty Cobb Al Kaline Stan Musial Roberto Clemente Hank Aaron Mickey Rivers Ernie Banks Joe DiMaggio Duke Snider Rogers Hornsby Mel Ott Tris Speaker Jimmie Foxx Lefty Grove Bob Feller Carl Hubbell Grover Cleveland Alexander Cy Young Walter Johnson Christbouzuya/MyProgrammingLanguage<|file_sep