Listening to Francesca a little the other day regarding the baseball HOF voting, and a bunch of callers were talking about Biggio. Mike doesn't think Biggio is a HOFer. Ok, whatever. Calls him a compiler, which is true. But of course we all know Jeter is a first-ballot HOFer, right? Lock. And I'm not saying Jeter shouldn't be a HOFer. He should be a first-ballot HOFer. But let's compare the career numbers of these guys...
Biggio: 20 years, 1844 r, 3060 h, 668 2b, 55 3b, 291 hr, 1175 rbi, 414 sb, .281/.363/.433/.796, 112 ops+, 65.1 bWAR
- 3 times top 10 in MVP voting, 2 times top 5 in MVP voting
- 0 WS rings (look at the teams he was on)
- played 2 positions well (C, 2b)
Jeter: 20 years, 1923 r, 3465 h, 544 2b, 66 3b, 260 hr, 1311 rbi, 358 sb, .310/.377/.440/.817, 115 ops+, 71.8 bWAR
- 8 times top 10 in MVP voting, 3 times top 5 in MVP voting
- 5 WS rings (look at the teams he was on)
- played 1 position, and not very well for most of that time, by the metrics
So Jeter's career was better, and obviously the 5 rings makes a huge difference. But clearly the Yankee teams Jeter was on were loaded while the Astro teams Biggio was on….were not. Hard to blame Biggio for that. One big strike against Biggio is that he wasn't a particularly good playoff performer while Jeter was much better.
But overall those careers aren't too dissimilar. Jeter is absolutely a lock hall of famer, but the numbers are pretty close except for Francesca's favorite category, batting average (he's still in the dark ages, apparently).
FWIW, here is each guy's best season (IMO):
Biggio (1997): 146 r, 191 h, 37 2b, 8 3b, 22 hr, 81 rbi, 47 sb, .309/.415/.501/.916, 143 ops+, 9.4 bWAR
Jeter (1999): 134 r, 219 h, 39 2b, 9 3b, 24 hr, 102 rbi, 19 sb, .349/.438/.552/.989, 153 ops+, 8.0 bWAR
Biggio: 20 years, 1844 r, 3060 h, 668 2b, 55 3b, 291 hr, 1175 rbi, 414 sb, .281/.363/.433/.796, 112 ops+, 65.1 bWAR
- 3 times top 10 in MVP voting, 2 times top 5 in MVP voting
- 0 WS rings (look at the teams he was on)
- played 2 positions well (C, 2b)
Jeter: 20 years, 1923 r, 3465 h, 544 2b, 66 3b, 260 hr, 1311 rbi, 358 sb, .310/.377/.440/.817, 115 ops+, 71.8 bWAR
- 8 times top 10 in MVP voting, 3 times top 5 in MVP voting
- 5 WS rings (look at the teams he was on)
- played 1 position, and not very well for most of that time, by the metrics
So Jeter's career was better, and obviously the 5 rings makes a huge difference. But clearly the Yankee teams Jeter was on were loaded while the Astro teams Biggio was on….were not. Hard to blame Biggio for that. One big strike against Biggio is that he wasn't a particularly good playoff performer while Jeter was much better.
But overall those careers aren't too dissimilar. Jeter is absolutely a lock hall of famer, but the numbers are pretty close except for Francesca's favorite category, batting average (he's still in the dark ages, apparently).
FWIW, here is each guy's best season (IMO):
Biggio (1997): 146 r, 191 h, 37 2b, 8 3b, 22 hr, 81 rbi, 47 sb, .309/.415/.501/.916, 143 ops+, 9.4 bWAR
Jeter (1999): 134 r, 219 h, 39 2b, 9 3b, 24 hr, 102 rbi, 19 sb, .349/.438/.552/.989, 153 ops+, 8.0 bWAR