David Eckstein is My Hero
Monday, October 30, 2006
(Not really) So here's the thing. There aren't going to be any I told you so moments today.....Why? Because there doesn't need to be. Couple of points though.
1. I never said David Eckstein was a great player. I said he was a good player and that it would be extremely ironic if he won the W.S. MVP after a "Quadruple A" team won the Series.
2. I think David Eckstein is a Good player and definitely an above average MLB Player. I also think his stats prove that. He may not be one of the best shortstops around, but I'd draft him relatively high if the top echelon were taken.
3. He's an awful fantasy player. That has nothing to do with the discussion, but I figured I'd say it tying into........
4. The argument came up about his statistics and I stated that they didn't really matter in the discussion. I'm not going all Joe Morgan on you here, but a lot of times statistics lie....or they don't tell the whole story. That's the case in any sport.....Who's a better QB Tom Brady or Peyton Manning? I (and most) say Tom Brady because of the Rings.
Now that doesn't exactly compare to baseball, but in any sport you are instantly more respected and considered a better player because of said rings. And I think the same has to be said for David Eckstein......At the end of the day he's a career .283 hitter with an OBP of .351.
Oh....and he's got 2 World Series Rings and 1 World Series MVP. That's pretty damn good in my eyes. Congratulations St. Louis.....and Detroit......at least you lost(won) this battle:
United States Most Dangerous City
In the grand scheme of things......which is more important??? Please continue the debate if you so choose in the comments.
3 Comments:
Ben always puts things better than I can as well.
Buuuuuut. I think the venom is directed in the wrong place. It should be towards the Media for making Eck out to be such a "hardworker" and the "littlest big man".
If he WAS such an awful player...how did he dominate one of the best pitching staffs in the league in Detroit?
I agree with Jason and Ben here. Certainly Eckstein isn't an awful player, but IMO he doesn't get on base that well, hits for little power, and is below-average defensively. In my mind, he's a below-average starting SS. But then, I tend to favor (by a lot) statistical analysis over being "scrappy" or rings, because I feel WS rings are a lot lot lot more indicative of a team accomplishment than individual accomplishment.
That's just my thoughts on the matter. Nothing against Eckstein, just the representation of him by the media.
i can understand your point to some degree, but no amount of championships will make eckstein into a good player, much less an above-average one.
in the end, ben at sportszilla puts it far better than i could on this one.