Baseball's Golden Era For Shortstops
A-Rod, Jeter, Garciaparra, Vizquel redefine expectations for position
Dallas Morning News, March 5, 2000
by Ken Daley
Rare are the players able to revolutionize their sport, athletes capable of reshaping the expectations of their position and redefining the manner in which it is played.
Magic Johnson did it for basketball point guards. Wayne Gretzky did it for NHL centers. Kellen Winslow did it for NFL tight ends. Deion Sanders has done it for cornerbacks.
And, in what is becoming increasingly recognized as a golden era for the American League, the immensely talented Nomar Garciaparra, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Omar Vizquel are changing the definition of shortstop for the 21st century.
"I don't think there's any question this is the best group of shortstops ever," New York Yankees manager Joe Torre said.
In years past, arguments raged within New York neighborhoods over which center fielder was best - the Giants' Willie Mays, the Yankees' Mickey Mantle or the Dodgers' Duke Snider. Choosing the best among this group of shortstops could be even trickier.
Seattle's Rodriguez, 24, is the offensive golden child, the first shortstop and third player ever to have at least 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in the same season.
Boston's Garciaparra, 26, is perhaps the best pure hitter, and the leader in such intangibles as baseball savvy and dependability in the clutch.
The Yankees' Jeter, 25, is perhaps the best all-round package, a multitalented player who already owns three World Series rings and an air of maturity and leadership that belies his years.
Cleveland's Vizquel, 32, often is overlooked because of his age and comparative lack of power. But Vizquel is proving himself a better defensive player than Luis Aparicio and Ozzie Smith, setting standards in the field the youngsters can only admire. Vizquel also has made himself a valuable offensive asset, developing gap power and raising his career batting average 55 points since his rookie season of 1989, when he hit .220.
"Vizquel 'only' hits .320 or .330," Torre said with a smirk. "But because he doesn't hit the home runs, nobody pays attention to him. He's state of the art defensively."
Unfairly or not, Vizquel finds himself overshadowed. The young trio's offensive abilities, an athletic evolution foretold by the prototypes of Cal Ripken Jr. and Robin Yount, have turned shortstop into a five-tool position. Future shortstops will be judged on their ability to hit for average, hit for power, play defense, throw and run the bases - the five tools previously reserved to evaluate powerful outfielders and slugging third basemen.
"You've usually associated the shortstop position with defense," Seattle manager Lou Piniella said. "Now, it's expected that they will step forward and carry the load offensively."
And their unspoken struggle for superiority is raising all their games.
"Just seeing what those guys are doing, you can never be content with anything you're doing," Jeter said. "Because those guys are doing things just as good, if not better. So you've got to continue to work hard and work on every aspect of your game."
"It raises the ante a whole lot," Rodriguez agreed. "It's a lot of fun."
"I think we have tremendous respect for each other," Garciaparra said. "I know I'm always honored when people mention my name with those guys. I think they're phenomenal baseball players."
How phenomenal? Let us count the ways:
No. 1: Hitting for power
Rodriguez, the first overall pick of the 1993 draft, clearly excels here. With 148 home runs in the first six years of his career, the Mariners star already has outhomered 16 of the 19 shortstops inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame.
"Obviously, Alex has the most power," Jeter said. "He's going to hit more home runs than anyone else."
Among Hall of Fame shortstops, only Ernie Banks (512), Yount (251) and Joe Cronin (170) have more home runs, though Banks hit only 277 as a shortstop before moving to first base. Ripken, who played shortstop for 16 of his first 19 seasons, remains active with 402 home runs. But Rodriguez rapidly is approaching Ripken's record of 345 home runs hit as a shortstop.
"Alex works extra hard," said Toronto first baseman David Segui, a former Seattle teammate. "He prepares himself. He does a lot of little things that kids his age haven't begun to think about. Most kids his age show up and assume that they're going to be here 10 years, and that there's no urgency in getting better. He takes the few extra steps to get better - that's what's impressive."
Garciaparra, taken with the 12th pick of the 1994 draft, showed little power potential while playing for Georgia Tech. But he blossomed with 16 homers in 43 games for Class AAA Pawtucket in 1996, then hit 30 homers for Boston in 1997, 35 in 1998 and 27 in 1999, his first year without the protection of Mo Vaughn following him in the Red Sox lineup.
Jeter also has improved his power stroke. After hitting 10 homers each in 1996 and 1997, he nearly doubled his output to 19 in 1998 and last season hit a career-high 24.
"Jeter has gotten bigger and stronger," Piniella said. "He doesn't just slap the ball to right field anymore. He takes a man's cut."
And Vizquel? With five homers last season, the elder statesman has 34 for his 11-year career.
Tool No. 2: Hitting for average
Right-handers Garciaparra (.357) and Jeter (.349) finished 1-2 in last year's American League batting race, with the switch-hitting Vizquel (.333) tied for fifth.
Rodriguez, who missed five weeks early in the season after knee surgery, hit .308 last year. But he won the AL batting title in 1996 when he hit .358, the best average by a right-handed batter in 57 years, since Joe DiMaggio hit .381 in 1939.
So who is the best pure hitter of the group? Most scouts give Jeter a slight edge overall, but rate Rodriguez higher for power and Garciaparra the best in clutch situations. The shortstop batting crown likely will change hands many times among these three throughout their careers.
Tool No. 3: Defense
The three youngsters admittedly take a backseat to Vizquel, winner of every AL Gold Glove since 1993 and a defensive whiz who could be the best ever. Vizquel opens the season with the highest fielding average in history among shortstops who have played at least 1,000 games (.982). He has the consistency and flair of Ozzie Smith.
"He is head and shoulders over everyone defensively," Rodriguez said. "I really just sit back and watch Omar in admiration. He can do things with his body that bigger shortstops can't fathom doing."
Vizquel, who began his career in Seattle as a non-drafted free agent, said, "I think players should take as much pride in the defensive part of the game as the offensive, because not all the games are won by a home run or a base hit. You can win a lot of games turning a double play in the ninth inning or making a great play to motivate your teammates."
Tool No. 4: Throwing
All four shortstops throw well, but scouts rate Rodriguez's arm strength the highest, while giving Jeter the edge for accuracy.
Vizquel's quickness and agility mask any deficiencies in his arm. Garciaparra overcomes his by a self-taught ability to throw well on the run, from any angle, and by his cerebral knack for proper positioning against each hitter.
Jeter has made the biggest strides defensively. His arm once was so wild he committed 56 errors in 128 games for Rookie League Greensboro in 1993. In the past two seasons, he has made a combined 23 errors for the world champion Yankees.
"That, on its own, is admirable," Rodriguez said, "that someone who has so much talent works so hard."
No. 5: Baserunning
Scouts rate Jeter as having the best speed and base running instincts, but Rodriguez and Vizquel as being the better and more aggressive base stealers.
Just as his superlative defense makes up for his lack of power, so too does Vizquel's recently added ability to steal bases.
Vizquel stole twice as many bases last season (42) as Rodriguez (21), Jeter (19) or Garciaparra (14), and has averaged more than 39 steals over the past four seasons.
"I don't think it's really fair that you look at shortstops right now just because they can hit home runs," Vizquel said. "Some of the greatest playing that position before were there because they knew how to run and play the defensive part of the game. At this point of my career, I'm feeling really proud that I can do both."
The ultimate shortstop?
So which of these shortstops is the best?
"I'm not touching that one," Texas Rangers manager Johnny Oates said. "I don't like to compare or rank, but you can't go wrong with any of them.
"I really don't put Omar in that same class as the other three because he was here a little before the other three. He's the grandpa of the group. But those other three guys, they're all three a little bit different player, and they are three class acts."
Jeter was equally diplomatic, saying, "Everyone has different strengths. I think that question is left up to the reporters or the fans to have the debate over who is the better one. I think you have to look at every aspect of a player's game. There are so many things that all these players have that's different, it's kind of tough (to decide)."
Rodriguez won't say, either.
"In Nomar, I just see a complete player, someone who can beat you in many, many ways. He's a very explosive player," Rodriguez said. "And everything Derek does amazes me. He's a very, very exciting player. He's fun to watch."
How does Vizquel vote?
"They've just changed the game so much, they've made it so hard for the guys who don't really take the ball out of the ballpark," he said. "They've got their different styles, but they're all leaders."
Garciaparra's stance?
"We're different, the way we perform, yet we've been pretty successful," he said. "I don't think it's a competition. I know I'm not competing against those guys, I'm just trying to help my team, and I think they're just doing the same."
Baseball scouts, officials and players polled during last year's All-Star break by Baseball America magazine rated Rodriguez, a free agent after the 2000 season, as the shortstop most likely to receive baseball's first $200 million contract. But the same respondents rated Jeter as the best overall shortstop.
"With Jeter, somebody may have more power than him, somebody may be a better hitter than him, somebody may do this better than him," Torre said. "But when you put the package together, he doesn't take a back seat to anybody.
"But they're all ferocious when it comes to competing. They all bring a little something different to the table, and they're setting standards now that are going to be pretty tough to reach."