Major League Baseball
...er in the MLB in 1996 with the Yankees. He was only an average batter from 1996, in the beginning of his career, until the 2000 season where he is still playing. In the 1996-2000 seasons Derek Jeters batting averages were low and ranged from .291- .349(Derek Jeter: Star Shortstop, jeterarodgirl.tripod.com). He has also failed to meet major league expectations of him such as in home runs. From 1996-2000, Jeter only hit a total of 78 home runs and he only had 996 hits through those same five years (Espn.com). He only had a total of 407 runs batted in (RBI's) over the same 5 years (Espn.com). Derek Jeter struck out 561 times during his tenure with the Yankees (CNNSI.com). That is a very high number of strikeouts and an average of 112.2 per year. Running on base is a very important part to baseball. One must have good agility and be good at making quick decisions. On base percentage (OBP), steals, and runs scored are all key elements to baserunning. Derek Jeter's OBP in the five years was .393. He accounted for a total of 108 stolen bases from 1996 until 2000. For runs scored he has scored 600 runs since 1996 (CNNSI.com). Derek is Not very quick on the basepath only averaging 21.6 stolen bases in a 162 game season. Alex Rodriguez has posted better numbers in almost every category than Derek Jeter. First, in batting his averages from 1996-2000 ranged from .285-358(Espn.com). In 4 our of the 5 years recorded he posted a better batting average than Derek Jeter. In home runs Alex Rodriguez has been a consistent force hitting about 36 a year, which is a much better average compared to Jeter's average of a mere 15 per year. Rodriguez compiled a mark of 1008 hits in the five year span, which is again, higher than Jeter's. Rodriguez has 595 RBI's since 1996, which surpasses Derek Jeter's mark by 188 RBI's. Rodriguez struck out 554 times over the 5 years. Finally, Alex Rodriguez has been much more consistent on the basepath than Jeter. He has had an OBP of .400 in the 5 years while compiling 127 stolen bases, averaging 26 a year. He also has 990 career hits and still counting. In two out of three categories in batting, Rodriguez has better numbers than Derek Jeter. Overall, Offensively, Alex Rodriguez has adapted better to MLB pitching and has the better decision making and speed on the basepath than his coun...