Captain Amazing: Is Derek Jeter the Greatest Yankee Of All Time?

This past Saturday, Derek Jeter passed Louis Aparicio to become the all-time hits leader at the shortstop position.

With the Yankees on a tear this year, the Derek Jeter Era is still going strong.  He is a constant professional and the captain of arguably the most recognized franchise in all of sports.

Since every sports fan likes to debate with one another, I decided to ask this question:

Is Derek Jeter the greatest Yankee ever?

He has some stiff competition:

Babe Ruth-

The Sultan of Swat, The Colossus of Clout, The Great Bambino.

If there are baseball gods, then Ruth is their Zeus.  He is the greatest baseball player of all time and christened the original Yankee Stadium.  Long home runs are now refered to as "Ruthian Blasts", and the reason why the Yankees wear pinstripes is because it made him look slimmer.

Off the field, he was said to never have turned down an autograph request from a kid and he was featured in a few feature films (he played himself in Pride of the Yankees, a biopic about fellow Yankee Lou Gehrig).

The only strike against Ruth is that he did not play his entire career with the Yankees, but I am not really holding that against him. 

Yogi Berra-

This man has a World Series ring for every finger.  All of his 10 championships came as a Yankee.  He is the most revered living Yankee and is the greatest catcher of all time.

Great Yankee players are defined by their skills, their heart, and by how many rings they wear.

Yogi may be one of baseball's great characters, but he is also baseball's ultimate champion.

Lou Gehrig-

Gehrig was the cleanup hitter for the famed Yankees lineup "murderer's row".  Although a humble and quiet person, on the field, his bat and glove did the talking.  In seven World Series, he hit .361 with 10 homeruns and also won two regular season MVP awards.

The Iron Horse also played in 2,130 consecutive games and spent his entire career in a Yankees uniform.

Everyone knows about his tragic death; he carried himself with dignity and grace throughout the whole ordeal.

Don Mattingly-

Donnie Baseball was one of the hardest workers day in and day out.  He was a great fielder and has a batting title and an MVP trophy to his name.  When he finally made the playoffs in 1995, he belted a clutch home run against the Mariners that sent the Stadium into a frenzy.

The only thing going against Mattingly is that he never won a World Series, or even played in one.  He only made the playoffs once, but the fans' love for him could be the reason why he may be the greatest Yankee.

He is the only player on this list (other than Jeter) that is not in the Hall of Fame.  If Yankee fans had their way, he would be.

Joe Dimaggio-

The Yankee Clipper.  Dimaggio once said, "I want to thank the good Lord for making me a Yankee". 

The Yankees should thank the good Lord for whatever scout found him playing for the Seals in the Pacific Coast League.

Dimaggio played in 10 World Series and the Yankees won nine of them.  Surprisingly, Dimaggio only hit .271 in 199 at-bats.

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