A few days ago, I saw a list somebody decided to make of the most overrated baseball players of the 1st quarter of the 21st Century. Derek Jeter was listed at Number 1.
Then again, it wasn't a totally outrageous list: David Ortiz, the big fat lying cheating bastard, was listed at Number 2. I don't know what would have happened to the Yankees had there been both effective testing for performance-enhancing drugs and an appropriate punishment for them in place by the year 2000. I do know that, with the players on the Red Sox during Ortiz's tenure, from 2003 to 2016, known to have used them, including him and Manny Ramirez; and those suspected of having done so, including Curt Schilling and Kevin Youkilis; they would have had trouble even making the Playoffs, let alone winning 3 World Series (and then, in 2018, thanks to cheating with Apple Watches, a 4th).
It has long been the case that the media machines in major cities -- especially New York, and to a lesser extent in Chicago and Los Angeles -- turn good athletes into great ones, and those already great into gods. That's why Jeter is "overrated": He's about 80 percent legend, 20 percent media creation. Sure, he was 20-year star who became the leader of a great team, but he wasn't a god. He has more career hits than any living human, and more World Series rings as a player than any player active today, but he's not on the "Yankee Mount Rushmore." Who's he going to displace? Babe Ruth? Lou Gehrig? Joe DiMaggio? Mickey Mantle?
The New York media machine is why Joe Namath, a good quarterback with a few great games, one of them one of the most famous games in football history, is treated as a god, when he probably wouldn't be in his sport's Hall of Fame if he had lost that game.
It's why the early 1970s New York Knicks are held up as the greatest example of "team basketball" ever, when the Boston Celtics were doing pretty much the same thing all through the 1960s.
Same with Los Angeles: It's why people believe Sandy Koufax was the greatest pitcher ever, though, for peak value, he might have been the greatest in the post-1920 Lively Ball Era; why they believe Tommy Lasorda was a great manager, when there's plenty of evidence to show he wasn't even a good one; why they believe Steve Garvey should be in the Hall of Fame, when his career stats show that he isn't even close; and why they believe and Vin Scully was the greatest broadcaster ever, when he wasn't even close.
And it's not just the Dodgers that the Los Angeles Times and the L.A. TV stations have propped up. It's why so much was made out of the Rams' 1960s defensive line, when it wasn't even the 2nd such line to be known as the Fearsome Foursome, although it might have bee the best one; and why USC is held up as a college football program on the same level as Notre Dame and Alabama, when it's not quite there.
It's why Jerry West was known as the greatest shooter ever until Steph Curry came along, and was also known as "Mr. Clutch," even though he never helped his team win a title until he was almost 34, and was a far more significant figure as an executive; why the 1980s Lakers are held up as the greatest team ever, which is not outrageous, but hardly definitive; why LeBron James is held up as the greatest player of the post-Michael Jordan era, even though his Lakers tenure has been a letdown, if not, because he has won 1 title, an outright failure; and why Wayne Gretzky is thought of as the greatest hockey player ever, even more so than Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr, even though, unlike those 2, he did nothing on defense to add to his amazing offense, and he never got the Kings closer to the Cup than 3 wins.
Same with Chicago: It's why people believe the 1985 Bears were the greatest NFL team ever, and maybe they were, for a single season, but, like the 1986 Mets, they were "a dynasty of one"; why they believe Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player ever, and he wasn't, Wilt Chamberlain was; and why they believe Wrigley Field is the greatest ballpark, and while it's certainly high-ranking, it's not the best.
It's why the 1980s Lakers got a miniseries made about them, and the 1990s Chicago Bulls, the 1980s' Lakers-Celtics matchups, the 1986 Mets, and Jeter as an individual each got a multipart ESPN documentary.
With that in mind, the most overrated baseball player of all time is Pete Rose, because there are people who believe having more hits than any other player makes him the greatest hitter, when he wasn't. He was a great singles and doubles hitter, but that's about it: He had little power, he was a smart baserunner but not a great baserunner, and as for fielding, the reason he was an All-Star at 5 different positions was that he wasn't very good at any of them.
It's one of the great ironies of baseball in his era that he was held up as one of the symbols of the National League's All-Star Game dominance, and thus of the NL's apparent supremacy over the American League, when his best place in the lineup would have been as a designated hitter, which the NL didn't have.
(The preceding has absolutely nothing to do with his either his gambling or his other off-field behavior, both during and after his playing career.)
The most overrated pitcher of all time is Nolan Ryan. His performance at an advanced age is obviously noteworthy, but pitchers that old had done very well before, including Cy Young and Warren Spahn; and some have done so since, even without the knuckleball, like Bartolo Colón and Jamie Moyer. His 7 no-hitters are spectacular, but not especially relevant. His being far in front on the all-time strikeout list is spectacular, but it doesn't override the fact that he had a comparatively low winning percentage.
The most overrated pitcher of all time is Nolan Ryan. His performance at an advanced age is obviously noteworthy, but pitchers that old had done very well before, including Cy Young and Warren Spahn; and some have done so since, even without the knuckleball, like Bartolo Colón and Jamie Moyer. His 7 no-hitters are spectacular, but not especially relevant. His being far in front on the all-time strikeout list is spectacular, but it doesn't override the fact that he had a comparatively low winning percentage.
His fans will say he played on mostly poor teams, but that's hardly true. It is also undermined by the legitimate argument that he cost the California Angels the 1979 AL Championship Series, and the Houston Astros the 1980 and 1986 NL Championship Series.
Finally, let me say this: Saying someone was overrated doesn't mean they weren't good, or great, or even an all-time great. It just means that more is made of them than they deserve.
It's also not a mark against their character. As far as I know, unlike Rose, Ryan is a man of good character.
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