The Pecan Park Eagle

Derek Jeter makes a great captain for the “Almost Astros” club.

Ray Kuhn of FanSided at SI.com has written a brief, but timely article on a Houston significance to the announcement by Derek Jeter that he will be retiring at the end of this 2014 season, his 20th year in the big leagues. The article is timely also in the sense, once again, as they did back in 1992, when Jeter was drafted # 6 by the New York Yankees after the Astros passed on Jeter and used their first choice in the entire draft to take Phil “Remember me?” Nevin with their top pick. Kuhn aptly describes that move as a “franchise changing decision”. – And now the new Astros are on the clock again with the first pick in the amateur player draft. Will their Delphic qualities be better than they were back in 1992 with some other folks doing the selecting?

http://climbingtalshill.com/2014/02/13/derek-jeter-announces-retirement/

A brief look at Derek Jeter’s record to date is impressive in its own right. Talk about durable. Until this past injury-destroyed 2013 season and his limited use rookie year of 1995, Jeter has posted a minimum of 542 plate appearances in 17 of his 19 MLB seasons. 10 of those 19 seasons, he posted well over 700 plate appearances; in 6 seasons, he reached the 600 mark 6 times; and only once did he settle for a measly 542 plate trips.

The man has been a dedicated machine of high performance on both the offensive and defensive sides. Check out his stats at Baseball Reference.Com for yourself:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jeterde01.shtml

Then wonder (in spite of the fact that hindsight is always 20-20): What were the Astros thinking when they passed on Derek Jeter to take Phil Nevin?

What a difference that decision made to the unfolding history of the Astros over the past two decades. Can you imagine the Killer Bees, with Jeter and Biggio protecting the middle infield on defense?

Hope the Astros, the new, improving Astros, do better this time the draft rolls around!