"It would be hard to put anybody ahead of Jeter" - New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick shockingly names the Yankees legend his favorite shortstop over Ozzie Smith
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was asked about his favorite shortstops growing up. Naturally, New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter came up. Over the course of Belichick's life, there have been a number of iconic shortstops playing the game, including Alex Rodriguez, Barry Larkin, and others.
Bill Belichick was asked about his favorite shortstop
"It would be hard to put anybody ahead of Jeter." https://t.co/t1O85BQmQg
When asked, the Patriots coach, who is famous for his strict demeanor, cracked a smile and thought about the answer:
"There's a lot of good ones. Yeah, you know, I'd have to go with [Derek] Jeter here in the long haul. Not that I was growing up to him, but it'd be hard to put anybody above Jeter."
The reporter then mentioned Ozzie Smith, who is widely considered one of the greatest shortstops in baseball history, to which Belichick replied:
"Yeah, there was a lot of good shortstops back in the day. They can handle the ball, I'm telling you. They can handle it and throw it. It's impressive watching a Major League Baseball infield work and make it look so easy. It's so hard and they make it look so easy."
Clearly, Belichick is a fan of defense in the infield, which makes his answer even more surprising. Not only is Belichick a New England-based coach, but his propensity for defense would lead him towards a good defender like Smith.
The former Yankee is widely considered one of the most detrimental defenders in baseball history.
Why might Bill Belichick have liked Derek Jeter so much?
It's shocking that anyone from the New England area would name Derek Jeter their favorite shortstop of all time, especially someone as prominent as Belichick.
It truly speaks to how good and how iconic the Yankees star was. Despite being the poor defender mentioned above, he still put up an astounding 71.3 career WAR. His offense was good enough to far outweigh his defense though.
The championship teams he was a part of speak for themselves as well. It's hard to name someone who fits the word shortstop more than he does, so even a New Englander can respect him.