Who is the better baseball team captain - Derek Jeter or Jason Varitek?

Question

I am a STRONG supporter and fan of the Yankees. And it seems that all of us Yankees fans have got to like Jeter. With the Red Sox however, Jason Varitek (or V-Tek as I like to call him) does put his team in a very good spot. I hate to admit it, but Varitek is good, and he does have some talent, but Derek Jeter will ALWAYS be the cooler captain between the two.

GO YANKEES!! We love you, Jeter!!

GO YANKEES

Answer 1

Jeter is a calm and collect player but he never goes out on a limb when talking to the media. He just says the right thing. I don't see any fire in him. He left A-Rod out to dry when the fans were booing him 2 years ago.

Answer 2

Better hitter and fielder - Jeter

Better captain and IMO person - Varitek

Not saying Jeter's a bad guy, but like others have said, he doesn't handle every situation like a captain would.

Answer 3

I think i remember during a couple of games, the announcers saying that varitek does not want the "c" on his jersey. so thats not a legit reason at all. I would say varitek because i think he means more to his team then jeter. Remember that summer a couple of years ago when varitek got hurt and boston fell apart and fell out of playoff contention. Also he has 4 caught no hitters tied for most all time, who do you think is throwing down the signs ever game except when wakefield is in. jeters a good captian and all but i would say varitek is better.

Answer 4

both are great captains and leaders of their teams, but i am biased as a yankee fan so i am definitely taking dj right here...he knows what the yankee tradition is about and embraces it, and he understands what a huge responsibility it is to be the captain of the most successful franchise in pro sports history

Answer 5

Another Yankees vs. Red Sox question. So I expect every Yankees fan to say Jeter and every Red Sox fan and Yankees hater to say Varitek. Oh well.

I think Jeter is doing his thing as the Yankees captain. It seems to be something he was born for. The Yankees have been successful under him (for which I appreciate very much) and he commands respect from his teammates and others in the league.

That said, Jason Varitek is a good captain for his team. I wasn't a big fan of the mush to A-Rod's face (mainly because he didn't take off his mask when he did it), but Tek is the prototypical Red Sox captain. Not flashy, but steady. I may hate the Red Sox, but I respect dude.

Answer 6

Yankee fans will say Jeter & Red Sox fans will say Varitek.  Jeter is my favorite player but I am a fan of Varitek's also except when he plays the Yankees

Answer 7

You've got to take into account what Tek does for the pitching staff. No catcher has ever caught more no-hitters than he has, and it isn't a matter of being in the right place at the right time -- it's a testament to his preparation and getting the best out of his pitchers. In the past, he's had decent production behind the plate, too.

As a Boston fan, I'm obligated to hate the Yankees, and believe me, I do, but Jeter is a class-act and a great player. Because I don't watch them everyday, I can't really attest to what he does to his team. In any public appearance and in high-pressure situations, he seems to handle himself well and is calm, so I'd imagine he would have a calming effect on his teammates. During the 90s, when the Yankees were a force, I can remember him coming up with a LOT of timely, clutch hits. That's gotta help a clubhouse.

Who's the better captain? I'm not really sure you can measure that -- but I'll say Varitek. Then again, I'm biased.

Answer 8

VARITEK.  he is calling all the calls frm behind the plate. dj doesnt do c**p

Answer 9

First of all, tek gets a lot of undeserved flak for wearing the C. He didn't want to wear it. The players said they were proud to have him as their captain and they insisted he show it. wearing the C should not be a knock on tek, but it could be a knock on the red sox. Part of the class of the yankees is that they would not choose a captain who would wear the C. They don't even put their names on their uniforms. When they are on the field, they are all yankees.

That said, as a Yankee fan, I know a lot more about Jeter aka Cap'n Clutch aka Mr. November as captain than Tek. Jeter leads primarily through example. He learned from the previous Yankee captain Donnie Baseball Mattingly. When they first met during spring training 1995 they were the only ones in the training stadium after a workout one day. They started walking back to the dugout. Mattingly said "let's run". Jeter asked "why?". Mattingly said "because you never know who's watching."

That's the way Jeter played ever since, the right way. He always runs out ever ground ball. He's always in the right spot to make any play, even a shuffle pass to the catcher on an overthrow to save a playoff game or a dive into the stands face first to catch a red sox foul ball. When asked about his favorite moments and favorite years, he will consistently say 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000 and everything else is a failure, regardless of his personal numbers as he continues to outpace pete rose on his way to 4000 hits. In spite of twice competing for the batting title, he is one of the few guys on the team who regularly bunts when the situation calls for it. With his great batting average with the bases loaded, he only has 1 grand slam because he knows its better for the team to keep the average up and let others pick up the remaining RBIs than to swing for the fences. He does what he needs to to help the team win and he has never seen the Yankees fail to reach the post-season. He has no intention of starting now, either.

His leadership off the field is individual. He doesn't chew guys out. When somebody needs to be spoken to, he'll talk to them personally and not embarass them in front of their teammates. Sometimes guys need to be called out, but there are other guys in the clubhouse to do that, Jeter is more the mentor type, something he learned partly from Joe Torre (who he invariably called "Mr. Torre", even when everyone else called him "Joe"). When A-Rod said at the start of last year that they weren't good friends, Jeter's didn't call A-Rod out for creating tension. He said that he didn't sleep over at A-Rod's house like he did when they were in the minors because A-Rod had a wife and kid (Now he has 2 kids and soon to be no wife, but that's another story). He let A-Rod release his tension and A-Rod responded with a relaxed MVP performance, including 14 homers in April

I don't know much about Tek, but I would be surprised if he was as good a captain as Jeter. I'm sure some sox fans will make a good case. Tek has a lot of respect around the league. I'm sure others know much more about why than I do.

Answer 10

jeter is so much better .. variteck is just a show off and say ohh the redsox are soo much better then the yankees when they really arent who cares about standings yankees didnt stink for that many years in a row before-

Answer 11

Jeter doesn't wear a captain C on his jersey.  That says enough about him as a leader in my opinion.

Answer 12

You've gotta say Varitek.

He's one of the most respectable men in baseball, and he has ALWAYS been a leader to his team, whether he sucks this year or not.  He's the kind of guy that you can go to whenever you have a question, but Jeter isn't that kind of guy.

Answer 13

Jeter is a j******f! I'm with Tek on this one.

Answer 14

is that a serious question?

who else is referred to as "THE captain"

jason varitek SUCKS

Answer 15

Varitek.  Jeter may be the better player, or at least better batter, but Jason does more for the team.  Jeter doesn't always handle situations very well.  Like when ARod first came to NY.  he didn't do all he could to make it smooth.

Answer 16

Jason Varitek.

He does way more for the Red Sox in terms of leading the pitching staff.

He's amazing behind the plate.

Calls a great games. Means a bunch to the Red Sox.

Though Jeter deserves props i'm not going to say he's a better captain then 'Tek.

Jack