NY fans say Jeter as great as Babe Ruth
Sports bar debaters should have a field day with this one: a new poll found that Derek Jeter is tied with Babe Ruth as the greatest Yankees player of all time, the New York Post reported Friday.
A total of 1,528 New York City residents were questioned by Quinnipiac University pollsters, who placed the 3,000-hit Yankees captain on the same lofty plane as one of the most exalted figures in all of sports history.
Ruth and Jeter were each mentioned by 23 percent of those polled.
No one else broke double digits, not even the legendary figures who comprise the Yankees pantheon.
Joe DiMaggio was mentioned by nine percent, Lou Gehrig eight percent and mighty Mickey Mantle three percent.
Old-time fans scratching their heads need to know this: If it were not for women and baseball fans under 35, The Babe would have come out on top, as he has in just about every other poll ever conducted.