Derek Jeter / USPRESSWIRE

Yesterday, I put up some data showing that few players have ever hit as well as Derek Jeter has in his Age 38 season after hitting so poorly in their Ages 36-37 seasons.

Now I’m going to show you why that set of data was so misleading.

The issue here is not that Jeter’s 2012 is so good–it’s that his 2010-2011 were so bad, making his 2012 seem like a massive resurgence.

But let’s start from the other side. Here are the 20 guys since 1901 to post a 119, 120, or 121 OPS+ over their Ages 32-35 seasons, minimum 2000 PAs.

This is a nice list, filled with guys who often come to mind when thinking of late-career stalwarts. The group is nicely distributed over time, with half the players coming after 1980 and half before.

“But”, I bet you’re thinking, “these guys all fell off a lot in their Age 36-37 seasons, just like Jeter.”

Well, let’s see.

So, not really. Two guys–Joe Gordon and Johnny Moore–didn’t play MLB in their Age 36-37 seasons. A few others, such as John Olerud and Eddie Stanky, didn’t play MUCH in those years.

But a number of players, particularly Vernon, Ibanez, and McGriff, played full time and played really well in those years. Even Bobby Abreu and Tony Perez played a lot and were well above average. Ron Cey was starting to wind down but was still average.

Then there’s Jeter, near the bottom and grouped largely with players who weren’t good enough to hold down jobs anymore. If he’d played 50 or more years earlier, Jeter might have lost his job at that time (but today’s lucrative show contracts ensure that he’ll stay in the limelight as long as possible.)

I think Jeter’s poor performance over 2010-2011 is due largely to injuries as well as pressure to reach 3,000 hits. As has been noted before, his performance after reaching that milestone suddenly jumped into the stratosphere.

The bottom line is that his 2012 is quite consistent with his career. It’s his 2010-2011 that sticks out as the aberration.