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.
So say 1,528 New York City residents 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 9 percent; Lou Gehrig, 8 percent; and mighty Mickey Mantle, 3 percent.
Old-time fans scratching their heads need to know this: If it weren’t 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.
Women picked Jeter over Ruth, 30-16 percent. Men went with Ruth, 29-18 percent.
Every age group also lined up with Ruth, except fans 18 to 34 who gave their votes to Jeter by a 31-27 percent margin.