The term “overrated” has long been a staple of sports debate, but in recent years, it has become one of the most misused words in the sports dictionary.
Originally meant to describe players or teams who receive more praise than their performance justifies, it’s now more often used as a synonym for “bad” or “undeserving.”
In Snyder’s Soapbox, Matt Snyder explores how this shift in meaning has muddied sports conversations—and he’s absolutely right.
From Nuance to Negativity
At its core, “overrated” is meant to express that something is rated too highly, not that it lacks merit entirely.
It’s a comparative term, not a condemnation. Yet fans, commentators, and online debates have flattened its nuance.
When someone hears a favorite player called overrated, the reaction is often defensive–as if their entire career is being dismissed. Snyder argues that this emotional reaction misses the point and undermines honest analysis.
Calling a player overrated should not imply they’re mediocre or a bust. Rather, it should spark a conversation about how perception, media narrative, and fan expectations can outpace actual production or value.
Unfortunately, the modern sports discourse tends to conflate criticism with disrespect, leaving little room for thoughtful evaluation.
Pete Rose: The Poster Child for Overhype
To illustrate how “overrated” should be understood, Snyder puts forward one of baseball’s most iconic figures: Pete Rose.
Rose, the all-time MLB hit king , is often mentioned in the same breath as the game’s greatest hitters. But Snyder challenges that reverence with a closer look at the numbers.
While Rose racked up an unprecedented 4,256 hits, his offensive metrics tell a different story. His career batting average of .303 ranks around 180th in MLB history.
His .375 on-base percentage is roughly 228th, and his slugging percentage of .409 doesn’t even crack the top 1,000.
None of this suggests that Rose wasn’t a great player–he absolutely was. But it does suggest that calling him one of the very best ever, purely because of the hit total, oversells his actual dominance.
“He’s an all-time great player, but he has become incredibly overrated the past several decades due to lots of things that don’t have much to do with actual, on-field baseball,” Snyder said.
In this sense, Rose is a textbook example of being overrated. The narrative around him has inflated his legacy beyond what the broader statistical picture supports.
That’s not a knock on Rose’s career–it’s a reminder that greatness and hype are not always the same thing.
The Dodgers: A 2025 Reality Check
Snyder also takes aim at the 2025 Los Angeles Dodgers , who came into the season riding a wave of hype.
They were the consensus No. 1 team in baseball, heralded by analysts and fans as a near-lock for World Series contention.
With a roster loaded with star power and high expectations, they were expected to dominate from Opening Day.
“There were earnest discussions about whether or not they were so good that the game was unfair and the entire system of how Major League Baseball operates should be changed,” Snyder said.
“If a team is so good that it’s bad for the game, they would be lapping the field all season, right?”
Yet once the games began, reality intruded. The Dodgers didn’t claim the best record out of the gate. They were even swept at home by the Angels, a last-place team at the time.
This slight underperformance didn’t make them a bad team, but it did reveal the gap between perception and actual results. In short, they were overrated–not in talent, but in how the baseball world forecasted their inevitability.
This, again, is the essence of what it means to be overrated: expectations that surpass what the subject ultimately delivers.
Reclaiming the Word
Snyder’s broader point is a valuable one. We need to rehabilitate the word “overrated” and use it as it was meant to be used. It’s a term that calls for balance and reflection, not derision.
“All I ask is we try to remember what words actually mean,” Snyder said.
To say someone is overrated is not to dismiss them; it’s to question whether their public image aligns with their actual impact.
Fans and analysts alike should feel comfortable using “overrated” when it fits, but with care. It should be supported by data, context, and comparison, not just gut feelings or fan bias.
“We can do this together, gang. Repeat after me: Overrated doesn’t necessarily mean bad,” Snyder said.
The goal is sharper, more honest conversation–not lazy criticism.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post ‘Overrated’: Pete Rose, the Dodgers, and Our Broken Sports Debates appeared first on Heavy Sports .