John Olerud or Mark Grace?

[DoubleX]

Since it appears that John Olerud is retiring, I wanted to compare him to another very solid and probably underated first baseman of the last 15 years - Mark Grace. Who was better? Some potentially relevant stats:

OPS+
Olerud: 129
Grace: 119

162 Game Triple Crown Averages
Olerud: .295, 18, 89
Grace: .303, 12, 83

Career Hits Triple Crown Numbers
Olerud: 2239, 255, 1230 (in 7592 AB)
Grace: 2445, 173, 1146 (in 8065 AB)

Gold Gloves
Olerud: 3
Grace: 4

All-Star Appearances
Olerud: 2
Grace: 3

Other
Olerud: 1 Batting Title and 1 2nd Place Finish; 1 OPS Title; 1 Top 3 MVP Finish
Grace: Most Hits and Doubles for all players during 90s; 8 Times in Top 10 in Batting

[The Big C]

That's a tough call, but from me, Grace gets the Cubbie nod.

[RuthMayBond]

Close call, but the edge to Olerud. 10 OPS+ points is a fair amount

[Bench 5]

I give the edge to Grace. I was never a fan of his while he played because he came off as a pretty boy that loved the camera too much. But in retrospect he played the game right and had he not played in the steroid era his stats would look better. He reminded me a lot of Bill Buckner as a hitter.

After he had that one big year everone thought Olerud was the 2nd coming of Ted Williams. He never came close to reaching that level but he was a solid hitter. This is a close call but I think Grace was a little better defensively and maybe a better clutch hitter.

[digglahhh]

In keeping with the alternating pattern, chalk me up for Olerud.

Even with the deduction for wearing a helmet while playing defense.

[Ubiquitous]

I would go with John Olerud, and it might not even be Marks fault that he gets second. For most of his career he was used wrong in the lineup. He is not a #3 or #4 hitter yet the Cubs kept putting him out there as one. Olerud was used in much the same way save that he ended up being a #5 hitter mostly and when he did play #3 he didn't do too bad at it. As a Met his #3 numbers were actually quite good. John to me was the better defender had the same batting average (once you factor in stadium), had more power despite playing in power suppressing stadiums, and had more patience at the plate. Add them all up and he was very good player and for me one that is clearly better then Mark Grace.

I always thought it was a shame Mark Grace was left-handed, I always felt that had he been a third basemen he probably would have had a shot at the HOF. But because he could only first base his shot at the hall went up in smoke with that defensive choice.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

I go with Olerud.

[KCGHOST]

Olerud by a decent margin. They are almost exact contemporaries and Olerud has a solid advantage in OPS+, OWP, and RCAA.

[abacab]

I think that a healthy Olerud was a much better player than Grace. Grace's only real advantage is durability, which makes up a lot of the difference because Olerud had a lot of trouble staying in the lineup. Without his injury troubles, Olerud would have made the Hall of Fame easily.

[RuthMayBond]

I think that a healthy Olerud was a much better player than Grace. Grace's only real advantage is durability, which makes up a lot of the difference because Olerud had a lot of trouble staying in the lineup.

I guess, although Olerud's only 230 PA behind, and closing

[Captain Cold Nose]

I guess, although Olerud's only 230 PA behind, and closing

Closed, for some intents and purposes. He's at least told te BoSox he's retiring, but I don't think it's official yet.

[RuthMayBond]

Even with the deduction for wearing a helmet while playing defense.

Deduction? Ain't he allowed to protect himself?

[Honus Wagner Rules]

In keeping with the alternating pattern, chalk me up for Olerud.

Even with the deduction for wearing a helmet while playing defense.

Why is that a deduction?

[Captain Cold Nose]

I really don't think digglahhh was serious.

[dgarza]

Um.... I'm going to go with Grace, I think. Close call for me. Maybe Grace's def. puts him over the top for me. Olerud had some uncharacteristcally high years that help him out.