Patsy Dougherty vs. Gene Richards

[Cowtipper]

We're playing the "who is better than his most similar comp" game.

My starting point was Tommy Dowd, the guy with the lowest WAR among all batters with at least 5,000 plate appearances. I hope to work my way up to *somebody* vs. Babe Ruth. That'd be cool.

Which of these players would you like to build your franchise around?

Dougherty:

1233 G
5109 PA
4558 AB
678 R
1294 H
138 2B
78 3B
17 HR
413 RBI
261 SB
378 BB
458 K
.284 BA
.346 OBP
.360 SLG
.705 OPS
117 OPS+
1639 TB
54 HBP
119 SH
22.6 WAR

Richards:

1026 G
3958 PA
3549 AB
503 R
1028 H
127 2B
63 3B
26 HR
255 RBI
247 SB
89 CS
356 BB
436 K
.290 BA
.357 OBP
.383 SLG
.739 OPS
112 OPS+
1359 TB
56 GDP
20 HBP
20 SH
13 SF
39 IBB
16.9 WAR

If Dougherty wins, he will face his most second-most similar comp's tenth-most similar comp. If Richard wins, he will face his most similar comp.

Past face-offs (winner in bold):

Tommy Dowd vs. Ned Hanlon (as a player)
Ned Hanlon (as a player) vs. Joe Hornung
Ned Hanlon (as a player) vs. Curt Welch
Curt Welch vs. Blondie Purcell
Curt Welch vs. Bob Bescher
Curt Welch vs. George Pinkney
Curt Welch vs. Joe Hornung
Curt Welch vs. Rube Oldring
Curt Welch vs. Solly Hofman
Curt Welch vs. Tom York
Curt Welch vs. George Case
Curt Welch vs. Tommy Dowd
Curt Welch vs. Charlie Hemphill
Curt Welch vs. George Browne
Curt Welch vs. Jack McCarthy
Curt Welch vs. Shad Barry
3Curt Welch vs. Patsy Dougherty
Patsy Dougherty vs. Carson Bigbee
Patsy Dougherty vs. Jack Smith
Patsy Dougherty vs. Johnny Bates - tie
Patsy Dougherty vs. Johnny Bates vs. Cliff Heathcote vs. Mike Mitchell
Patsy Dougherty vs. Lou Finney
Patsy Dougherty vs. Whitey Witt
Patsy Dougherty vs. Ducky Holmes
Patsy Dougherty vs. Matty McIntyre

[PVNICK]

Those numbers are similar. For those that give credence to such things Richards played in a more diverse league in an era that many cite as the acme of league quality in MLB history, while Dougherty did not. Nonetheless I am still, perhaps myopically, of the opinion that Dougherty was much closer to the top of his league based on his black and gray ink.

[Cowtipper]

After some deliberation, I went with Richards over Dougherty, though it was close.