Terry Puhl vs. Jerry Mumphrey

[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?

Puhl:

1531 G
5480 PA
4855 AB
676 R
1361 H
226 2B
56 3B
62 HR
435 RBI
217 SB
99 CS
505 BB
507 K
.280 BA
.349 OBP
.388 SLG
.737 OPS
112 OPS+
1885 TB
59 GDP
26 HBP
57 SH
36 SF
49 IBB
26.2 WAR

Mumphrey:

1585 G
5545 PA
4993 AB
660 R
1442 H
217 2B
55 3B
70 HR
575 RBI
174 SB
80 CS
478 BB
688 K
.289 BA
.349 OBP
.396 SLG
.745 OPS
108 OPS+
1979 TB
108 GDP
4 HBP
29 SH
41 SF
49 IBB
20.3 WAR

If Puhl wins, he will face his fifth-most similar comp. If Mumphrey wins, he will face his second-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
Curt 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
Patsy Dougherty vs. Gene Richards
Patsy Dougherty vs. Tom Goodwin
Patsy Dougherty vs. Peanuts Lowrey
Patsy Dougherty vs. Patsy Tebeau
Patsy Dougherty vs. Billy Hatcher
Patsy Dougherty vs. Red Murray
Patsy Dougherty vs. Hi Myers
Patsy Dougherty vs. Mike Kreevich
Patsy Dougherty vs. Luis Polonia
Patsy Dougherty vs. Darryl Hamilton
Patsy Dougherty vs. Max Flack
Patsy Dougherty vs. Al Bumbry
Patsy Dougherty vs. Ron LeFlore
Ron LeFlore vs. Mookie Wilson
Ron LeFlore vs. Dan Gladden
Ron LeFlore vs. Doug Glanville
Ron LeFlore vs. Taylor Douthit
Ron LeFlore vs. Terry Puhl

[PVNICK]

Puhl by a small margin.

[Jackaroo Dave]

This is very hard. I'm really looking forward to learming how people would make up their minds on this one. Their offensive WAR is the same, I guess because Mumphrey's twice as many GIDP offset his slight slash line advantage and his lower scoring era.

Even though Mumphrey played a lot more center field, Puhl has what looks to me like very small advantages in out%, holds, and kills, and this accounts for their difference in overall WAR. Is this something you can really rely on? "By golly, Puhl was 2% above average and Mumphrey 2% below average in holds, so I'm going with Puhl"?

I have no idea. Someone enlighten me please.

[1905 Giants]

I agree that this one is tough. I'm not sure who I'll settle on.

Edit: WAR pushed Puhl just a little higher.

[wrgptfan]

Besides being a better player, being Canadian made voting for Puhl a no-brainer. :-)