John Titus vs. Tommy Griffith

[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?

Titus:

1402 G
5818 PA
4960 AB
738 R
1401 H
253 2B
72 3B
38 HR
561 RBI
140 SB
>=7 CS
620 BB
386 K
.282 BA
.373 OBP
.385 SLG
.758 OPS
127 OPS+
1912 TB
94 HBP
144 SF
27.9 WAR

Griffith:

1401 G
5449 PA
4947 AB
589 R
1383 H
208 2B
72 3B
52 HR
619 RBI
70 SB
>= 49 CS
351 BB
262 K
.280 BA
.328 OBP
.382 SLG
.711 OPS
102 OPS+
1891 TB
9 HBP
144 SH
5.4 WAR

If Titus wins, he will face his sixth-most similar comp. If Griffith wins, he will face his ninth-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
Terry Puhl vs. Jerry Mumphrey
Terry Puhl vs. Les Mann
Terry Puhl vs. John Titus
John Titus vs. Amos Strunk

[1905 Giants]

I pick Titus

[Cowtipper]

I pick Titus

I did as well.

[Jackaroo Dave]

Griffith played half his career in the lively ball era. If you compare their leaderboards, the contrast leaps out at you.

[Buzzaldrin]

Did anyone notice Griffith's bizarre stolen base records for 1915 and 1916? In 1915 he was caught stealing in 24 of 30 attempts (and in his rookie year two years earlier he was only successful once out of eight tries), but way to turn it around, Tommy! In 1916 he was a perfect 16 steals in 16 attempts.

[Jackaroo Dave]

Did anyone notice Griffith's bizarre stolen base records for 1915 and 1916? In 1915 he was caught stealing in 24 of 30 attempts (and in his rookie year two years earlier he was only successful once out of eight tries), but way to turn it around, Tommy! In 1916 he was a perfect 16 steals in 16 attempts.

I think Tommy did better eluding The scorekeepers than he did the defense. There are 55 base stealers listed for 1916 with zero caught stealing. Then in 1917 they gave up trying to keep track.