Tillie Walker vs. Roberto Kelly

[Cowtipper]

We're playing the "who is better than his most similar comparison" (on Baseball-Reference) 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?

Walker:

1421 G
5661 PA
5067 AB
696 R
1423 H
244 2B
71 3B
118 HR
679 RBI
129 SB
>=48 CS
416 BB
584 K
.281 BA
.339 OBP
.427 SLG
.766 OPS
115 OPS+
2163 TB
31 HBP
154 SH
22.3 WAR

Kelly:

1337 G
5243 PA
4797 AB
687 R
1390 H
241 2B
30 3B
124 HR
585 RBI
235 SB
84 CS
317 BB
862 K
.290 BA
.337 OBP
.430 SLG
.767 OPS
106 OPS+
2063 TB
113 GDP
49 HBP
22 SH
41 SF
16 IBB
18.2 WAR

If Walker wins, he will face his third-most similar comp. If Kelly 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
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
John Titus vs. Tommy Griffith
John Titus vs. Elmer Valo
Elmer Valo vs. Stan Javier
Elmer Valo vs. Dave Martinez
Elmer Valo vs. Tony Gonzalez
Tony Gonzalez vs. Tillie Walker

[PVNICK]

I'll hold of fon a decision for now but I really thought Kelly was better than the above numbers he has. It's gonna take a helluva league quality/numbers gipped by the roiders fudge to put him above Walker at first glance.

[Cowtipper]

I'll hold of fon a decision for now but I really thought Kelly was better than the above numbers he has. It's gonna take a helluva league quality/numbers gipped by the roiders fudge to put him above Walker at first glance.

I agree, it was close. But what made me choose Walker over Kelly was Walker's greater black and grey ink.

[PVNICK]

I just looked at Kelly's stats and forgot or never noticed that he never had even 500 PA with a single team after he left the Yankees. His career is a whole lot of meh. In the day and age he played to never top 85 R, 70 RBI that seems almost improbable. Despite a few partial season .300 BA the Yanks might have had it right and he peaked, if you can call it that, after 2-3 seasons. It would be a tremendous insult to vote a part-time OF that never lived up to his, perhaps imaginary, promise over a legitimate league leaderboard full time constantly improving player of three quarters of a century earlier.