Andy Van Slyke vs. Lloyd Moseby

[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?

Van Slyke:

1658 G
6495 PA
5711 AB
835 R
1562 H
293 2B
91 3B
164 HR
792 RBI
245 SB
59 CS
667 BB
1032 K
.274 BA
.349 OBP
.443 SLG
.793 OPS
119 OPS+
2529 TB
94 GDP
27 HBP
12 SH
61 SF
55 IBB
38.6 WAR

Moseby:

1588 G
6574 PA
5815 AB
869 R
1494 H
273 2B
66 3B
169 HR
737 RBI
280 SB
92 CS
616 BB
1135 K
.257 BA
.332 OBP
.414 SLG
.746 OPS
102 OPS+
2406 TB
105 GDP
58 HBP
40 SH
45 SF
46 IBB
25.0 WAR


If Van Slyke wins, he will face his fourth-most similar comp. If Moseby wins, he will face his fifth-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
Tillie Walker vs. Roberto Kelly
Tillie Walker vs. Al Cowens
Tillie Walker vs. Wally Moon
Wally Moon vs. Hank Bauer
Hank Bauer vs. Al Smith
Al Smith vs. Von Hayes (tie)
Al Smith vs. Von Hayes vs. Matt Lawton vs. Andy Van Slyke

[PVNICK]

Van Slyke is going to be tough to beat. Moseby's numbers are dragged down by just an awful slow start. His first 3 seasons (80-82) his OPS+ did not crack 90. Be that as it may there was nothing he did better than VanSlyke other than maybe hit for power and that would be by a whisker.

[Herr28]

Van Slyke led the 1986 Cardinals in HR (13) and tied Tom Herr for the team lead in RBI (61)! Our only slugger, Jack Clark, was injured and only played in 65 games that season, so it was pretty pathetic numbers that led the team in between those World Series teams of '85 and '87. That was also a pretty big stadium, and possibly his power numbers would have been a bit better if he played elsewhere at the beginning of his career. Redbirds never should have traded him...

Moseby was pretty good too, but I would certainly build my team around Andy van Slyke in CF!

[Cowtipper]

What makes Van Slyke that much better than Moseby? During their best years, they weren't too different. In fact, Moseby averaged more home runs and stolen bases per 162 games that Van Slyke did.

[Jackaroo Dave]

What makes Van Slyke that much better than Moseby? During their best years, they weren't too different. In fact, Moseby averaged more home runs and stolen bases per 162 games that Van Slyke did.

He also averaged more caught stealing. Otherwise, Moseby crushes van Slyke in HBP, but the rest is all van Slyke. He has 5 fewer homers, but an edge in homers/PA and a bigger one in HR/out. He built up his big WAR lead a piece at a time: .81 to .75 SB%, more doubles, a lot more triples, about a 9% lead in BB average. There is nothing very dramatic, but it's all one side, with the result that van Slyke has 122 batting runs above average and Moseby 8.

Moseby played in neutral parks, van Slyke in a slightly hostile one.

But that makes sense when you think about it. They were both broad-based talents, good at everything, really. You wouldn't expect one to hammer the other in anything. But almost all the advantages went to van Slyke.

I like them both a lot; they're the type of player I admire, and I wish they each had had more opportunities to do all those things they did well.