Let’s move on to Hall of Fame player number 2. Although Perez may have been a questionable Hall of Fame pick, he definitely had a solid 1975 season, despite being 33.

One of five players on the team with an OPS+ above 120 (George Foster would have made six, but just missed the cut with a 119), Tony Perez drove in 109 runs, second on the team. And he was only one short of team leader Johnny Bench. Tony may have been five years removed from what was probably his best season (1970), but he still put up solid numbers. Let’s take a look:

Runs – 74
Homeruns – 20
RBIs – 109
Average – .282
OBP – .350
Slg. – .466
OPS+ – 124
Runs Created – 83
Batting Runs Above Replacement – 37
Field Runs Above Replacement – 21
Equalized Average – .290
Wins Above Replacement Player – 6.4

Tony Perez wasn’t on top of his game, but he definitely had a nice season when compared to Tiger’s regular first basemen Dave Bergman. Even with Darrell Evans’ pathetic contribution at first base in 1984, it’s NO CONTESTO. Mr. Perez wins hands down.

Score Card – 1975 Reds 2, 1984 Tigers 0

Brian was nice enough to tell me we’re now a quarter way to our goal of raising enough money to buy Diamond Mind to put these two teams head to head. To learn how you can help, go here. Go there now!!!

You can read Brian’s analysis of Dave Bergman at Tigerblog.

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We’ll start with an easy one.

Johnny Bench is listed as the second best catcher of all time in Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. The fourteen time all-star and two time Most Valuable Player truly had an astounding career. Not only did he hit 389 career homeruns, and drive in 1,376 runs, but he also racked up ten gold gloves.

But this isn’t a debate about careers. How did Johnny Bench do in 1975 compared to Lance Parrish in 1984? Let’s take a look at some of Bench’s statistics.

Runs – 83
Homeruns – 28
RBIs – 110
Average – .283
OBP – .359
Slg. – .519
OPS+ – 140
Runs Created – 99
Batting Runs Above Replacement – 53
Field Runs Above Replacement – 47
Equalized Average – .308
Wins Above Replacement Player – 11.0

The only thing that prevents a complete sweep is Lance Parrish’s five extra homeruns. But that’s not nearly enough to make up the difference. Johnny Bench didn’t finish fourth in the MVP voting for nothing.

This one was a fat pitch waiting to get hit out of the park. Johnny Bench wins hands down.

Score Card – 1975 Reds 1, 1984 Tigers 0

And don’t forget to help us out with our little fund raiser. It might take the simulation to convince Brian who’s better.

And you can read Brian’s response over at Tigerblog. He took his beating like a man.

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