While growing up as a child I was fortunate to attend quite a few major and minor league baseball games.  I spent my summers playing t-ball and little league.  I've spent many years following the Braves watching on TBS when that was the only station to carry their games.  I have even begun in earnest the last couple of years to score games in a scorebook when I visit a ballpark.  So it is to no surprise that I enjoy some good statiscal crunching of the numbers especially when it comes to baseball.

We've all the heard the oft used expression that Baseball is a game of statistics.  Most descriptions and accounts of the game involve some numerical factor whether it is the number of runs score or how many strikeouts a pitcher throws.  As a Braves fan, I pay more attention to individual stats for their players.  The recent trade of Escobar for Gonzalez got me thinking about a player vs player comparsion, but not between Yunel and Alex.

Let's begin with player A and look at his first half season (81 games) in the majors.  Player A had 350 plate appearances, 320 at bats, and a total of 88 hits for a .275 average.  Other stats include 20 doubles, 3 triples, 11 home runs, and 46 runs batted in.  Toss in the statistical black box 23 walks, a few other bases, and it spits out a .326 on-base %, .459 slugging %, and .785 OPS.

Now we take a look at Player B's numbers thru his first 81 games.  Player B had 349 plate appearances to go along with 294 at bats, 81 hits, and a .276 average.  He had 15 doubles, 3 triples, 11 home rumes, and 48 runs batted in.  As for the free passes, 48 walks and a handful of others.  Crunch the numbers and Player A is sporting a .387 on-base %, .459 slugging %, and .846 OPS.

The number of plate appearances really makes this comparsion almost elmentary.  The first interesting statistic is the number of at bats each player has: 320 vs. 294.  Player B has 36 less at bats benefiting from 25 more walks than Player A.  The number of hits, 81 and 88, are close with Player A leading the way.  Average is nearly identical at .2750 and .2755 respectively.  Player A has 5 more doubles, but the same number of triples and home runs as Player B.  Ironically their slugging % is still the same at .459 due to more at bats for Player A.  On-base % is another leading indicator for Player B whose is higher by 61 points.  Consequently Player B has a higher OPS.

Who are these two players?  Player A stepped onto a baseball field way back in 1954.  His 23 season career include 21 All Star selections and 1 MVP award.  He finished his career with 3771 hits and 755 home runs.  Player A would be none other than Hank Aaron.

Player B on the other hand wasn't born until after 13 years after Aaron retired.  He played his first professional game on opening day 2010.  To his credit Player B has already been selected to his first All Star game, but his 11 career home runs pale in comparison to Aaron's total.  Player B is Jason Heyward.

The comparisons between these two players will continue to go on for probably as long as Heyward remains in a Braves uniform.  Hopefully in 20 years we can take a look back at these two men's careers and do a full comparison.  If Heyward's production continues on a similar track to Aaron's, we should all be thankful for being given the opportunity to watch someone so talented.