Chipper Jones Thinks He's a Better All-Around Player Than Mickey Mantle

Whether or not he hits .400 this season, Chipper Jones's place in the history of baseball is pretty secure. He's been a MVP, the offensive leader of the winningest National League team of his era and a solid player at two different defensive positions. He may be the second-best switchhitter in baseball history, in fact, but he's not sure he ranks that low on the list.

"The one thing that I wanted to be, that (Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray) weren't was the all-around guy who hit for average, power, drove in runs, scored runs, was a tough out, on-base percentage, all those things. Not that they were any slouches, but from an average standpoint, Mickey hit .298. I don't know what Murray's average was (.287), but, you know, the one thing I can say is, from an average standpoint, 'I got 'em.' "

I'd rather have Jones than Murray, I'll give him that, but this is the first time anyone's ever said Mantle wasn't an all-around player. Sure, Jones's career average of .310 is better than Mantle's. Britney Spears sold more albums than Billie Holliday, doesn't make her a better singer.

What Jones, and USA Today, leaves out is that his average is 38 points higher than league average over his career. Mantle's is 42 points better. It's like inflation. Prices from the 1950's and 1960's are lower in actual numbers but similar in value, same thing with batting averages.

That's why we use statistics like OPS+ to measure players across eras. It normalizes stats to a neutral ground so that we can look at Jones and Mantle and really figure out who was the more productive hitter. Mantle wins in a landslide. His career OPS+ is 172, Jones is at 145. Jones's number is excellent, 49th all-time, but Mantle is, by that metric, the sixth best hitter of all time.

Jones is at a career best 208 by that metric right now, very impressive for a 36-year old. If he stayed at that number it would rank as Mantle's third best seasonal OPS+, just nudging out his 54-homer 1961 campaign. Using any advanced stat, adjusted for differences in era, and Jones lags behind Mantle.

Both are great players, made greater by the way they battled through injuries to lead their teams to the postseason time and again. One's better than the other, though, and it ain't Chipper.