‘Hall Of Fame Debate’ – Andre Dawson VS Dave Winfield
Time for me to put my favorite player into a ‘HOF Debate’ and I think that I have picked a worthy opponent – fellow Hall or Famer, Dave Winfield.
While Winfield is probably the more popular player, I think that the recognition he earned has also been helped by the teams he has played for over the course of his playing days.
Here is a statistical look at the two players:
|
Winfield |
Dawson |
Seasons |
22 |
21 |
Games |
2,973 |
2,627 |
Hits |
3,110 |
2,774 |
200 Hit Seasons |
0 |
0 |
150-199 Hit Seasons |
11 |
10 |
Batting Average |
0.283 |
0.279 |
.300+ Seasons |
4 |
5 |
On-Base % |
0.353 |
0.323 |
Walks Drawn |
1216 |
589 |
Strikeouts |
1686 |
1509 |
Doubles |
540 |
503 |
Triples |
88 |
98 |
Home Runs |
465 |
438 |
30-39 HR Seasons |
3 |
2 |
40+ HR Seasons |
0 |
1 |
Stolen Bases |
223 |
314 |
Runs Scored |
1,669 |
1,373 |
100-Run Seasons |
3 |
2 |
RBI |
1,833 |
1,591 |
100-RBI Seasons |
8 |
4 |
All-Star |
12 |
8 |
Gold Glove |
7 |
8 |
Silver Slugger |
6 |
7 |
ROY |
0 |
1 |
MVP |
0 |
1 |
Postseasons |
2 |
2 |
WS Titles |
1 |
0 |
My takeaways from the numbers:
- For playing in just one more campaign than Dawson, Winfield managed to stay healthy more and played in 350 more games
- Winfield’s 3,110 hits are almost 300 more than Dawson’s
- Batting average and annual hit output are very similar
- Winfield’s on-base percentage is much higher than Dawson’s
- Power numbers are close
- Neither player had as many 30+ HR seasons as one may expect
- Dawson’s stolen bases are much higher – 314 career swipes
- Winfield scored almost 300 more runs
- Winfield drove in more than 240 more runs
- Dawson is the lone ROY of the group
- Dawson is the lone MVP of the group
- Winfield is the lone World Series winner
Wow, this one is going to be tough. Very tough.
On one end you have a player in the 3,000 Hits club that won a World Series. And on the other side, you have a Rookie of the Year award winner and league MVP.
One guy has the greater individual credentials and the other guy was once tagged as ‘the best in the game’.
WHEW….
For me, I consider these player to be very on par with one another. Dawson was a better base runner but Winfield was able to collect a lot more hits.
I have to be fair. And I have to be honest. In the above stats, I provided the strikeouts and walks for a reason – plate discipline means a lot to me. Dave Winfield may have struck out 180 more times that Andre Dawson during his playing days, but you cannot ignore that he drew 630 more walks than Dawson. And for me, that is extremely telling – it says that Winfield has a great ‘eye’ but it also shows the respect he had from the opponent.
So, while I would easily see that Andre Dawson had the best single season between the duo, but Dave Winfield has achieved more.
My vote goes to Dave Winfield, by a very narrow margin.

Who do you select in this epic ‘Hall Of Fame Debate’????