‘Hall Of Fame Debate’ – Robin Yount VS Paul Molitor
This will be the first time that I put two guys ‘into the cage’ that were teammates for the better part of their careers.
But you know what, the debate between Paul Molitor and Robin Yount is a solid one!! Very solid…
Here is a side-by-side look at their numbers:
|
Robin Yount |
Paul Molitor |
Seasons |
20 |
21 |
Games |
2856 |
2683 |
Hits |
3142 |
3319 |
200 Hit Seasons |
1 |
4 |
150-199 Hit Seasons |
10 |
9 |
Batting Average |
0.285 |
0.306 |
.300 Seasons |
6 |
12 |
Batting Titles |
0 |
0 |
On-Base % |
0.342 |
0.369 |
Doubles |
583 |
605 |
Home Runs |
251 |
234 |
Stolen Bases |
271 |
504 |
Runs Scored |
1632 |
1782 |
RBI |
1406 |
1307 |
100-RBI Seasons |
3 |
2 |
All-Star |
3 |
7 |
Gold Glove |
1 |
0 |
Silver Slugger |
3 |
4 |
ROY |
0 |
0 |
MVP |
2 |
0 |
Postseasons |
2 |
3 |
WS Titles |
0 |
1 |
My major takeaways from the resumes:
- Molitor has roughly 170 more hits than Yount, and he did that in roughly 170 less games
- Molitor wins the 200-hit race 4 to 1
- Yount’s career BA of .285 is much lower than what I expected
- Molitor having 2X as many .300 seasons
- On-base %, doubles, and home runs are very close
- RBI and runs scored are very close
- Robin Yount was only a 3X All-Star???
Wow, this looks very one-sided, doesn’t it?? Hell, if it was not for Yount’s 2 MVP titles, I am not sure that there is even a debate. Let me first say that I am shocked that Robin Yount was only an All-Star three times during his career – like Fergie Jenkins (which also seems to be a crime). Also, I am very surprised that Yount is just a career .285 hitter – not sure why I thought he was closer to .310-.315…
Anyways, we all know what the MVP Award means and how important that is on an elite player’s resume. Robin Yount hauled in two of those awards, while Molitor was hardly ever a consideration (2nd place to a Unanimous Frank Thomas in 1993).
After laying all of their numbers out in front of me, and really trying to examine which player was better, everything points to me selecting Paul Molitor. But, I am getting hung up on the MVP voting – he was barely recognized as a great player during his career and Yount was tagged with the MVP title on two occasions. Still, Molitor’s numbers are better in almost every category. And for me, Molitor also has that ‘Shining Moment’ from the 1993 World Series when he put the Blue Jays on his back and won the MVP Award in front of a national audience.
Taking it all into consideration, I am going with Paul Molitor. He gets my vote. The numbers, while close in many important offensive categories, favor him. And that ’93 World Series is one that I still recall vividly 20 years later. No disrespect meant to Yount, but I don’t have a single, precise play or game in which I go to when I recall watching his career. With Molitor, I do!!

What do you think? Who would you pick? Let’s go!!!