Keith Hernandez will have his No. 17 retired by the Mets in the upcoming season, honoring a great New York first baseman that was part of the golden era of the franchise.
Across town, another beloved first baseman in New York already has his number retired. Don Mattingly's No. 23 will never be worn again in a Yankee uniform, and both Mattingly and Hernandez represent phenomenal defensive first baseman with plenty of lefty talent at the plate as well, who both hope to have a chance at the Hall of Fame via the Era Committees.
But if the City had to choose, who was the better player?
If you ask Hernandez, he won't give you a direct answer, but hints at where he thinks he would be better if career circumstances were changed.
"The one thing I'll say in my defense is that if I played at Yankee Stadium with that short porch, and if I had a DH, and that's the most critical thing," Hernandez told Tiki and Tierney on Friday. "I would have had more RBI opportunities, I think I would have driven in more runs per year. A hundred runs per year, that's for sure. I would have hit more home runs at Yankee Stadium."
Hernandez finished his 17-year career with just 162 home runs, while Mattingly hit 222 in roughly 300 less games. Mattingly also finished with a higher batting average (.307 compared to Hernandez's .296) and slugging percentage (.471 to .436), and each have an MVP to their name.
"Donnie was younger than me, so he was right in the middle of his prime," Hernandez said. "He had some phenomenal years. He had Lou Gehrig years if you look at it."
While Hernandez supported how his hitting would stack up with Mattingly's if he played in the hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium, he points out that the defensive accolades could have been very different if Mattingly's circumstances changed, particularly his health.
"Donnie was such a great player," Hernandez said. "No one ever talks about this, but they talk about my 11 consecutive Gold Gloves and how I have the most in baseball history by a first baseman. Donnie had nine, and his career was shortened because of his back. I know that Donnie probably would have had it. if he didn't throw his back out, he would have had 12, 13, maybe 14 Gold Gloves."
Both were stars in New York, and now both will never have their number worn again. Even though he holds a career WAR advantage of 60.3 to 42.4, it seems like Hernandez will leave the comparisons for others.
"Let's just say if you had to pick, you couldn't go wrong," Hernandez said.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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