ADAM DUNN VS. REGGIE JACKSON

REGGIE JACKSON VS. ADAM DUNN

Statistical look at first 12 Seasons

Since Adam Dunn is only in his 12th season we see it only fair that we compare the stats of both sluggers up until that point. While Reggie Jackson goes down as a Hall of Fame player, it is in my opinion he just might be the most over rated player the game has ever seen; at least statistically speaking. I can prove it by merely comparing the current equivalent to Reggie. 

"I'm not over rated" 

REGINALD MARTINEZ JACKSON. 

Nickname  Mr. October 
6'0 195 lbs. 
Bats Left  Throws Left
Drafted in the 1st Round (2nd pick overall) 
First 12 Seasons  
Games      1650
AB            5884 
HITS        1582
AVE          .268
HR             340 
RUNS         973 
2B               299 
BB              786
SO             1499
Average 162 game career totals (whole career)
Average .262/ 32 HR/98 RBI/79 BB/SO 149/SLG.490  

"people don't even rate me" 

ADAM TROY DUNN.
Nickame  Big Donkey 
6'6" 285 lbs. 
Bats Left  Throws Right
Drafted in the 2nd Round
Seasons    12 
Games     1651 
AB           5682
HITS       1382
AVE         .242  
RUNS        948 
HR             390
2B              293 
BB           1131
SO           1937 
Average 162 game career totals
Average .242/ 38 HR/96 RBI/111 BB/SO 190/SLG.503 

BREAKING DOWN AN AVERAGE SEASON. 


Reggie's 162 career game average
Average .262/ 32 HR/98 RBI/89 Runs/79 BB/SO 149/SLG.490/OPS. .846


Dunn's 162 career game average
Average .242/ 38 HR/96 RBI/93 Runs/111 BB/SO 190/SLG.503/OPS. .876

 It's pretty clear that they are very similar players with Reggie hitting for a slightly higher average while Dunn is hitting about a half dozen more bombs a year while walking more then 30 times more than Reggie a year. That is huge. Remember batting average especially with sluggers is the least useful stat in all of baseball. 

 Reggie Jackson was an 8 time All Star in his first 12 seasons. He received MVP votes 9 times in that span. Adam Dunn in the same amount of seasons? 2 All Star appearances and only 3 seasons were he received MVP votes. It's clear that playing for the A's and Yankees certainly helped Jackson's cause. Meaningful games and deep Playoff runs gave the cocky Reggie a platform and yeah he ran into a few. 

  Adam Dunn is almost the exact opposite. Always has been on crappy teams and he is a soft spoken guy. He certainly isn't looking for the camera the way Reggie did still does.  I also think we have so many guys now that can hit 35 home runs a year that it devalues our opinion on Dunn because of that. Reggie allegedly played before the "juice" so a guy that could hit 35plus bombs would get baseball fans wet pretty easily am I right?   

Conclusions.
1. playing on winning teams make players look better then they are, history is much kinder.
2. either Reggie Jackson is really over rated and Adam Dunn is really under rated.
3. Reggie Jackson is the most overrated player of all time because his stats especially compared to All-Time players is softer than Clay Aiken at the Playboy Mansion.