5 Richie Ashburn vs 12 Bobby Abreu
This second round matchup pits two of the greatest outfielders in Phillies history against one another.
First, we’ll start with the greatest outfielder, second-greatest hitter, and greatest color commentator in Phillies history, Richie “Whitey” Ashburn.
Over 12 seasons in Philadelphia Whitey has a .311/.394/.388 line with 2,217 hits, 1,114 runs scored, 499 RBI, 22 home runs, and 2,764 total bases.
Ashburn won two batting titles, was named to six All-Star rosters, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside Mike Schmidt in 1995.
Bobby Abreu came to the Phillies four decades after Ashburn left for the Cubs.
In nine years with the Phillies, Abreu had 1,474 hits, a .928 OPS, 139 OPS+, 195 home runs, 814 runs batted in, 891 runs scored and 2,491 total bases.
If you compare their numbers only in Philadelphia against each other, here’s what you get.
Ashburn: 2,217 hits, 1,114 runs scored, 499 RBI, 22 home runs, .311 average, 199 SB
Abreu: 1,474 hits, 891 runs scored, 814 RBI, 195 home runs, .303 average, 254 SB
Where Abreu beats out Ashburn is the run production and speed, but Ashburn had more hits, Granted, Ashburn played more than 400 additional games with the Phillies compared to Abreu. Had he stayed with the Phillies for the entirety of his 18 year career, some of Abreu’s numbers are close to Ashburn’s.
Whitey only has 104 more hits, a batting average three points higher, and more “bold type” on his stats. Power wasn’t his game, so Abreu walks away with much better numbers there.
It's round two of our greatest Phillies of all-time bracket and it's two of the greatest outfielders in Phillies history. https://t.co/E1MhOAGXBj
— PHILLIES TBOH (@FS_TBOH) March 23, 2020