Erardi: Behind the numbers: Dan Driessen vs. Sean Casey

Only Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. losing an election could be worse than this! (end crazed Reds fan rant)

Driessen’s sin was in coming along when he did: As a third baseman in his early 20’s who wasn’t talented enough defensively to stick at third base, and yet was stuck behind Doggy at first base…and then when he got his chance to prove he had the stuff to help the Reds win a third straight World Championship in 1977, the starting pitching fell apart… and then when he should have been coming into a second prime at 30, the whole team fell apart and lost 101 games.

Overrated, under-achieving, undeserving ...that is how Reds fans largely (and erroneously) feel about Driessen.

And yet, if the numbers show anything, they show this:

If Sean Casey is a Reds Hall of Famer – and that’s what the fans voted – then so is Driessen.

Driessen outranks Casey 115 to 114 in OPS+.

Driessen outranks Casey 18.5 to 15.4 in WAR.

...And consider this: Except for the fact that Casey had a higher peak value than Driessen – i.e. Casey’s best years were better than Driessen’s best years – everything else about our recollection of Casey is fueled by memory, not reality.