Compare and Contrast

Signed to a five-year, $75 million deal, Andrew Benintendi is the new left fielder for the White Sox. Forgive me if I confuse him with a Sox left fielder from my youth. Benintendi stands 5’9” and weighs 180 pounds. During his playing days (1960-1968), Floyd Robinson stood 5’9” and weighed 175 pounds. Benintendi, like Robinson, bats lefthanded. Over the course of a seven-year career, Benintendi has a .279 BA with 778 hits; 396 runs scored; 384 RBIs; and seventy-three homeruns. Those stats were generated over 745 games and 2791 at-bats. Robinson broke the starting lineup in 1961, at the age of twenty-five. From 1960-65, he accumulated 2707 at-bats over 753 games that led to a .293 BA with 794 hits; 389 runs scored; 365 RBIs and sixty homeruns. Benintendi and Robinson may not be twins, but they come pretty close. And here’s where I hope the similarity ends. Robinson hit the proverbial wall at age 30 in 1966, batting .237 with thirty-five RBIs; he hung on for two more years before retiring. Benintendi will turn twenty-nine next July. If I’m comparing apples to oranges, he’ll be worth his contract. But, if past is prelude….