I have the first pick on a new progressive league beginning in 1951. It bring up the old
real-life debate of Mays vs Mantle-who would you take in WIS,not real life? I liked Mantle more
and his peak seems higher but Mays longevity and defense makes this a tough call-again,who would you take?

We had this discussion in the Progressive Draft Database forum a few years ago (it's a private forum for prog owners; if you haven't been added yet let me know and I'll add you).

Someone in the forum also started a poll on who to draft first. Mays won, 9-6.

Haven't been added-add please-thanks

Added.

if i were to guess id say dont put too much thought into it.Think about your next picks.This pick will make u very happy no matter what.

Mays always seems to significantly underperform for me in the SIM

Mays has more good seasons, and Career WAR isn't close(156 to 109).

Per sabermetrics (Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract), Mays had a better career, but Mantle's 3 peak seasons were all better than Mays's single best season.

From Bootone's Mays and Mantle 2 season progressive. We started in 1898/1951. I took Mantle ahead of Mays. Here are his career stats going into the last half of his final season. 7 time MVP. Dead ball pitchers definitely kept his HR numbers down, but still one heckuva career.

Past Season Totals - Regular Season
League	Owner	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
118614	mensu1954	149	464	80	132	21	2	20	80	113	113	0	3	.284	.422	.468	0.890
118021	mensu1954	117	330	67	116	14	0	15	59	62	66	0	0	.352	.455	.530	0.985
117402	mensu1954	127	421	68	126	14	1	17	59	79	81	1	0	.299	.411	.458	0.869
116711	mensu1954	153	510	122	176	30	2	32	120	113	77	1	0	.345	.461	.600	1.061
116164	mensu1954	122	203	57	71	11	0	17	47	47	31	0	0	.350	.472	.655	1.127
115605	mensu1954	137	399	99	144	18	1	19	86	126	54	1	0	.361	.513	.554	1.067
114900	mensu1954	161	550	149	195	13	6	45	142	153	73	3	0	.355	.497	.645	1.142
114402	mensu1954	162	583	119	182	18	9	34	133	136	109	6	2	.312	.441	.549	0.990
113768	mensu1954	162	612	117	191	17	2	21	101	120	95	30	5	.312	.424	.449	0.873
113202	mensu1954	162	592	137	210	19	1	39	130	148	82	20	6	.355	.484	.588	1.072
112566	mensu1954	161	514	127	183	28	5	24	86	168	60	10	3	.356	.520	.570	1.090
111957	mensu1954	158	604	148	240	28	6	35	139	125	75	2	1	.397	.501	.637	1.138
111307	mensu1954	160	595	123	182	30	8	31	146	131	93	1	1	.306	.432	.539	0.971
110534	mensu1954	158	616	140	196	28	11	28	166	119	83	0	0	.318	.429	.536	0.965
109743	mensu1954	147	503	116	182	37	5	31	175	112	69	2	0	.362	.474	.640	1.114
109128	mensu1954	160	627	124	220	31	11	28	160	97	79	1	0	.351	.437	.569	1.006
108430	mensu1954	122	369	76	128	20	5	19	96	44	59	0	0	.347	.416	.583	0.999
Career	Totals	2581	8660	1890	2919	385	75	461	1958	1933	1326	78	21	.337	.458	.559	1.017

Here are Mays' stats from the same period. Pretty solid...can't go wrong with either one.

Past Season Totals - Regular Season
League	Owner	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
118614	slim senior	150	540	81	144	21	2	11	103	57	83	3	2	.267	.337	.374	0.711
118021	slim senior	158	591	96	159	26	3	20	89	77	89	6	4	.269	.355	.425	0.780
117402	slim senior	161	614	127	212	19	1	42	128	82	73	2	4	.345	.425	.585	1.010
116711	slim senior	149	544	121	141	14	7	22	83	84	54	11	5	.259	.362	.432	0.794
116164	slim senior	160	648	102	185	20	6	31	136	69	89	5	2	.285	.354	.478	0.832
115605	slim senior	162	662	121	195	30	4	31	107	71	60	24	5	.295	.365	.492	0.857
114900	slim senior	159	642	130	200	36	1	34	125	82	48	24	6	.312	.392	.530	0.922
114402	slim senior	162	681	133	227	35	9	23	107	67	58	34	6	.333	.395	.512	0.907
113768	slim senior	162	656	118	178	36	3	18	89	70	48	33	10	.271	.343	.418	0.761
113202	slim senior	162	686	138	237	29	12	20	136	71	53	35	5	.345	.409	.510	0.919
112566	slim senior	162	638	114	202	22	20	17	86	74	62	31	27	.317	.388	.494	0.882
111957	slim senior	142	528	94	147	20	8	14	71	47	45	36	12	.278	.338	.426	0.764
111307	flippen	162	627	131	203	10	9	36	137	85	61	28	5	.324	.402	.541	0.943
110534	flippen	162	620	128	233	37	13	24	129	112	40	0	2	.376	.474	.594	1.068
109128	flippen	110	124	26	27	0	2	4	16	17	19	6	0	.218	.319	.347	0.666
108430	flippen	157	513	98	152	23	1	16	80	85	54	2	0	.296	.399	.439	0.838
Career	Totals	2550	9543	1798	2912	384	102	366	1658	1187	973	281	95	.305	.383	.482	0.865