You probably just laughed when you saw the title of this post. And hey, I don't blame you. I just put a "vs." in between the 2006 National League MVP and a guy who has trouble hitting anything offspeed and looks like a lost child in the outfield. It is a no brainer, right?

Wrong. I am not going to compare their careers (even though they've just begun), because obviously, Ryan Howard would win that without a doubt. I'm going to compare their rookie years, which are a lot closer in terms of numbers than most people would think.

Ryan Howard won the 2005 NL Rookie of the Year. You all know the story. Jim Thome was the Phillies' first baseman at the time, but people around baseball knew that the team couldn't hold back Howard for very long. When Thome went down with an injury, Howard busted out.

Duncan has had a much quieter first leg of his career. He was called up for 9 games in September of 2005, and hit the last regular season home run in the Old Busch Stadium. Being the son of Cardinals' pitching coach Dave Duncan, many wondered if Chris was getting his chance at the big leagues because of who his father was. He proved them wrong in 2006. A first baseman originally, Duncan was switched to an outfielder because some guy named Albert Pujols looks to hold down that job for another 15 years or so. Duncan was shaky defensively, but he had tons of raw power. However, when it came time to vote on 2006 Rookie of the Year, Duncan was nowhere near the top.

Take a closer look, though, and you will see that Howard and Duncan had very similar numbers. I'm not saying that Duncan will smack 58 home runs this year or win an MVP, as Howard did in his second year in 2006, but let's take a look at the numbers, and you will see that I'm not so crazy.

Games Played/At Bats

To set the tone for this whole comparison, we have to look at games played and at-bats. Duncan had the edge in games played, leading Howard 90-88. However, Duncan played in a platoon in the outfield and was used as a pinch hitter off of the bench occasionally. Howard, on the other hand, became the everyday first baseman after Thome was injured, giving him the edge in at-bats 312-280.

Chris Duncan: 90 GP, 280 AB
Ryan Howard: 88 GP, 312 AB

Advantage: Howard

Hits/Average/Runs Scored

Although he led in at-bats, Howard only had 8 more hits than Duncan, leading 90-82. That gave Duncan a .293-.288 advantage in the batting average department. Regardless of having less at bats, Duncan still scored 8 more runs than Howard, 60-52. It helped Duncan to have Albert Pujols hitting behind him, though.

Chris Duncan: 82 H, .293 AVG, 60 R
Ryan Howard: 90 H, .288 AVG, 52 R

Advantage: Duncan

Extra Base Hits/HR/RBI

This category is pretty even, for the most part. In the case of extra base hits, Howard led in the doubles department 17-11. Duncan held the edge in triples, though, 3-2. That brings us to the category that everyone looks at: home runs. And wouldn't you know, we've got a tie. Each player had 22 HRs their rookie campaign. The difference between the two? Howard had 20 more RBIs than Duncan, 63-43. However, just like with the run stat, their place in the lineup probably determines this one. Duncan bat in 2nd most of the year, whereas Howard was usually in the 3rd of 4th spot.

Duncan: 11 2B, 3 3B, 22 HR, 43 RBI
Howard: 17 2B, 2 3B, 22 HR, 63 RBI

Advantage: Howard. However, if Duncan had close to the same number of at bats, would this be a push? It's hard to say.

Strikeouts/Walks

Howard struck out 100 times in 2005. Duncan only struck out 69 times in 2006. Howard held the edge in walks 33-3o.

Duncan: 69 K, 30 BB
Howard: 100 K, 33 BB

Advantage: Duncan.

OBP/SLG

Chris Duncan, surprisngly, owns this category. His OBP was .363 and his SLG was .589. Howard, meanwhile, had an OBP of .356 and a SLG of .567.

Duncan: .363 OBP, .589 SLG
Howard: .356 OBP, .567 SLG

Advantage: Duncan

Hardware

Ryan Howard won some hardware in his rookie year: the 2005 NL Rookie of the Year trophy. Chris Duncan won some hardware, too: a World Series trophy.

Advantage: Push

Final Stat Line

Chris Duncan: 90 GP, 280 AB, 82 H, .293 AVG, 60 R, 11 2B, 3 3B, 22 HR, 43 RBI, 69 K, 30 BB, .363 OBP, .589 SLG, 1 World Series Ring

Ryan Howard: 88 GP, 312 AB, 90 H, .288 AVG, 52 R, 17 2B, 2 3B, 22 HR, 63 RBI, 100 K, 33 BB, .356 OBP, .567 SLG, 1 Rookie of the Year Trophy

3 Advantages to Duncan, 2 Advantages to Howard, 1 Push

So how do you call this one? Certainly, Howard had more of an impact with voters' and gained more noteriety throughout his rookie campaign. Chris Duncan was mostly known as the guy dropping balls in the outfield for the Cards. However, when you see the numbers, he holds an advantage in several categories.

So what's the final decision? Who had the better rookie season? I'm going to say PUSH. I bet some of you are quite surprised to see that Duncan actually had a comparable, if not better, rookie season that Ryan Howard. So I am making it a push so that you all can personally decide for yourself who had the better rookie campaign. Obviously, Howard went on to have an amazing season in 2006. Do I think Duncan will have a season like that in 2007? No, I don't. Do I think he will be as good as Howard is as a ballplayer? Probably not. But you never know. Regardless, Duncan's rookie season is no fluke. He has gotten off to a hot start in 2007 and he looks to build on his success. As for Howard? Expect the same. Howard and Albert Pujols will be the dominating prescence at 1B in the National League for years to come, and will battle it out for MVP year after year. Only time will tell if Duncan can become a dominating presence at the plate like Howard has become.

This is why I love baseball. It's amazing when you lay the numbers out, isn't it?