David Ortiz’s final game at Yankee Stadium as a member of the Boston Red Sox is set for Thursday night, which may result in a standing ovation or something a little more, uh, creative.

It’s a reminder that, not too long ago, another legend left baseball after his final game at Fenway: New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. Which got us thinking: Who’s better?

Sure, it’s a bit of an apples and oranges kind of argument. But think of this as an argument at a bar — if you were starting your franchise knowing how the careers of both players would play out, which one would you choose? Let’s break it down.

(Brad Mangin)

Batting

In one corner, you have Ortiz, the man who’s totaled 28-plus home runs in 12 of the 20 seasons he’s played, along with 12 90-plus RBI seasons. It actually surprised me to see his career batting average was .286, I somehow assumed it’d be lower. Throw in a .931 career OPS and, yeah, he’s a legend.

In the other corner, it’s Jeter: .310, 260 home runs 1,311 RBI and 358 stolen bases. His OPS (.817) is lower than Ortiz’s, but doesn’t the speed make up for the difference?

Who would you rather have? The slugger who could send moonshots flying at any given moment? Or the table-setter who could swipe a bag and score? Here’s the tie-breaker: Jeter didn’t knock in as many runs, but he wasn’t asked to be an RBI producer as often, hitting mostly out of the No. 2 spot in the lineup. Yet he ended up with 11 70-plus RBI seasons.

Slight edge: Jeter

(Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports)

Defense

How do we solve this one when Ortiz played all of 278 of his 2,025 games at first base?

Here’s an argument: Jeter played shortstop, one of the toughest positions in baseball. But so much — sooooo much — has been written about advanced stats proving Jeter wasn’t all that great at fielding, despite the Gold Gloves and those balletic throws in the hole while moving to his right.

Then, there’s Ortiz, who’s made a living as a designated hitter. So, yeah, no defense to speak of. But what about how hard it is for players to sit on a bench all game and suddenly be asked to hit? Listen to what Cubs manager Joe Maddon said in 2015:

“The DH is a really difficult position to acquire a really good player. It’s normally a very expensive position and there’s not many guys that could sit around for a half hour and come up and give you a good at-bat consistently on a nightly basis. So it’s a tough animal to find.”

While I can’t really compare Ortiz’s defense to Jeter’s, I can counter with the idea that Ortiz was ridiculously good at something that’s harder than it looks.

All of that screams to me …

Edge: Push

Clutch

I know, I know. There’s no such thing as clutch, statheads. But this is a bar argument, right?

Let’s look at postseason stats, when much clutch is necessary.

Ortiz: .295, 17 HR, 60 RBI, in 82 games

Jeter: .308, 20 HR, 61 RBI in 158 games

But wait! What about factoring in The Flip?

And Mr. November?

On the other side, what about all of this?

Edge: Push

Nicknames

Big Papi > The Captain.

(It shouldn’t factor in, but it does.)

Big Edge: Ortiz

(Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

Statistics

It’s a bar argument, but this is the point in the conversation when I pull out my phone and go to Baseball Reference to note Jeter’s career Wins Above Replacement is 71.8, currently 58th all time. Ortiz’s WAR is 55.3.

Edge: Jeter

Conclusion: The crown goes to Jeter, but it’s closer than you’d think.

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