As a hitter I judge Lajoie superior, although they were different types. Collins was more a lead off hitter type with a high OBP due to many more walks, and lots of steals. Lajoie drove in more runs and had a much better slugging percentage. For me the best indicator was who got into the HOF first as the voters actually saw both play: Lajoie-1937, Collins-1939. BTW, for all Mickey Mantle fans, Lajoie, based on a 162 game season, averaged more RBIs , despite being a second baseman and playing in the dead ball era, than Mantle did.
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