Yogi Berra is better than Johnny Bench

My opponent believes that Johnny Bench's era is worse than Berra's, which would justify Berra's advantage in batting. It doesn't. How is Bench's era harder? Yes, I know Bench played during the later parts of the 1960s, but the 1970s was the same as the 1950s. Also, Berra also played in the 1960s. The difference in their eras is very small, almost the same. Berra's OPS is 13 points higher, his batting average is 18 pionts higher. That difference is 100 times larger than the difference in eras. My opponent also states that Bench played against more teams with more players. My opponent then claims that means Benmch faced harder competition than Berra. That is incorrect. In the World, there is only so much talent for playing baseball. When you have more teams, there is a higher demand for players. These new players are not as talented as the old players because they could not have made it before. When there are only 16 teams, the level of talent is very high. But when it is expanded to 24, then 26 teams, more players of lesser quality is added and the overall talent level decreases. To put this as an advantage for Bench is beyond idiotic. In reality, Berra faced stiffer competition. The difference between Berra and Bench in batting is not as close as it seems. When you apply a formula to determine the amount of runs Berra and Bench put on the scoreboard, Berra is quite a bit ahead. The formula is simple. It is (Rbis+Runs-Home Runs)/Plate appearances. This shows how many runs each catcher put up on the scoreboard for every plate appearance. Berra is at .269, which is a fine number. Bench is all the way back at .240. Runs win baseball games. They are important. Berra gets more of them every time he comes to the plate. The difference of Bench's and Berra's era is debatable, but it is obvious that Berra faced tougher competition. With more runs put on scoreboard, a higher batting average, on base percentage and slugging percentage, Berra is clearly the better hitter. Defense is foggier. I still mantain my argument that in general, catchers are much more suspectible to injuries than any other postion player. My opponent says that Bench had an injury at age 33 that prevented him from winning the Gold Glove. That is highly debatable because the last Gold Glove Bench won was at age 29. He had 3 seasons to win the award and didn't. It is a lot easier to win the award at age 30, 31 and 32, than it is at age 33 to 37. Bench did lose to Bob Boone, who is a fine defensive catcher, but he didn't had his best seasons. The catchers Berra lost to were Lollar and Battey, who played at a comparable rate. When you add in the fact that Berra was older, it is questionable who is the better defensive catcher. My opponent also metioned how Bench led his league in a total of 6 major offensive categories, while Berra never led the league in anything. While that is absolutely true, my question is, why does it matter? If Bench has poorer career numbers overall, but better indiviual seasons, obviously Bench performed worst some other time. In fact, Berra reaches bench mark numbers just as well as Bench. Both Bench and Berra each hit over 20 home runs 11 times. Bench did drive in at least 100 runs 6 times while Berra did it only 5 times. However, Berra drove in 90 runs at least 9 times while Bench did it only 7 times. Both players only scored 100 runs once, but Berra scored 90 runs 4 times, while Bench did it only twice. The only year Bench batted over .300 was 1981 and that is questionable because he only played 52 games, 196 plate appearances and 178 at bats. Meanwhile, Berra batted .300 in 3 separate seasons. Bench mark stat, #of times Berra did it, #of times Bench did it 20 home runs, 11,11 100 RBIs, 5,6 90 RBIs, 9,7 100 Runs, 1,1 90 Runs, 4,2 Batted .300, 3,0 OPS of .900, 2,2 Speaking of big seasons, Berra won the MVP award 3 times to Bench's two. Bench did win the Rookie of the Year, but Berra was up against Jackie Robinson, who had a fantastic year. With All-Stars, Berra was elected to the All-Star game 15 times to Bench's 14. So, Berra clearly was a better batter. He was a fine defensive catcher, just as good as Bench. Overall, Berra was a better catcher than Johnny Bench. When you add the fact that Berra played in a more competitve league, it is obvious that Yogi Berra is better than Johnny Bench.