Home Run Baker vs Eddie Plank: Career Stats Comparison
Home Run Baker (1908–1922) and Eddie Plank (1901–1917) — both broke in during the 1900s, which makes the head-to-head feel like a contemporaries' debate. Home Run Baker finished with 1,838 hits and 96 home runs; Eddie Plank finished with 331 hits and 3 home runs. Below is the full career table, PIV adjustment, peak seasons, and a verdict.
Home Run Baker
Career Stats Side-by-Side
Every cell below is a career total or career rate for Home Run Baker and Eddie Plank. Cells highlighted in green mark the category leader. Counting stats reward longevity; the rate stats at the bottom are era-agnostic.
| Statistic | Home Run Baker | Eddie Plank |
|---|---|---|
| Games | 1,575 | 630 |
| At-Bats | 5,984 | 1,607 |
| Runs | 887 | 130 |
| Hits | 1,838 | 331 |
| Doubles | 315 | 39 |
| Triples | 103 | 7 |
| Home Runs | 96 | 3 |
| RBI | 987 | 122 |
| Walks | 473 | 71 |
| Strikeouts | 344 | 265 |
| Stolen Bases | 235 | 13 |
| Batting Avg | .307 | .206 |
| On-Base % | .363 | .250 |
| Slugging % | .442 | .245 |
| OPS | .805 | .495 |
PIV Comparison
By PIV (Player Impact Value), Home Run Baker outpaces Eddie Plank 22,634 to -5,255 — a gap driven primarily by per-season impact (1,741 vs -309 per year). PIV adjusts each season to league baselines, so it's the cleanest way to compare careers across eras.
Peak Seasons
The best single seasons each player produced, ranked by OPS among qualified workloads (300+ at-bats).
Home Run Baker — top 3 seasons by OPS
Eddie Plank — top 0 seasons by OPS
Verdict
On the head-to-head card, Home Run Baker leads in hits, home runs, RBI, and runs, while Eddie Plank owns no headline categories. That doesn't settle the era debate, but on the raw scoreboard the edge goes to Home Run Baker. PIV agrees: Home Run Baker grades out higher across their careers. Click through to each profile for the full season-by-season breakdown.