Bert Blyleven vs Harmon Killebrew: Career Stats Comparison

Bert Blyleven (1970–1992) and Harmon Killebrew (1954–1975) — they broke in during the 1970s and the 1950s respectively, which makes the side-by-side worth doing carefully. Bert Blyleven finished with 59 hits and 0 home runs; Harmon Killebrew finished with 2,086 hits and 573 home runs. Below is the full career table, PIV adjustment, peak seasons, and a verdict.

Bert Blyleven

Two-Way Player · 1970–1992
Games
699
Hits
59
Home Runs
0
RBI
25
Avg
.131
OPS
.290
View Bert Blyleven's full profile →

Harmon Killebrew

Hitter · 1954–1975
Games
2,435
Hits
2,086
Home Runs
573
RBI
1,584
Avg
.256
OPS
.884
View Harmon Killebrew's full profile →

Career Stats Side-by-Side

Every cell below is a career total or career rate for Bert Blyleven and Harmon Killebrew. Cells highlighted in green mark the category leader. Counting stats reward longevity; the rate stats at the bottom are era-agnostic.

Statistic Bert Blyleven Harmon Killebrew
Games 699 2,435
At-Bats 451 8,147
Runs 19 1,283
Hits 59 2,086
Doubles 7 290
Triples 0 24
Home Runs 0 573
RBI 25 1,584
Walks 5 1,559
Strikeouts 193 1,699
Stolen Bases 0 19
Batting Avg .131 .256
On-Base % .144 .376
Slugging % .146 .509
OPS .290 .884

PIV Comparison

By PIV (Player Impact Value), Harmon Killebrew outpaces Bert Blyleven 48,240 to -4,055 — a gap driven primarily by per-season impact (2,193 vs -169 per year). PIV adjusts each season to league baselines, so it's the cleanest way to compare careers across eras.

Bert Blyleven
-4,055
Career PIV · -169 per season (24 seasons)
Harmon Killebrew
48,240
Career PIV · 2,193 per season (22 seasons)

How PIV is calculated →

Peak Seasons

The best single seasons each player produced, ranked by OPS among qualified workloads (300+ at-bats).

Bert Blyleven — top 0 seasons by OPS

Harmon Killebrew — top 3 seasons by OPS

19611.012 OPS46 HR, 122 RBI, .288 avg
19691.011 OPS49 HR, 140 RBI, .276 avg
1967.965 OPS44 HR, 113 RBI, .269 avg

Verdict

On the head-to-head card, Harmon Killebrew leads in hits, home runs, RBI, and runs, while Bert Blyleven owns no headline categories. That doesn't settle the era debate, but on the raw scoreboard the edge goes to Harmon Killebrew. PIV agrees: Harmon Killebrew grades out higher across their careers. Click through to each profile for the full season-by-season breakdown.

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