Bobby Bonds vs Frank Howard: Career Stats Comparison
Bobby Bonds (1968–1981) and Frank Howard (1958–1973) — they broke in during the 1960s and the 1950s respectively, which makes the side-by-side worth doing carefully. Bobby Bonds finished with 1,886 hits and 332 home runs; Frank Howard finished with 1,774 hits and 382 home runs. Below is the full career table, PIV adjustment, peak seasons, and a verdict.
Bobby Bonds
Frank Howard
Career Stats Side-by-Side
Every cell below is a career total or career rate for Bobby Bonds and Frank Howard. Cells highlighted in green mark the category leader. Counting stats reward longevity; the rate stats at the bottom are era-agnostic.
| Statistic | Bobby Bonds | Frank Howard |
|---|---|---|
| Games | 1,849 | 1,895 |
| At-Bats | 7,043 | 6,488 |
| Runs | 1,258 | 864 |
| Hits | 1,886 | 1,774 |
| Doubles | 302 | 245 |
| Triples | 66 | 35 |
| Home Runs | 332 | 382 |
| RBI | 1,024 | 1,119 |
| Walks | 914 | 782 |
| Strikeouts | 1,757 | 1,460 |
| Stolen Bases | 461 | 8 |
| Batting Avg | .268 | .273 |
| On-Base % | .353 | .352 |
| Slugging % | .471 | .499 |
| OPS | .824 | .851 |
PIV Comparison
By PIV (Player Impact Value), Frank Howard leads Bobby Bonds 30,024 to 25,739 — a gap driven primarily by per-season impact (1,766 vs 1,716 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).
Bobby Bonds — top 3 seasons by OPS
Frank Howard — top 3 seasons by OPS
Verdict
On the head-to-head card, Frank Howard leads in home runs, RBI, batting average, and OPS, while Bobby Bonds owns hits, runs, and stolen bases. That doesn't settle the era debate, but on the raw scoreboard the edge goes to Frank Howard. PIV agrees: Frank Howard grades out higher across their careers. Click through to each profile for the full season-by-season breakdown.