Roger Bresnahan vs Christy Mathewson: Career Stats Comparison
Roger Bresnahan (1897–1915) and Christy Mathewson (1900–1916) — they broke in during the 1890s and the 1900s respectively, which makes the side-by-side worth doing carefully. Roger Bresnahan finished with 1,252 hits and 26 home runs; Christy Mathewson finished with 362 hits and 7 home runs. Below is the full career table, PIV adjustment, peak seasons, and a verdict.
Roger Bresnahan
Christy Mathewson
Career Stats Side-by-Side
Every cell below is a career total or career rate for Roger Bresnahan and Christy Mathewson. Cells highlighted in green mark the category leader. Counting stats reward longevity; the rate stats at the bottom are era-agnostic.
| Statistic | Roger Bresnahan | Christy Mathewson |
|---|---|---|
| Games | 1,446 | 647 |
| At-Bats | 4,481 | 1,687 |
| Runs | 682 | 151 |
| Hits | 1,252 | 362 |
| Doubles | 218 | 50 |
| Triples | 71 | 12 |
| Home Runs | 26 | 7 |
| RBI | 530 | 165 |
| Walks | 714 | 116 |
| Strikeouts | 403 | 218 |
| Stolen Bases | 212 | 20 |
| Batting Avg | .279 | .215 |
| On-Base % | .386 | .272 |
| Slugging % | .377 | .271 |
| OPS | .764 | .543 |
PIV Comparison
By PIV (Player Impact Value), Roger Bresnahan outpaces Christy Mathewson 18,191 to -3,882 — a gap driven primarily by per-season impact (1,011 vs -216 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).
Roger Bresnahan — top 3 seasons by OPS
Christy Mathewson — top 0 seasons by OPS
Verdict
On the head-to-head card, Roger Bresnahan leads in hits, home runs, RBI, and runs, while Christy Mathewson owns no headline categories. That doesn't settle the era debate, but on the raw scoreboard the edge goes to Roger Bresnahan. PIV agrees: Roger Bresnahan grades out higher across their careers. Click through to each profile for the full season-by-season breakdown.