Pete Browning vs Fred Clarke: Career Stats Comparison

Pete Browning (1882–1894) and Fred Clarke (1894–1915) — they broke in during the 1880s and the 1890s respectively, which makes the side-by-side worth doing carefully. Pete Browning finished with 1,646 hits and 46 home runs; Fred Clarke finished with 2,678 hits and 67 home runs. Below is the full career table, PIV adjustment, peak seasons, and a verdict.

Pete Browning

Hitter · 1882–1894
Games
1,183
Hits
1,646
Home Runs
46
RBI
659
Avg
.341
OPS
.869
View Pete Browning's full profile →

Fred Clarke

Hitter · 1894–1915
Games
2,246
Hits
2,678
Home Runs
67
RBI
1,015
Avg
.312
OPS
.814
View Fred Clarke's full profile →

Career Stats Side-by-Side

Every cell below is a career total or career rate for Pete Browning and Fred Clarke. Cells highlighted in green mark the category leader. Counting stats reward longevity; the rate stats at the bottom are era-agnostic.

Statistic Pete Browning Fred Clarke
Games 1,183 2,246
At-Bats 4,820 8,584
Runs 954 1,622
Hits 1,646 2,678
Doubles 295 361
Triples 85 220
Home Runs 46 67
RBI 659 1,015
Walks 466 875
Strikeouts 245 511
Stolen Bases 258 509
Batting Avg .341 .312
On-Base % .403 .386
Slugging % .467 .429
OPS .869 .814

PIV Comparison

By PIV (Player Impact Value), Fred Clarke leads Pete Browning 34,764 to 28,876 — a gap driven primarily by per-season impact (1,655 vs 1,805 per year). PIV adjusts each season to league baselines, so it's the cleanest way to compare careers across eras.

Pete Browning
28,876
Career PIV · 1,805 per season (16 seasons)
Fred Clarke
34,764
Career PIV · 1,655 per season (21 seasons)

How PIV is calculated →

Peak Seasons

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

Pete Browning — top 3 seasons by OPS

18871.011 OPS4 HR, 118 RBI, .402 avg
1890.976 OPS5 HR, 93 RBI, .373 avg
1885.923 OPS9 HR, 73 RBI, .362 avg

Fred Clarke — top 3 seasons by OPS

1897.992 OPS6 HR, 67 RBI, .390 avg
1903.946 OPS5 HR, 70 RBI, .351 avg
1911.900 OPS5 HR, 49 RBI, .324 avg

Verdict

On the head-to-head card, Fred Clarke leads in hits, home runs, RBI, and runs, while Pete Browning owns batting average, OBP, and OPS. That doesn't settle the era debate, but on the raw scoreboard the edge goes to Fred Clarke. PIV agrees: Fred Clarke grades out higher across their careers. Click through to each profile for the full season-by-season breakdown.

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