Rico Carty vs Frank Howard: Career Stats Comparison
Rico Carty (1963–1979) and Frank Howard (1958–1973) — they broke in during the 1960s and the 1950s respectively, which makes the side-by-side worth doing carefully. Rico Carty finished with 1,677 hits and 204 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.
Rico Carty
Frank Howard
Career Stats Side-by-Side
Every cell below is a career total or career rate for Rico Carty 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 | Rico Carty | Frank Howard |
|---|---|---|
| Games | 1,651 | 1,895 |
| At-Bats | 5,606 | 6,488 |
| Runs | 712 | 864 |
| Hits | 1,677 | 1,774 |
| Doubles | 278 | 245 |
| Triples | 17 | 35 |
| Home Runs | 204 | 382 |
| RBI | 890 | 1,119 |
| Walks | 642 | 782 |
| Strikeouts | 663 | 1,460 |
| Stolen Bases | 21 | 8 |
| Batting Avg | .299 | .273 |
| On-Base % | .369 | .352 |
| Slugging % | .464 | .499 |
| OPS | .833 | .851 |
PIV Comparison
By PIV (Player Impact Value), Frank Howard outpaces Rico Carty 30,024 to 21,612 — a gap driven primarily by per-season impact (1,766 vs 1,201 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).
Rico Carty — top 3 seasons by OPS
Frank Howard — top 3 seasons by OPS
Verdict
On the head-to-head card, Frank Howard leads in hits, home runs, RBI, and runs, while Rico Carty owns stolen bases, batting average, and OBP. 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.