Oscar Charleston vs Sam Crawford: Career Stats Comparison

Oscar Charleston (?–1941) and Sam Crawford (1899–1917) — their careers are worth a careful side-by-side. Oscar Charleston finished with 1,718 hits and 183 home runs; Sam Crawford finished with 2,961 hits and 97 home runs. Below is the full career table, PIV adjustment, peak seasons, and a verdict.

Oscar Charleston

Hitter · ?–1941
Games
1,336
Hits
1,718
Home Runs
183
RBI
1,139
Avg
.350
OPS
1.005
View Oscar Charleston's full profile →

Sam Crawford

Hitter · 1899–1917
Games
2,517
Hits
2,961
Home Runs
97
RBI
1,519
Avg
.309
OPS
.814
View Sam Crawford's full profile →

Career Stats Side-by-Side

Every cell below is a career total or career rate for Oscar Charleston and Sam Crawford. Cells highlighted in green mark the category leader. Counting stats reward longevity; the rate stats at the bottom are era-agnostic.

Statistic Oscar Charleston Sam Crawford
Games 1,336 2,517
At-Bats 4,903 9,570
Runs 1,164 1,391
Hits 1,718 2,961
Doubles 329 458
Triples 112 309
Home Runs 183 97
RBI 1,139 1,519
Walks 647 760
Strikeouts 29 580
Stolen Bases 311 366
Batting Avg .350 .309
On-Base % .430 .362
Slugging % .575 .452
OPS 1.005 .814

PIV Comparison

By PIV (Player Impact Value), Sam Crawford leads Oscar Charleston 41,381 to 34,756 — a gap driven primarily by per-season impact (2,178 vs 1,121 per year). PIV adjusts each season to league baselines, so it's the cleanest way to compare careers across eras.

Oscar Charleston
34,756
Career PIV · 1,121 per season (31 seasons)
Sam Crawford
41,381
Career PIV · 2,178 per season (19 seasons)

How PIV is calculated →

Peak Seasons

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

Oscar Charleston — top 2 seasons by OPS

19221.122 OPS17 HR, 90 RBI, .381 avg
19231.043 OPS11 HR, 94 RBI, .364 avg

Sam Crawford — top 3 seasons by OPS

1911.964 OPS7 HR, 115 RBI, .378 avg
1901.903 OPS16 HR, 104 RBI, .330 avg
1914.871 OPS8 HR, 104 RBI, .314 avg

Verdict

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

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