John Clarkson vs King Kelly: Career Stats Comparison
John Clarkson (1882–1894) and King Kelly (1878–1893) — they broke in during the 1880s and the 1870s respectively, which makes the side-by-side worth doing carefully. John Clarkson finished with 432 hits and 24 home runs; King Kelly finished with 1,813 hits and 69 home runs. Below is the full career table, PIV adjustment, peak seasons, and a verdict.
John Clarkson
Career Stats Side-by-Side
Every cell below is a career total or career rate for John Clarkson and King Kelly. Cells highlighted in green mark the category leader. Counting stats reward longevity; the rate stats at the bottom are era-agnostic.
| Statistic | John Clarkson | King Kelly |
|---|---|---|
| Games | 546 | 1,456 |
| At-Bats | 1,974 | 5,896 |
| Runs | 254 | 1,357 |
| Hits | 432 | 1,813 |
| Doubles | 73 | 359 |
| Triples | 26 | 102 |
| Home Runs | 24 | 69 |
| RBI | 232 | 950 |
| Walks | 81 | 549 |
| Strikeouts | 382 | 418 |
| Stolen Bases | 31 | 368 |
| Batting Avg | .219 | .307 |
| On-Base % | .250 | .368 |
| Slugging % | .319 | .438 |
| OPS | .569 | .806 |
PIV Comparison
By PIV (Player Impact Value), King Kelly outpaces John Clarkson 27,425 to -4,841 — a gap driven primarily by per-season impact (1,524 vs -372 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).
John Clarkson — top 0 seasons by OPS
King Kelly — top 3 seasons by OPS
Verdict
On the head-to-head card, King Kelly leads in hits, home runs, RBI, and runs, while John Clarkson owns no headline categories. That doesn't settle the era debate, but on the raw scoreboard the edge goes to King Kelly. PIV agrees: King Kelly grades out higher across their careers. Click through to each profile for the full season-by-season breakdown.