Roberto Clemente vs Ted Williams: Career Stats Comparison
Roberto Clemente (1955–1972) and Ted Williams (1939–1960) — they broke in during the 1950s and the 1930s respectively, which makes the side-by-side worth doing carefully. Roberto Clemente finished with 3,000 hits and 240 home runs; Ted Williams finished with 2,654 hits and 521 home runs. Below is the full career table, PIV adjustment, peak seasons, and a verdict.
Roberto Clemente
Ted Williams
Career Stats Side-by-Side
Every cell below is a career total or career rate for Roberto Clemente and Ted Williams. Cells highlighted in green mark the category leader. Counting stats reward longevity; the rate stats at the bottom are era-agnostic.
| Statistic | Roberto Clemente | Ted Williams |
|---|---|---|
| Games | 2,433 | 2,292 |
| At-Bats | 9,454 | 7,706 |
| Runs | 1,416 | 1,798 |
| Hits | 3,000 | 2,654 |
| Doubles | 440 | 525 |
| Triples | 166 | 71 |
| Home Runs | 240 | 521 |
| RBI | 1,305 | 1,839 |
| Walks | 621 | 2,021 |
| Strikeouts | 1,230 | 709 |
| Stolen Bases | 83 | 24 |
| Batting Avg | .317 | .344 |
| On-Base % | .359 | .482 |
| Slugging % | .475 | .634 |
| OPS | .834 | 1.116 |
PIV Comparison
By PIV (Player Impact Value), Ted Williams outpaces Roberto Clemente 96,302 to 34,131 — a gap driven primarily by per-season impact (5,069 vs 1,896 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).
Roberto Clemente — top 3 seasons by OPS
Ted Williams — top 3 seasons by OPS
Verdict
On the head-to-head card, Ted Williams leads in home runs, RBI, runs, and batting average, while Roberto Clemente owns hits and stolen bases. That doesn't settle the era debate, but on the raw scoreboard the edge goes to Ted Williams. PIV agrees: Ted Williams grades out higher across their careers. Click through to each profile for the full season-by-season breakdown.