Sam Crawford vs Billy Hamilton: Career Stats Comparison
Sam Crawford (1899–1917) and Billy Hamilton (1888–1901) — they broke in during the 1890s and the 1880s respectively, which makes the side-by-side worth doing carefully. Sam Crawford finished with 2,961 hits and 97 home runs; Billy Hamilton finished with 2,164 hits and 40 home runs. Below is the full career table, PIV adjustment, peak seasons, and a verdict.
Sam Crawford
Billy Hamilton
Career Stats Side-by-Side
Every cell below is a career total or career rate for Sam Crawford and Billy Hamilton. Cells highlighted in green mark the category leader. Counting stats reward longevity; the rate stats at the bottom are era-agnostic.
| Statistic | Sam Crawford | Billy Hamilton |
|---|---|---|
| Games | 2,517 | 1,594 |
| At-Bats | 9,570 | 6,283 |
| Runs | 1,391 | 1,697 |
| Hits | 2,961 | 2,164 |
| Doubles | 458 | 242 |
| Triples | 309 | 95 |
| Home Runs | 97 | 40 |
| RBI | 1,519 | 742 |
| Walks | 760 | 1,189 |
| Strikeouts | 580 | 362 |
| Stolen Bases | 366 | 914 |
| Batting Avg | .309 | .344 |
| On-Base % | .362 | .455 |
| Slugging % | .452 | .432 |
| OPS | .814 | .888 |
PIV Comparison
By PIV (Player Impact Value), Sam Crawford leads Billy Hamilton 41,381 to 38,004 — a gap driven primarily by per-season impact (2,178 vs 2,715 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).
Sam Crawford — top 3 seasons by OPS
Billy Hamilton — top 3 seasons by OPS
Verdict
On the head-to-head card, Billy Hamilton leads in runs, stolen bases, batting average, and OBP, while Sam Crawford owns hits, home runs, and RBI. That doesn't settle the era debate, but on the raw scoreboard the edge goes to Billy Hamilton. Note that PIV actually grades Sam Crawford ahead, which means Billy Hamilton's edge is partly volume. Click through to each profile for the full season-by-season breakdown.