Buck Ewing vs Rick Ferrell: Career Stats Comparison

Buck Ewing (1880–1897) and Rick Ferrell (1929–1947) — they broke in during the 1880s and the 1920s respectively, which makes the side-by-side worth doing carefully. Buck Ewing finished with 1,625 hits and 71 home runs; Rick Ferrell finished with 1,692 hits and 28 home runs. Below is the full career table, PIV adjustment, peak seasons, and a verdict.

Buck Ewing

Hitter · 1880–1897
Games
1,315
Hits
1,625
Home Runs
71
RBI
883
Avg
.303
OPS
.807
View Buck Ewing's full profile →

Rick Ferrell

Hitter · 1929–1947
Games
1,884
Hits
1,692
Home Runs
28
RBI
734
Avg
.281
OPS
.741
View Rick Ferrell's full profile →

Career Stats Side-by-Side

Every cell below is a career total or career rate for Buck Ewing and Rick Ferrell. Cells highlighted in green mark the category leader. Counting stats reward longevity; the rate stats at the bottom are era-agnostic.

Statistic Buck Ewing Rick Ferrell
Games 1,315 1,884
At-Bats 5,363 6,028
Runs 1,129 687
Hits 1,625 1,692
Doubles 250 324
Triples 178 45
Home Runs 71 28
RBI 883 734
Walks 392 931
Strikeouts 294 277
Stolen Bases 354 29
Batting Avg .303 .281
On-Base % .351 .378
Slugging % .456 .363
OPS .807 .741

PIV Comparison

By PIV (Player Impact Value), Buck Ewing outpaces Rick Ferrell 17,919 to 6,474 — a gap driven primarily by per-season impact (995 vs 308 per year). PIV adjusts each season to league baselines, so it's the cleanest way to compare careers across eras.

Buck Ewing
17,919
Career PIV · 995 per season (18 seasons)
Rick Ferrell
6,474
Career PIV · 308 per season (21 seasons)

How PIV is calculated →

Peak Seasons

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

Buck Ewing — top 3 seasons by OPS

1890.951 OPS8 HR, 72 RBI, .338 avg
1893.890 OPS6 HR, 122 RBI, .344 avg
1887.867 OPS6 HR, 44 RBI, .305 avg

Rick Ferrell — top 3 seasons by OPS

1936.867 OPS8 HR, 55 RBI, .312 avg
1932.826 OPS2 HR, 65 RBI, .315 avg
1931.821 OPS3 HR, 57 RBI, .306 avg

Verdict

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

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