Lou Gehrig vs Carlos Santana: Career Stats Comparison
Lou Gehrig (1923–1939) and Carlos Santana (2010–present) — they broke in during the 1920s and the 2010s respectively, which makes the side-by-side worth doing carefully. Lou Gehrig finished with 2,721 hits and 493 home runs; Carlos Santana finished with 1,880 hits and 335 home runs. Below is the full career table, PIV adjustment, peak seasons, and a verdict.
Lou Gehrig
Carlos Santana
Career Stats Side-by-Side
Every cell below is a career total or career rate for Lou Gehrig and Carlos Santana. Cells highlighted in green mark the category leader. Counting stats reward longevity; the rate stats at the bottom are era-agnostic.
| Statistic | Lou Gehrig | Carlos Santana |
|---|---|---|
| Games | 2,164 | 2,204 |
| At-Bats | 8,001 | 7,815 |
| Runs | 1,888 | 1,107 |
| Hits | 2,721 | 1,880 |
| Doubles | 534 | 404 |
| Triples | 163 | 17 |
| Home Runs | 493 | 335 |
| RBI | 1,995 | 1,136 |
| Walks | 1,508 | 1,330 |
| Strikeouts | 790 | 1,540 |
| Stolen Bases | 102 | 65 |
| Batting Avg | .340 | .241 |
| On-Base % | .447 | .352 |
| Slugging % | .632 | .425 |
| OPS | 1.080 | .777 |
PIV Comparison
By PIV (Player Impact Value), Lou Gehrig outpaces Carlos Santana 81,072 to 15,027 — a gap driven primarily by per-season impact (4,769 vs 791 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).
Lou Gehrig — top 3 seasons by OPS
Carlos Santana — top 3 seasons by OPS
Verdict
On the head-to-head card, Lou Gehrig leads in hits, home runs, RBI, and runs, while Carlos Santana owns no headline categories. That doesn't settle the era debate, but on the raw scoreboard the edge goes to Lou Gehrig. PIV agrees: Lou Gehrig grades out higher across their careers. Click through to each profile for the full season-by-season breakdown.