Babe Herman vs Ted Williams: Career Stats Comparison

Babe Herman (1926–1945) and Ted Williams (1939–1960) — they broke in during the 1920s and the 1930s respectively, which makes the side-by-side worth doing carefully. Babe Herman finished with 1,818 hits and 181 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.

Babe Herman

Hitter · 1926–1945
Games
1,552
Hits
1,818
Home Runs
181
RBI
997
Avg
.324
OPS
.915
View Babe Herman's full profile →

Ted Williams

Hitter · 1939–1960
Games
2,292
Hits
2,654
Home Runs
521
RBI
1,839
Avg
.344
OPS
1.116
View Ted Williams's full profile →

Career Stats Side-by-Side

Every cell below is a career total or career rate for Babe Herman 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 Babe Herman Ted Williams
Games 1,552 2,292
At-Bats 5,603 7,706
Runs 882 1,798
Hits 1,818 2,654
Doubles 399 525
Triples 110 71
Home Runs 181 521
RBI 997 1,839
Walks 520 2,021
Strikeouts 553 709
Stolen Bases 94 24
Batting Avg .324 .344
On-Base % .383 .482
Slugging % .532 .634
OPS .915 1.116

PIV Comparison

By PIV (Player Impact Value), Ted Williams outpaces Babe Herman 96,302 to 25,837 — a gap driven primarily by per-season impact (5,069 vs 1,845 per year). PIV adjusts each season to league baselines, so it's the cleanest way to compare careers across eras.

Babe Herman
25,837
Career PIV · 1,845 per season (14 seasons)
Ted Williams
96,302
Career PIV · 5,069 per season (19 seasons)

How PIV is calculated →

Peak Seasons

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

Babe Herman — top 3 seasons by OPS

19301.132 OPS35 HR, 130 RBI, .393 avg
19291.047 OPS21 HR, 113 RBI, .381 avg
1932.930 OPS16 HR, 87 RBI, .326 avg

Ted Williams — top 3 seasons by OPS

19411.287 OPS37 HR, 120 RBI, .406 avg
19571.257 OPS38 HR, 87 RBI, .388 avg
19551.200 OPS28 HR, 83 RBI, .356 avg

Verdict

On the head-to-head card, Ted Williams leads in hits, home runs, RBI, and runs, while Babe Herman owns 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.

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