Walter Johnson vs Sam Rice: Career Stats Comparison
Walter Johnson (1907–1927) and Sam Rice (1915–1934) — they broke in during the 1900s and the 1910s respectively, which makes the side-by-side worth doing carefully. Walter Johnson finished with 547 hits and 24 home runs; Sam Rice finished with 2,987 hits and 34 home runs. Below is the full career table, PIV adjustment, peak seasons, and a verdict.
Walter Johnson
Career Stats Side-by-Side
Every cell below is a career total or career rate for Walter Johnson and Sam Rice. Cells highlighted in green mark the category leader. Counting stats reward longevity; the rate stats at the bottom are era-agnostic.
| Statistic | Walter Johnson | Sam Rice |
|---|---|---|
| Games | 933 | 2,404 |
| At-Bats | 2,324 | 9,269 |
| Runs | 241 | 1,514 |
| Hits | 547 | 2,987 |
| Doubles | 94 | 498 |
| Triples | 41 | 184 |
| Home Runs | 24 | 34 |
| RBI | 255 | 1,078 |
| Walks | 110 | 708 |
| Strikeouts | 419 | 275 |
| Stolen Bases | 13 | 351 |
| Batting Avg | .235 | .322 |
| On-Base % | .274 | .374 |
| Slugging % | .342 | .427 |
| OPS | .616 | .801 |
PIV Comparison
By PIV (Player Impact Value), Sam Rice outpaces Walter Johnson 18,800 to -3,830 — a gap driven primarily by per-season impact (940 vs -182 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).
Walter Johnson — top 0 seasons by OPS
Sam Rice — top 3 seasons by OPS
Verdict
On the head-to-head card, Sam Rice leads in hits, home runs, RBI, and runs, while Walter Johnson owns no headline categories. That doesn't settle the era debate, but on the raw scoreboard the edge goes to Sam Rice. PIV agrees: Sam Rice grades out higher across their careers. Click through to each profile for the full season-by-season breakdown.