Christy Mathewson vs John McGraw: Career Stats Comparison
Christy Mathewson (1900–1916) and John McGraw (1891–1907) — they broke in during the 1900s and the 1890s respectively, which makes the side-by-side worth doing carefully. Christy Mathewson finished with 362 hits and 7 home runs; John McGraw finished with 1,309 hits and 13 home runs. Below is the full career table, PIV adjustment, peak seasons, and a verdict.
Christy Mathewson
John McGraw
Career Stats Side-by-Side
Every cell below is a career total or career rate for Christy Mathewson and John McGraw. Cells highlighted in green mark the category leader. Counting stats reward longevity; the rate stats at the bottom are era-agnostic.
| Statistic | Christy Mathewson | John McGraw |
|---|---|---|
| Games | 647 | 1,100 |
| At-Bats | 1,687 | 3,924 |
| Runs | 151 | 1,024 |
| Hits | 362 | 1,309 |
| Doubles | 50 | 121 |
| Triples | 12 | 70 |
| Home Runs | 7 | 13 |
| RBI | 165 | 462 |
| Walks | 116 | 836 |
| Strikeouts | 218 | 155 |
| Stolen Bases | 20 | 436 |
| Batting Avg | .215 | .334 |
| On-Base % | .272 | .466 |
| Slugging % | .271 | .410 |
| OPS | .543 | .876 |
PIV Comparison
By PIV (Player Impact Value), John McGraw outpaces Christy Mathewson 22,730 to -3,882 — a gap driven primarily by per-season impact (1,263 vs -216 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).
Christy Mathewson — top 0 seasons by OPS
John McGraw — top 3 seasons by OPS
Verdict
On the head-to-head card, John McGraw leads in hits, home runs, RBI, and runs, while Christy Mathewson owns no headline categories. That doesn't settle the era debate, but on the raw scoreboard the edge goes to John McGraw. PIV agrees: John McGraw grades out higher across their careers. Click through to each profile for the full season-by-season breakdown.