Willie Mays vs Gaylord Perry: Career Stats Comparison
Willie Mays (1951–1973) and Gaylord Perry (1962–1983) — they broke in during the 1950s and the 1960s respectively, which makes the side-by-side worth doing carefully. Willie Mays finished with 3,293 hits and 660 home runs; Gaylord Perry finished with 141 hits and 6 home runs. Below is the full career table, PIV adjustment, peak seasons, and a verdict.
Willie Mays
Career Stats Side-by-Side
Every cell below is a career total or career rate for Willie Mays and Gaylord Perry. Cells highlighted in green mark the category leader. Counting stats reward longevity; the rate stats at the bottom are era-agnostic.
| Statistic | Willie Mays | Gaylord Perry |
|---|---|---|
| Games | 3,005 | 787 |
| At-Bats | 10,924 | 1,076 |
| Runs | 2,068 | 48 |
| Hits | 3,293 | 141 |
| Doubles | 525 | 17 |
| Triples | 141 | 0 |
| Home Runs | 660 | 6 |
| RBI | 1,909 | 47 |
| Walks | 1,468 | 22 |
| Strikeouts | 1,526 | 369 |
| Stolen Bases | 339 | 0 |
| Batting Avg | .301 | .131 |
| On-Base % | .384 | .153 |
| Slugging % | .557 | .164 |
| OPS | .940 | .316 |
PIV Comparison
By PIV (Player Impact Value), Willie Mays outpaces Gaylord Perry 74,062 to -8,631 — a gap driven primarily by per-season impact (3,086 vs -345 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).
Willie Mays — top 3 seasons by OPS
Gaylord Perry — top 0 seasons by OPS
Verdict
On the head-to-head card, Willie Mays leads in hits, home runs, RBI, and runs, while Gaylord Perry owns no headline categories. That doesn't settle the era debate, but on the raw scoreboard the edge goes to Willie Mays. PIV agrees: Willie Mays grades out higher across their careers. Click through to each profile for the full season-by-season breakdown.