Willie Mays vs Ted Williams: Career Stats Comparison
Willie Mays (1951–1973) and Ted Williams (1939–1960) — they broke in during the 1950s and the 1930s respectively, which makes the side-by-side worth doing carefully. Willie Mays finished with 3,293 hits and 660 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.
Willie Mays
Ted Williams
Career Stats Side-by-Side
Every cell below is a career total or career rate for Willie Mays 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 | Willie Mays | Ted Williams |
|---|---|---|
| Games | 3,005 | 2,292 |
| At-Bats | 10,924 | 7,706 |
| Runs | 2,068 | 1,798 |
| Hits | 3,293 | 2,654 |
| Doubles | 525 | 525 |
| Triples | 141 | 71 |
| Home Runs | 660 | 521 |
| RBI | 1,909 | 1,839 |
| Walks | 1,468 | 2,021 |
| Strikeouts | 1,526 | 709 |
| Stolen Bases | 339 | 24 |
| Batting Avg | .301 | .344 |
| On-Base % | .384 | .482 |
| Slugging % | .557 | .634 |
| OPS | .940 | 1.116 |
PIV Comparison
By PIV (Player Impact Value), Ted Williams leads Willie Mays 96,302 to 74,062 — a gap driven primarily by per-season impact (5,069 vs 3,086 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
Ted Williams — top 3 seasons by OPS
Verdict
On the head-to-head card, Willie Mays leads in hits, home runs, RBI, and runs, while Ted Williams owns batting average, OBP, and OPS. That doesn't settle the era debate, but on the raw scoreboard the edge goes to Willie Mays. Note that PIV actually grades Ted Williams ahead, which means Willie Mays's edge is partly volume. Click through to each profile for the full season-by-season breakdown.