Willie Mays vs Christian Yelich: Career Stats Comparison
Willie Mays (1951–1973) and Christian Yelich (2013–present) — they broke in during the 1950s and the 2010s respectively, which makes the side-by-side worth doing carefully. Willie Mays finished with 3,293 hits and 660 home runs; Christian Yelich finished with 1,741 hits and 233 home runs. Below is the full career table, PIV adjustment, peak seasons, and a verdict.
Willie Mays
Christian Yelich
Career Stats Side-by-Side
Every cell below is a career total or career rate for Willie Mays and Christian Yelich. Cells highlighted in green mark the category leader. Counting stats reward longevity; the rate stats at the bottom are era-agnostic.
| Statistic | Willie Mays | Christian Yelich |
|---|---|---|
| Games | 3,005 | 1,616 |
| At-Bats | 10,924 | 6,108 |
| Runs | 2,068 | 1,033 |
| Hits | 3,293 | 1,741 |
| Doubles | 525 | 327 |
| Triples | 141 | 35 |
| Home Runs | 660 | 233 |
| RBI | 1,909 | 851 |
| Walks | 1,468 | 834 |
| Strikeouts | 1,526 | 1,548 |
| Stolen Bases | 339 | 221 |
| Batting Avg | .301 | .285 |
| On-Base % | .384 | .374 |
| Slugging % | .557 | .464 |
| OPS | .940 | .839 |
PIV Comparison
By PIV (Player Impact Value), Willie Mays outpaces Christian Yelich 74,062 to 20,940 — a gap driven primarily by per-season impact (3,086 vs 1,611 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
Christian Yelich — top 3 seasons by OPS
Verdict
On the head-to-head card, Willie Mays leads in hits, home runs, RBI, and runs, while Christian Yelich 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.