Stan Musial vs Ted Williams: Career Stats Comparison

Stan Musial (1941–1963) and Ted Williams (1939–1960) — they broke in during the 1940s and the 1930s respectively, which makes the side-by-side worth doing carefully. Stan Musial finished with 3,630 hits and 475 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.

Stan Musial

Hitter · 1941–1963
Games
3,026
Hits
3,630
Home Runs
475
RBI
1,951
Avg
.331
OPS
.976
View Stan Musial's full profile →

Ted Williams

Hitter · 1939–1960
Games
2,292
Hits
2,654
Home Runs
521
RBI
1,839
Avg
.344
OPS
1.116
View Ted Williams's full profile →

Career Stats Side-by-Side

Every cell below is a career total or career rate for Stan Musial 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 Stan Musial Ted Williams
Games 3,026 2,292
At-Bats 10,972 7,706
Runs 1,949 1,798
Hits 3,630 2,654
Doubles 725 525
Triples 177 71
Home Runs 475 521
RBI 1,951 1,839
Walks 1,599 2,021
Strikeouts 696 709
Stolen Bases 78 24
Batting Avg .331 .344
On-Base % .417 .482
Slugging % .559 .634
OPS .976 1.116

PIV Comparison

By PIV (Player Impact Value), Ted Williams leads Stan Musial 96,302 to 83,624 — a gap driven primarily by per-season impact (5,069 vs 3,801 per year). PIV adjusts each season to league baselines, so it's the cleanest way to compare careers across eras.

Stan Musial
83,624
Career PIV · 3,801 per season (22 seasons)
Ted Williams
96,302
Career PIV · 5,069 per season (19 seasons)

How PIV is calculated →

Peak Seasons

The best single seasons each player produced, ranked by OPS among qualified workloads (300+ at-bats).

Stan Musial — top 3 seasons by OPS

19481.152 OPS39 HR, 131 RBI, .376 avg
19511.063 OPS32 HR, 108 RBI, .355 avg
19491.062 OPS36 HR, 123 RBI, .338 avg

Ted Williams — top 3 seasons by OPS

19411.287 OPS37 HR, 120 RBI, .406 avg
19571.257 OPS38 HR, 87 RBI, .388 avg
19551.200 OPS28 HR, 83 RBI, .356 avg

Verdict

On the head-to-head card, Ted Williams leads in home runs, batting average, OBP, and OPS, while Stan Musial owns hits, RBI, and runs. That doesn't settle the era debate, but on the raw scoreboard the edge goes to Ted Williams. PIV agrees: Ted Williams grades out higher across their careers. Click through to each profile for the full season-by-season breakdown.

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