John Ward vs George Wright: Career Stats Comparison

John Ward (1878–1894) and George Wright (1871–1882) — both broke in during the 1870s, which makes the head-to-head feel like a contemporaries' debate. John Ward finished with 2,107 hits and 26 home runs; George Wright finished with 866 hits and 11 home runs. Below is the full career table, PIV adjustment, peak seasons, and a verdict.

John Ward

Hitter · 1878–1894
Games
1,827
Hits
2,107
Home Runs
26
RBI
869
Avg
.275
OPS
.655
View John Ward's full profile →

George Wright

Hitter · 1871–1882
Games
591
Hits
866
Home Runs
11
RBI
326
Avg
.301
OPS
.715
View George Wright's full profile →

Career Stats Side-by-Side

Every cell below is a career total or career rate for John Ward and George Wright. Cells highlighted in green mark the category leader. Counting stats reward longevity; the rate stats at the bottom are era-agnostic.

Statistic John Ward George Wright
Games 1,827 591
At-Bats 7,656 2,873
Runs 1,410 665
Hits 2,107 866
Doubles 231 124
Triples 96 60
Home Runs 26 11
RBI 869 326
Walks 421 68
Strikeouts 326 119
Stolen Bases 540 47
Batting Avg .275 .301
On-Base % .314 .318
Slugging % .341 .398
OPS .655 .715

PIV Comparison

By PIV (Player Impact Value), George Wright outpaces John Ward 7,222 to 68 — a gap driven primarily by per-season impact (602 vs 4 per year). PIV adjusts each season to league baselines, so it's the cleanest way to compare careers across eras.

John Ward
68
Career PIV · 4 per season (17 seasons)
George Wright
7,222
Career PIV · 602 per season (12 seasons)

How PIV is calculated →

Peak Seasons

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

John Ward — top 3 seasons by OPS

1890.819 OPS4 HR, 60 RBI, .335 avg
1893.794 OPS2 HR, 77 RBI, .328 avg
1887.766 OPS1 HR, 53 RBI, .338 avg

George Wright — top 3 seasons by OPS

1873.914 OPS3 HR, 43 RBI, .387 avg
1874.816 OPS2 HR, 44 RBI, .329 avg
1875.768 OPS2 HR, 61 RBI, .333 avg

Verdict

On the head-to-head card, John Ward leads in hits, home runs, RBI, and runs, while George Wright owns batting average, OBP, and OPS. That doesn't settle the era debate, but on the raw scoreboard the edge goes to John Ward. Note that PIV actually grades George Wright ahead, which means John Ward's edge is partly volume. Click through to each profile for the full season-by-season breakdown.

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