Matt Williams

Third Baseman · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1987-2003)

Matt Williams was a third baseman who played in Major League Baseball from 1987 to 2003 for the San Francisco Giants, the Cleveland Guardians, and the Arizona Diamondbacks, a span of 17 seasons. In 1,866 career games, he hit .268 with 1,878 hits, 378 home runs, and 1,218 RBI. Matt Williams was a 5-time All-Star, a 4-time Gold Glove, and a 4-time Silver Slugger. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 9,982.

AVG (Batting Average):
Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):
Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):
Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated

AVG .268
HR 378
RBI 1,218
H 1,878
OPS .805
PIV 9,982
Position
Third Baseman
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'2" / 205 lb
Born
11/28/1965 in Bishop, CA, USA
MLB Debut
1987-04-11
Last Game
2003-05-31
Awards
5× All-Star · 4× Gold Glove · 4× Silver Slugger

Full name: Matthew Derrick Williams

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Career Batting Statistics

Matt Williams — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,866 7,000 997 1,878 338 35 378 1,218 53 469 1,363 .268 .317 .489 .805 9,982

Career AVG .268 vs. league average .263 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .317 vs. league average .332 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .489 vs. league average .410 across their career seasons — +19.0% above league average.

Career OPS .805 vs. league average .743 across their career seasons — +8.4% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Matt Williams (b. 1965) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1987 SFN NL 84 245 28 46 9 2 8 21 4 16 68 .188 .262 (-29%) .331 (-28%) .415 (-18%) .746 (-23%) -963.6
1988 SFN NL 52 156 17 32 6 1 8 19 0 8 41 .205 .254 (-19%) .317 (-21%) .377 (+9%) .695 (-5%) -173.6
1989 SFN NL 84 292 31 59 18 1 18 50 1 14 72 .202 .254 (-20%) .319 (-24%) .375 (+21%) .694 (avg) -148.3
1990 SFN NL 159 617 87 171 27 2 33 122 7 33 138 .277 .257 (+7%) .324 (-2%) .385 (+27%) .710 (+14%) 1460.3
1991 SFN NL 157 589 72 158 24 5 34 98 5 33 128 .268 .255 (+5%) .323 (-4%) .384 (+30%) .708 (+14%) 1387.4
1992 SFN NL 146 529 58 120 13 5 20 66 7 39 109 .227 .255 (-11%) .322 (-11%) .377 (+2%) .699 (-4%) -417.9
1993 SFN NL 145 579 105 170 33 4 38 110 1 27 80 .294 .265 (+11%) .332 (-2%) .403 (+39%) .735 (+20%) 2032.9
1994 SFN NL 112 445 74 119 16 3 43 96 1 33 87 .267 .269 (-1%) .338 (-6%) .424 (+43%) .763 (+21%) 1673.2
1995 SFN NL 76 283 53 95 17 1 23 65 2 30 58 .336 .266 (+26%) .337 (+18%) .417 (+55%) .755 (+39%) 2009.3
1996 SFN NL 105 404 69 122 16 1 22 85 1 39 91 .302 .269 (+12%) .340 (+8%) .426 (+20%) .767 (+14%) 1149.1
1997 CLE AL 151 596 86 157 32 3 32 105 12 34 108 .263 .266 (-1%) .336 (-9%) .419 (+16%) .756 (+5%) 421.4
1998 ARI NL 135 510 72 136 26 1 20 71 5 43 102 .267 .266 (avg) .335 (-3%) .420 (+5%) .755 (+1%) 124.8
1999 ARI NL 154 627 98 190 37 2 35 142 2 41 93 .303 .271 (+12%) .344 (avg) .433 (+24%) .778 (+13%) 1521.2
2000 ARI NL 96 371 43 102 18 2 12 47 1 20 51 .275 .270 (+2%) .344 (-9%) .437 (-1%) .782 (-5%) -360.2
2001 ARI NL 106 408 58 112 30 0 16 65 1 22 70 .275 .263 (+4%) .332 (-5%) .426 (+9%) .758 (+3%) 111.4
2002 ARI NL 60 215 29 56 7 2 12 40 3 21 41 .260 .261 (avg) .331 (-2%) .416 (+15%) .747 (+7%) 242.6
2003 ARI NL 44 134 17 33 9 0 4 16 0 16 26 .246 .264 (-7%) .332 (-2%) .422 (-5%) .754 (-3%) -88.0
Career · 17 seasons 1,866 7,000 997 1,878 338 35 378 1,218 53 469 1,363 .268 — — — — 9,982

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Matt Williams — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
51 190 23 47 9 0 6 27 19 41 .247

Playoff Batting by Year

Matt Williams — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
2002 NLDS2 ARI 3 12 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 .083
2001 NLCS ARI 5 18 1 5 1 0 0 2 2 3 .278
2001 NLDS2 ARI 5 16 0 1 1 0 0 0 4 4 .062
2001 WS ARI 7 26 3 7 2 0 1 7 0 6 .269
1999 NLDS2 ARI 4 16 3 6 1 0 0 0 0 1 .375
1997 ALCS CLE 6 23 1 5 1 0 0 2 3 7 .217
1997 ALDS1 CLE 5 17 4 4 1 0 1 3 3 3 .235
1997 WS CLE 7 26 8 10 1 0 1 3 7 6 .385
1989 NLCS SFN 5 20 2 6 1 0 2 9 0 2 .300
1989 WS SFN 4 16 1 2 0 0 1 1 0 6 .125

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1866 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Matt Williams — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home9313442486921184585.268
Away9353558511957194633.269

Last 10 Games — Batting

Matt Williams — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
2003-05-31 AZSDPL 111100100
2003-05-28 AZSFGL 200000010
2003-05-27 AZSFGL 202100100
2003-05-25 AZSDPW 311000011
2003-05-24 AZSDPL 300000001
2003-05-23 AZSDPW 401000000
2003-05-20 AZSFGL 402000000
2003-05-19 AZSFGW 502000002
2003-05-18 AZPITW 400000100
2003-05-16 AZPITL 500000002

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Matt Williams — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 13 12 90 12 1 10
3B 1743 1680 1293 3376 177 315
SS 121 90 142 284 13 61

Season-by-Season Fielding

Matt Williams — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1987 SFN 3B 17 10 6 24 1 3
1987 SFN SS 70 63 104 210 8 49
1988 SFN 3B 43 33 35 83 4 5
1988 SFN SS 14 10 13 25 3 4
1989 SFN 3B 73 62 71 126 8 10
1989 SFN SS 30 14 19 42 2 5
1990 SFN 3B 159 157 140 306 19 33
1991 SFN 3B 155 152 131 293 16 30
1991 SFN SS 4 1 3 2 0 2
1992 SFN 3B 144 140 105 289 23 33
1993 SFN 3B 144 143 117 266 12 34
1994 SFN 3B 110 110 79 235 12 22
1995 SFN 3B 74 74 49 178 10 10
1996 SFN 1B 13 12 90 12 1 10
1996 SFN 3B 92 90 74 179 13 18
1996 SFN SS 1 0 0 0 0 0
1997 CLE 3B 151 148 89 301 12 21
1998 ARI 3B 134 129 99 282 11 18
1999 ARI 3B 153 151 123 299 10 30
2000 ARI 3B 94 93 68 172 9 19
2001 ARI 3B 102 99 57 177 9 17
2001 ARI SS 2 2 3 5 0 1
2002 ARI 3B 56 54 29 94 4 7
2003 ARI 3B 42 35 21 72 4 5

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Matt Williams (b. 1965) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
First Base 13
Third Base 1742
Shortstop 121
Designated Hitter 1

Awards & Honors

Matt Williams — Awards & Honors
Year Award Notes
1999 Player of the Month April
1999 Player of the Week Week of 1999-04-24
1999 Player of the Week Week of 1999-06-12
1997 Gold Glove 3B
1997 Silver Slugger 3B
1997 TSN All-Star 3B
1995 Player of the Month May
1994 Gold Glove 3B
1994 Player of the Week Week of 1994-07-30
1994 Silver Slugger 3B
1994 TSN All-Star 3B
1993 Gold Glove 3B
1993 Silver Slugger 3B
1993 TSN All-Star 3B
1991 Gold Glove 3B
1990 Silver Slugger 3B
1990 TSN All-Star 3B

Salary History

Matt Williams — Salary History
Year Team League Salary
2003 ARI NL $10,000,000
2002 ARI NL $9,500,000
2001 ARI NL $9,000,000
2000 ARI NL $8,500,000
1999 ARI NL $8,100,000
1998 ARI NL $4,800,000
1997 CLE AL $7,150,000
1996 SFN NL $6,600,000
1995 SFN NL $5,850,000
1994 SFN NL $4,200,000
1993 SFN NL $2,275,000
1992 SFN NL $2,000,000
1991 SFN NL $600,000
1990 SFN NL $190,000
1989 SFN NL $95,000
Total Career Earnings $78,860,000

College History

Matt Williams — College History
School Name City State Years Attended
University of Nevada-Las Vegas Las Vegas NV 1984, 1985, 1986

Award Voting History

Matt Williams — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1999 Most Valuable Player NL 3rd 269.0 448 2
1994 Most Valuable Player NL 2nd 281.0 392 0
1993 Most Valuable Player NL 6th 103.0 392 0
1990 Most Valuable Player NL 6th 95.0 336 0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Matt Williams (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Lee May
    .267 avg, 354 HR
  2. 95
    Vinny Castilla
    .276 avg, 320 HR
  3. 87
    Joe Adcock
    .277 avg, 336 HR
  4. 86
    Manny Machado
    .274 avg, 399 HR
  5. 85
    Evan Longoria
    .264 avg, 342 HR
  6. 81
    Nolan Arenado
    .280 avg, 383 HR

Compare Matt Williams

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Williams's closest peers by position and era.

vs Chipper Jones
vs George Brett
vs Wade Boggs
vs Will Clark
vs Luis Gonzalez
vs Adrian Beltre

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

Matt Williams: the record in brief

According to the bio, Matt Williams debuted on April 11, 1987 and played a final game on May 31, 2003. Williams played for the San Francisco Giants (1987 through 1996), the Cleveland Indians (1997), and the Arizona Diamondbacks (1998 through 2003). Listed as a third baseman, Williams batted and threw right-handed. The recorded size is 205 pounds on a 6-foot-2 frame. The birth record reads November 28, 1965, in Bishop, CA, USA. Matt Williams was the playing name; the full given name is Matthew Derrick.

Williams collected 1,878 hits in 7,000 at bats across 1,866 games, good for a .268 batting average, plus 378 home runs, 1,218 runs batted in, and 53 stolen bases. Williams got on base at a .317 rate and slugged .489 (.805 OPS). The .268 career average is close to the .263 the league hit across the same seasons. By OPS the gap is 8.4% above league average (.805 against .743). The home run peak was 43 in 1994 with the San Francisco Giants.

Frequently Asked Questions about Matt Williams

What years did Matt Williams play?
Matt Williams played in Major League Baseball from 1987 to 2003.
Was Matt Williams a pitcher?
No. Matt Williams was a position player (Third Baseman).
How many home runs did Matt Williams hit?
Matt Williams hit 378 career home runs with 1878 hits.
What was Matt Williams's career batting average?
Matt Williams batted .268 over his career, with 1,878 hits in 7,000 at bats.
How many RBI did Matt Williams have?
Matt Williams drove in 1,218 runs in his career.
Is Matt Williams in the Hall of Fame?
No. Matt Williams has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.