Ever since 1951, baseball fans have been asking the question, “Who’s the better all around baseball player – Willie Mays or Mickey Mantle?
Looking at the statistics below makes it difficult for anyone to draw a quick conclusion as both players were fairly evenly matched. Both were gifted players who dominated their respective leagues for many years.
Willie Mays played 22 seasons while, due to injuries, Mickey Mantle played 18. Thus, Willie definitely compiled higher career numbers with the additional 4 seasons. In order to try to create an apples-apples perspective on the stats, we’ve calculated the season high for each player in each category. We’ve also calculated the season average for each player in each category.
Who was the best? YOU be the judge. Feel free to comment with your choice and the reasoning behind your choice.
Thanks,
The Mantle Family
Career Achievemets
| Achievement | Mickey Mantle | Willie Mays |
|---|---|---|
| Rookie of the Year Awards | 0 | 1 |
| Triple Crown Awards | 1 | 0 |
| MVP Awards | 3 | 2 |
| Player of the Year Awards | 1 | 1 |
| World Series | 12 | 4 |
| All-Star Appearances | 20 | 24 |
| Gold Glove Awards | 1 | 12 |
| #Years with .300+ Batting Avg | 10 | 10 |
| #Years League Batting Leader | 1 | 1 |
| #Years League Home Run Leader | 4 | 4 |
| #Years League RBI Leader | 1 | 0 |
| #Years League On Base Percentage Leader | 3 | 2 |
| #Years League Slugging Percentage Leader | 4 | 5 |
| #Years League On Base + Slugging (OPS) Leader | 6 | 5 |
| At Bats Per Home Run | 15.1 | 16.5 |
| Career Fielding Average | .985 | .981 |
Comparisons
Statistics from www.baseball-reference.com| Career | Best | Season | Season | High | Season | Average | World | Series | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mantle | Mays | Mantle | Mays | Mantle | Mays | Mantle | Mays | Mantle | Mays | |
| Seasons | 18 | 22 | 1956 | 1954 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 12 | 4 |
| G | 2401 | 2992 | 150 | 151 | 153 | 162 | 133 | 136 | 65 | 20 |
| AB | 8102 | 10881 | 533 | 565 | 549 | 621 | 450 | 495 | 230 | 71 |
| R | 1677 | 2062 | 132 | 119 | 132 | 130 | 93 | 94 | 42 | 9 |
| H | 2415 | 3283 | 188 | 195 | 188 | 208 | 134 | 149 | 59 | 17 |
| 2B | 344 | 523 | 22 | 33 | 37 | 43 | 19 | 24 | 6 | 3 |
| 3B | 72 | 140 | 5 | 13 | 12 | 20 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| HR | 536 | 660 | 52 | 41 | 54 | 52 | 30 | 30 | 18 | 0 |
| RBI | 1509 | 1903 | 130 | 110 | 130 | 141 | 84 | 87 | 40 | 6 |
| SB | 153 | 338 | 10 | 8 | 21 | 40 | 9 | 15 | 3 | 2 |
| CS | 38 | 103 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 19 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| BB | 1733 | 1464 | 112 | 66 | 146 | 112 | 96 | 67 | 43 | 7 |
| SO | 1710 | 1526 | 99 | 57 | 126 | 123 | 95 | 69 | 54 | 9 |
| BA | 0.298 | 0.302 | 0.353 | 0.345 | 0.365 | 0.347 | 0.298 | 0.302 | 0.257 | 0.239 |
| OBP | 0.421 | 0.384 | 0.464 | 0.411 | 0.512 | 0.425 | 0.421 | 0.384 | 0.374 | 0.302 |
| SLG | 0.557 | 0.557 | 0.705 | 0.667 | 0.705 | 0.667 | 0.557 | 0.557 | 0.535 | 0.282 |
| OPS | 0.977 | 0.941 | 1.169 | 1.078 | 1.177 | 1.078 | 0.977 | 0.941 | 0.908 | 0.589 |
| OPS+ | 172 | 156 | 210 | 175 | 222 | 184 | 172 | 156 | n/a | n/a |
| TB | 4511 | 6066 | 376 | 377 | 376 | 382 | 251 | 276 | 123 | 20 |
| IBB | 126 | 192 | 6 | 0 | 23 | 20 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 0 |
How well would Willie have played on one leg?
Mickey won 3 mvp’s, he also finished 2nd 3x’s in the voting & 3rd 3x’s. In 1961 Maris didn’t receive one intentional walk with the Mick hitting behind him. Willie had Cepeda & McCovey hitting behind him.
Mickey’s greatest moment was his last news conference where he owned up to his life style. That’s what topped it off for me that he was still my hero, as he was when I was growing up in NYC. The greatest and most feared hitter I’ve ever seen.
Mickeys best 7 year stretch was 1955-1961.
His Avg per 162 games from 1955-1961:
.314 BA .441 OBP .618 SLG 1.059 OPS
45 HR 112 RBI 122 R 119 BB 14 SB 2 CS
Mays best 7 year stretch is debatable but if you take 1954-1960 Mays averaged per 162 games: .325 BA .396 OBP .604 SLG 1.000 OPS
39 HR 110 RBI 123 R 75 BB 28 SB 8 CS.
Mays 1960-66 162 game average
.307 BA .384 OBP 592 SLG .976 OPS
42 HR 114 RBI 117 R 73 BB 15 SB 5 CS
Mickey had better OBP, SLG and OPS either way, more walks more HR and was a better base stealer. Better BA if you take younger Mays
Casey Stengel said it best. He said Mickey had more speed than any slugger he ever saw and more slug than any speedster he ever saw.
There was no other player who, every time he came to the plate, was just as likely to hit the ball out of the park as he was to bunt for a base hit. And that was after the knee injury in 1951 and all the other injuries.