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 |
