Babe Ruth vs Willie Mays

7of 9 lines

2of 9 lines

Babe Ruth and Willie Mays compared on their MLB careers: Babe Ruth played 22 seasons, 1914 to 1935, Willie Mays 22 seasons, 1951 to 1973. Babe Ruth has .342 batting average to Willie Mays's .302. Babe Ruth won 7 titles, Willie Mays won 1 title.

Who has the better career numbers?

Babe Ruth leads in 7 of the 9 lines, Willie Mays in 2. Bold marks the better figure; playing time — games, minutes, at-bats, innings — is not scored.

Babe Ruth and Willie Mays career totals

2,503	GP	2,992
8,399	AB	10,881
2,174, better	R	2,062
2,873	H	3,283, better
714, better	HR	660
1,983, better	RBI	1,903
123	SB	338, better
0.3, better	AVG	0.3
0.5, better	OBP	0.4
0.7, better	SLG	0.6
1.2, better	OPS	0.9

How do they compare in the postseason?

Babe Ruth and Willie Mays postseason

41	GP	25
129	AB	89
37, better	R	12
42, better	H	22
15, better	HR	1
30, better	RBI	10
4, better	SB	3
0.3, better	AVG	0.2
0.5, better	OBP	0.3
0.7, better	SLG	0.3
1.2, better	OPS	0.7

Where each stands all time

Babe Ruth and Willie Mays all-time places

3rd (714), better	Home runs	6th (660)
45th (2,873)	Hits	12th (3,283), better
6th (1,983), better	RBI	10th (1,903)
—	Stolen bases	122nd (338), better

Among the MLB players with a career line on file, regular season, counting stats only — the same lists the records pages run on.

Titles and awards

Babe Ruth and Willie Mays titles and awards

7, better	Championships	1
—	NL Rookie of the Year	1, better
—	NL MVP	2, better
—	AL Gold Glove	1, better
—	NL Gold Glove	12, better

Awards come from the league’s published winner lists; a championship counts a season played for the club that won it.

Season by season

Lined up by career year, not by calendar: each row is the players’ nth season.

Babe Ruth and Willie Mays season by season

1st	1914	.200	0	0	1951	.274, better	20, better	68, better
2nd	1915	.315, better	4	0	1952	.236	4	23, better
3rd	1916	.272	3	0	1954	.345, better	41, better	110, better
4th	1917	.325, better	2	0	1955	.319	51, better	127, better
5th	1918	.300, better	11	0	1956	.296	36, better	84, better
6th	1919	.322	29	0	1957	.333, better	35, better	97, better
7th	1920	.376, better	54, better	137, better	1958	.347	29	96
8th	1921	.378, better	59, better	171, better	1959	.313	34	104
9th	1922	.315	35, better	99	1960	.319, better	29	103, better
10th	1923	.393, better	41, better	131, better	1961	.308	40	123
11th	1924	.378, better	46	121	1962	.304	49, better	141, better
12th	1925	.290	25	66	1963	.314, better	38, better	103, better
13th	1926	.372, better	47	146, better	1964	.296	47	111
14th	1927	.356, better	60, better	164, better	1965	.317	52	112
15th	1928	.323, better	54, better	142, better	1966	.288	37	103
16th	1929	.345, better	46, better	154, better	1967	.263	22	70
17th	1930	.359, better	49, better	153, better	1968	.289	23	79
18th	1931	.373, better	46, better	163, better	1969	.283	13	58
19th	1932	.341, better	41, better	137, better	1970	.291	28	83
20th	1933	.301, better	34, better	103, better	1971	.271	18	61
21st	1934	.288, better	22, better	84, better	1972	.250	8	22
22nd	1935	.181	6	12	1973	.211, better	6	25, better

What the columns mean: AVG · HR · RBI