Mickey Mantle vs Willie Mays

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Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays compared on their MLB careers: Mickey Mantle played 18 seasons, 1951 to 1968, Willie Mays 22 seasons, 1951 to 1973. Mickey Mantle has .298 batting average to Willie Mays's .302. Mickey Mantle won 7 titles, Willie Mays won 1 title.

Who has the better career numbers?

Willie Mays leads in 6 of the 8 lines, Mickey Mantle in 2. Bold marks the better figure; playing time — games, minutes, at-bats, innings — is not scored.

Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays career totals

2,401	GP	2,992
8,102	AB	10,881
1,677	R	2,062, better
2,415	H	3,283, better
536	HR	660, better
1,509	RBI	1,903, better
153	SB	338, better
0.3	AVG	0.3, better
0.4, better	OBP	0.4
0.6	SLG	0.6
1.0, better	OPS	0.9

How do they compare in the postseason?

Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays postseason

65	GP	25
230	AB	89
42, better	R	12
59, better	H	22
18, better	HR	1
40, better	RBI	10
3	SB	3
0.3, better	AVG	0.2
0.4, better	OBP	0.3
0.5, better	SLG	0.3
0.9, better	OPS	0.7

Where each stands all time

Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays all-time places

18th (536)	Home runs	6th (660), better
123rd (2,415)	Hits	12th (3,283), better
47th (1,509)	RBI	10th (1,903), better
—	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

Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays titles and awards

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

Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays season by season

1st	1951	.267	13	65	1951	.274, better	20, better	68, better
2nd	1952	.311, better	23, better	87, better	1952	.236	4	23
3rd	1953	.295	21	92	1954	.345, better	41, better	110, better
4th	1954	.300	27	102	1955	.319, better	51, better	127, better
5th	1955	.306, better	37, better	99, better	1956	.296	36	84
6th	1956	.353, better	52, better	130, better	1957	.333	35	97
7th	1957	.365, better	34, better	94	1958	.347	29	96, better
8th	1958	.304	42, better	97	1959	.313, better	34	104, better
9th	1959	.285	31, better	75	1960	.319, better	29	103, better
10th	1960	.275	40	94	1961	.308, better	40	123, better
11th	1961	.317, better	54, better	128	1962	.304	49	141, better
12th	1962	.321, better	30	89	1963	.314	38, better	103, better
13th	1963	.314, better	15	35	1964	.296	47, better	111, better
14th	1964	.303	35	111	1965	.317, better	52, better	112, better
15th	1965	.255	19	46	1966	.288, better	37, better	103, better
16th	1966	.288, better	23, better	56	1967	.263	22	70, better
17th	1967	.245	22	55	1968	.289, better	23, better	79, better
18th	1968	.237	18, better	54	1969	.283, better	13	58, better
19th	—	—	—	—	1970	.291	28	83
20th	—	—	—	—	1971	.271	18	61
21st	—	—	—	—	1972	.250	8	22
22nd	—	—	—	—	1973	.211	6	25

What the columns mean: AVG · HR · RBI