Willie Mays played 23 seasons (1948–1973) for Birmingham Black Barons, SF and NYM. Career regular-season line: 3,293 hits, 660 home runs and a .301 average. Early Bloomer career, peaking in 1955. Led the league in a statistical category 7 times. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979. Honors: 20× All-Star Selections and 12× Gold Gloves.
Fan Rating
Rate Willie Mays — All-Time
Sport-specific career totals from the active profile tables, with VAL shown whenever the sport has a value file.
22 seasons · peak 23.1 in 1955 · league-best seasons: 1955, 1958, 1964, 1965
VAL (Value Above League) measures each MLB season against that season's league; the dashed line is zero — a season that added nothing above the league's fringe. ● peak · ○ league-best season.
125.8 career wins over 22 seasons · 1 win = 2.61 VAL
Best season · 1955 · +8.8 wins
Latest season · 1973 · +0.2 wins
VAL 3.0 measures each part of a MLB player's game in his sport's own currency against what that season's fringe players produced, converted to team wins with rates fitted from every team-season in the encyclopedia.
How often Willie Mays led or placed top-ten on a MLB season board, and the shape of the career — computed from the same per-season boards the year pages publish, so every number is checkable.
Black ink
7
league-leading seasons · 47 top-ten finishes
Career arc
Early Bloomer
Peaked in the first third of their career — came in fast and hot. Peak 1955, 22 rated seasons.
Season boards
47
top-ten finishes across the MLB season boards
Where Willie Mays ranks on StatVault's all-time league-relative boards (park-unadjusted; 100 = league average that season).
The season chip above measures Willie Mays's single best year. This measures the whole career: every rated season's standing against its own era's peers, summed. A season at the era median adds nothing and a below-median season subtracts — so this number is time spent above your era, not time served.
Swipe sideways for the full stat line →
Career boards only, within MLB
+ 1 more career board inside the all-time top 100.
On the MLB Career Dominance board — top-25 in more than one all-time category at once.
Cross-sport prominence: 100.0th percentile among MLB careers — a within-sport percentile, because career value is not comparable across sports.
Franchise face
Historical franchise
No continuous modern successor — attributed to the franchise itself, never folded into a modern club.
Explore baseball's lost clubs →MLB Advanced — ERA+ & OPS+ LeadersMLB Age Milestones — Youngest to 1,000 Hits, 100 HR, 100 Wins and 1,000 KMLB Breakout Seasons — Biggest Career-High LeapsMLB Career Arc TypesMLB Career Dominance — top-25 in multiple all-time categoriesMLB Clutch Delta — Who Rises in OctoberMLB Compilers vs Comets — Career ShapeMLB Consistency Index — Mr. Reliable vs Boom-BustMLB Era-Adjusted Careers — Greatest Careers on One ScaleMLB Era-Adjusted Seasons — Greatest Seasons in Modern TermsMLB Franchise Mt. Rushmores — Four Faces of Every TeamMLB Greatest Single Seasons by VAL (Hitters and Pitchers)MLB Hall of Very Good — Great Careers on Cooperstown's DoorstepMLB JourneymenMLB League Leader Marks — Most League-Leading SeasonsMLB LoyaltyMLB Only Club — Statistical ExclusivityMLB Rarest Seasons — Statistical RarityMLB Statistical Snubs — Eligible Careers Cooperstown Has Not TakenMLB VAL Leaders — Value Above LeagueWho Was the Best MLB Player Each Year?Career Twins — Equally Dominant Careers Across Different SportsCross-Sport Era-Adjusted Careers — The Greatest Careers, One AxisCross-Sport Era-Adjusted Seasons — The Greatest Years, One Axis
Players whose careers had the same shape — total value, peak, best three-season stretch, length and when the value came — measured with VAL against their own leagues.
Bio, rosters, and year-by-year/career stat splits come directly from MLB's own official public StatsAPI.