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After Pete Rose (4,256) and Ty Cobb (4,191), no players in MLB history have more career hits than Hank Aaron at #3 (3,771) and Stan Musial at #4 (3,630). With careers spanning well over 20 seasons apiece, Aaron and Musial accomplished it all during their playing days – 20+ All-Star selections each, MVP awards, batting titles, World Series championships, and a plethora of career hitting records. Interestingly, the younger Aaron viewed Musial as one of his baseball idols and the two later became lifelong friends; given their similar career statistics and accomplishments (with the exception of Aaron’s clear superiority in hitting home runs), it is a natural comparison to ask:
Who was better – Hank Aaron or Stan Musial?
The Beginning
Both Aaron and Musial grew up in large families and had a passion for baseball from a young age, first playing semi-pro ball before parlaying that into professional contracts as teenagers and making their respective major league debuts at 20.
Aaron grew up in Mobile, Alabama with his seven siblings (younger brother Tommie also played in the major leagues) and idolized Jackie Robinson as a youngster, eventually playing semi-pro baseball for the independent Negro League team the Mobile Black Bears. He later signed as a teenager with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League, spending three months with the team before both the New York Giants and Boston Braves came calling in 1952; though Aaron could have ended up in the same outfield as Willie Mays, he chose to sign with the Braves because they offered $50 more. After a couple of seasons in the minor leagues, Aaron joined the Braves for spring training in 1954 and went on to join the big league team for the entire season – in his rookie season (the Braves had moved to Milwaukee by then), he hit .280 with 13 home runs, 69 runs batted in, 58 runs scored, a .322 on-base percentage, and a .447 slugging percentage, good for a 104 OPS+ (which measures on-base percentage plus slugging vs. a league-wide average set at 100) and a fourth-place finish for Rookie of the Year.
Similarly, Musial was the fifth of six children growing up in Pennsylvania and spent his childhood playing baseball as well; he joined a semi-pro team at age 15 and also played for his high school team, where interestingly, he was teammates with Buddy Griffey, the father of Ken Griffey Sr. and grandfather of Ken Griffey Jr. Though he was offered a basketball scholarship by the University of Pittsburgh, Musial decided to pursue his dream of playing professional baseball and signed with the St. Louis Cardinals. Following three years of development in the minor leagues, he made his major league debut in September of 1941; in Musial’s first full season with the Cardinals in 1942, he hit .315 with 10 home runs, 72 runs batted in, 87 runs scored, a .397 on-base percentage, and a .490 slugging percentage (151 OPS+), finishing 12th for MVP.
Career Comparison
Over the course of two decades plus each, Aaron and Musial were consistently among the best players in baseball – not only were they perennial All-Stars and MVP candidates, but each player also retired with a number of baseball and NL records, many of which still stand to this day.
For much of his career, Aaron teamed up with third baseman Eddie Mathews to form one of the best one-two power punches in baseball history. In 1955, he hit .314 with 27 home runs, 106 runs batted in, 105 runs scored, a .366 on-base percentage, and a .540 slugging percentage, good for a 141 OPS+, to mark the first of 21 straight seasons as an All-Star and 25 All-Star Game appearances (MLB had an odd quirk from 1959 to 1962 where there were two All-Star Games per year). This was followed by a batting title in 1956 on the strength of a .328 batting average, 26 home runs, 92 runs batted in, 106 runs scored, a .365 on-base percentage, and a .558 slugging percentage (151 OPS+), good for a third-place MVP finish. Aaron soared to even greater heights in 1957 by winning NL MVP with a .322 batting average, a league-high 44 home runs, a career-high and league-best 132 runs batted in, a league-leading 118 runs scored, a .378 on-base percentage, and a .600 slugging percentage (166 OPS+).
During a dozen seasons in Milwaukee, Aaron was incredibly consistent – after his rookie year, he hit at least .290 (including .300+ 10x) with 20+ home runs, 85+ runs batted in, and 100+ runs scored each season with nine top-10 MVP finishes. In addition to winning three straight Gold Gloves from 1958-1960 (the only three of his career), he won another batting title in 1959 on the strength of a career-best .355 batting average and 223 hits with 39 home runs, 123 runs batted in, 116 runs scored, a .401 on-base percentage, and a .636 slugging percentage; he again finished third for MVP behind Chicago Cubs shortstop Ernie Banks and teammate Mathews, the last of four consecutive seasons with top-three MVP finishes. Four years later, in 1963, Aaron became only the third player in MLB history with a 30-30 season – .319 batting average, again the trifecta of leading the league in home runs (44), runs batted in (130), and runs scored (121), 31 stolen bases, a .391 on-base percentage, and a .586 slugging percentage (179+); once again, he finished third for MVP, with Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax taking home honors that year.
Though the Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966, Aaron did not miss a beat, hitting .279 with 44 home runs, 127 runs batted in (again leading the league in home runs and runs batted in), 117 runs scored, a .356 on-base percentage, and a .539 slugging percentage, good for a 142 OPS+ and an eighth-place MVP finish. For eight straight years in Atlanta, he bashed at least 25 home runs with 75+ runs batted in; though he never won another MVP award, Aaron registered four more top-10 finishes, including two top-three placings – notably:
- 1967: .307 batting average with 39 home runs, 109 runs batted in, 113 runs scored, a .369 on-base percentage, and .573 slugging percentage (168 OPS+); once again led the league in home runs and runs batted in, and finished fifth for MVP
- 1969: .300 batting average with 44 home runs, 97 runs batted in, 100 runs scored, a .396 on-base percentage, and a .607 slugging percentage (177 OPS+); finished third for MVP
- 1971: .327 with a career-high 47 home runs, 118 runs batted in, 95 runs scored, and career-highs of a .410 on-base percentage and .669 slugging percentage (194 OPS+) at age 37; again finished third for MVP
Following 34 and 40-home run seasons in 1972 and 1973, respectively, a 40-year old Aaron entered the 1974 season just one home run shy of tying Babe Ruth’s career record of 714 dingers; on April 7 vs. the Dodgers, Aaron hit career home run #715 to become baseball’s all-time leader (since surpassed by Barry Bonds). At the end of the season, he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for Roger Alexander and Dave May – in two seasons back in Milwaukee, Aaron broke Ruth’s all-time runs batted in record before retiring after the 1976 season at age 42, setting records not just for runs batted in, but also extra-base hits and total bases.
As for Musial, he would hit .300+ for 16 straight years; in just his second MLB season in 1943, the 22-year old Musial won NL MVP and a batting title by hitting .357 with 13 home runs, 81 runs batted in, 108 runs scored, a .425 on-base percentage, and a .562 slugging percentage, good for a 177 OPS+; he not only led the league in hits, doubles, triples (a career-high 20), on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, and total bases, but was also an All-Star for the first of 20 straight years and 24 straight games. After another strong season in 1944, he missed the 1945 season to join the US Navy for military service during World War II. Upon returning in 1946, Musial won another batting title and MVP: a .365 batting average with 16 home runs, 103 runs batted in, 124 runs scored, a .434 on-base percentage, and a .587 slugging percentage (183 OPS+), again leading the league in hits, doubles, triples, runs scored, slugging percentage, OPS, and total bases. Following a “down” year by his standards in 1947 (he hit “only” .312), Musial bounced back with a third batting title and MVP in 1948 and had arguably the best season of his career – he hit .376 with 39 home runs, 131 runs batted in, 135 runs scored, a .450 on-base percentage, and a .702 slugging percentage (200 OPS+) to set career-highs in nearly every offensive category.
While Musial never won another MVP award after 1948, his power stroke would improve and he remained an all-around stud – in four seasons from 1949 to 1952, he finished top-five for MVP each year with three straight second-place finishes and three consecutive batting titles:
- 1949: hit .338 with 36 home runs, 123 runs batted in, 128 runs scored, a .438 on-base percentage, and a .624 slugging percentage (177 OPS+); finished second for MVP to Jackie Robinson
- 1950: hit .346 with 28 home runs, 109 runs batted in, 105 runs scored, a .437 on-base percentage, and a .596 slugging percentage (164 OPS+); won fourth batting title and finished second for MVP to Jim Konstanty
- 1951: hit .355 with 32 home runs, 108 runs batted in, 124 runs scored, a .449 on-base percentage, and a .614 slugging percentage (183 OPS+); won fifth batting title and finished second for MVP to Roy Campabella
- 1952: hit .336 with 21 home runs, 91 runs batted in, 105 runs scored, a .432 on-base percentage, and a .538 slugging percentage (167 OPS+); won sixth batting title and finished fifth for MVP
Like Aaron, Musial was incredibly consistent – for a decade between 1948 and 1957, he finished top-10 for MVP each year and hit .310+ with at least 20 home runs, 90 runs batted in, and 80 runs scored. His seventh and final batting season came in 1957 when he hit .351 with 29 home runs, 102 runs batted in, 82 runs scored, a .422 on-base percentage, and a .612 slugging percentage (172 OPS+) to finish second in the MVP race to Aaron; Musial’s seven career batting titles are behind only Cobb (12x) and Honus Wagner/Tony Gwynn (8x each), and tied with Rod Carew and Rogers Hornsby. Though 1957 was arguably his last MVP-caliber season, Musial still hit .337 in 1958 and reached 3,000 career hits. Though he would dip below .300 for a handful of seasons, Musial put together one final .300 season as a 41-year old in 1962: .330 batting average with 19 home runs, 82 runs batted in, 57 runs scored, a .416 on-base percentage, and a .508 slugging percentage (137 OPS+), good for a 10th-place MVP finish. Musial retired after the 1963 season at age 42 with 3,630 career hits, of which exactly half came at home and half on the road (1,815 each); moreover, he set NL records for games played, at-bats, hits, doubles, runs batted in, and runs scored.
With a combined 45 years of MLB service between them (23 for Aaron and 22 for Musial), the two outfielders rank #3 and #6 all-time in career games played, respectively. Aaron has the advantage of around 270 extra games and 1,400 additional at-bats, which in turn gives him the edge over Musial in most career accumulation categories; on the other hand, Musial has better ratios and averages across the board, culminating with a slightly better career OPS+. In terms of “great” seasons, Aaron leads in 30+ home runs seasons (15 to 6), years with 100+ runs batted in (11 to 10), and 100+ runs scored (15 to 11), while Musial outpaces in .300+ seasons (17 to 14). Again, it is a mixed bag when it comes to awards and accolades – Aaron played in more All-Star Games (25 to 24) and earned three Gold Gloves, but Musial won more MVPs (3 to 1), batting titles (7 to 2) and Major League Player of the Year awards (2 to 0). Encapsulating their respective careers into one advanced metric, Aaron ends up with a higher career Wins Above Replacement (WAR) than Musial at 143.0 to 128.2. Given their legacies, it should come as absolutely no surprise that both players were first-ballot Hall of Fame selections, Musial in 1969 and later, Aaron in 1982.
Regular Season Statistics
| Hank Aaron | Player | Stan Musial |
| 23 (1954-1976) | Seasons | 22 (1941-1963) |
| 3,298 | Games Played | 3,026 |
| 12,364 | At-Bats | 10,972 |
| 3,771 | Hits | 3,630 |
| 2,174 | Runs | 1,949 |
| 755 | Home Runs | 475 |
| 2,297 | Runs Batted In | 1,951 |
| 1,402 | Walks | 1,599 |
| 240 | Stolen Bases | 78 |
| .305 | Batting Average | .331 |
| .374 | On-Base Percentage | .417 |
| .555 | Slugging Percentage | .559 |
| 155 | OPS+ | 159 |
| 143.0 | Wins Above Replacement | 128.2 |
| 25x | All-Star Games | 24x |
| 1x | MVP | 3x |
| 1x | World Series Titles | 3x |
| 3x Gold Glove, 2x Batting Title | Other Awards | 7x Batting Title, 2x ML PoY |
| 1982 | Hall of Fame Induction | 1969 |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
For the majority of each player’s career, the winners of the AL and NL pennants met directly in the World Series, i.e. only the top two teams in baseball made the playoffs each year; as a result, both Aaron and Musial had limited playoff appearances, though both helped guide their teams to World Series championships.
During his lengthy career, Aaron appeared 3x in the postseason with two World Series trips. In his 1957 MVP season, the Braves beat a New York Yankees team led by the likes of Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Whitey Ford in the full seven games, with Aaron hitting .393 (11 hits in 28 at-bats) with 3 home runs and 7 runs batted in; the next season, the Braves and Yankees would meet in a rematch, but this time, the Yankees prevailed in seven games despite Aaron hitting .333. Finally, with the expansion of the playoffs in the 1960s, Atlanta appeared in the NLCS in 1969, but were swept by the New York Mets.
Meanwhile, Musial made the World Series with the Cardinals 4x in a five-year span between 1942 and 1946 (the exception being 1945 when he was enlisted), coming away with three championships:
- 1942: beat Joe DiMaggio and the Yankees in five games; Musial only hit .222
- 1943: lost in a rematch to the Yankees in five games; Musial improved his batting average to .278
- 1944: beat the crosstown St. Louis Browns (now the Baltimore Orioles) in six games; Musial had his best individual World Series, hitting .304 (7 hits in 23 at-bats) with a home run and a pair of runs batted in
- 1946: beat Ted Williams and the Boston Red Sox in seven games; Musial again only hit .222, but did drive in 4 runs
Playoff Statistics
| Hank Aaron | Player | Stan Musial |
| 17 | Games Played | 23 |
| 69 | At-Bats | 86 |
| 25 | Hits | 22 |
| 11 | Runs | 9 |
| 6 | Home Runs | 1 |
| 16 | Runs Batted In | 8 |
| 5 | Walks | 12 |
| – | Stolen Bases | 1 |
| .362 | Batting Average | .256 |
| .405 | On-Base Percentage | .347 |
| .710 | Slugging Percentage | .395 |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; both Aaron and Musial were extraordinarily consistent for two decades and neither player’s production really leveled off until they were in their 40s. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Hank Aaron | Player | Stan Musial |
| 1957-1966 | Decade of Dominance | 1943-1944, 1946-1953 |
| 1,536 | Games Played | 1,529 |
| 6,004 | At-Bats | 5,923 |
| 1,914 | Hits | 2,056 |
| 1,137 | Runs | 1,181 |
| 376 | Home Runs | 246 |
| 1,165 | Runs Batted In | 1,048 |
| 625 | Walks | 887 |
| 163 | Stolen Bases | 56 |
| .319 | Batting Average | .347 |
| .381 | On-Base Percentage | .434 |
| .577 | Slugging Percentage | .589 |
| 81.5 | Wins Above Replacement | 83.8 |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
As mentioned, given their consistency, we could have looked at two decades of dominance for both Aaron and Musial! Interesting, in choosing their 10 best seasons each, Musial actually comes out slightly ahead – Aaron reigned supreme in terms of home run power and driving in runs, but Musial collected more hits, generally got on-base more, scored more runs, and ultimately, had a slightly higher WAR during the comparison periods.
My Thoughts
In terms of legacy, most baseball fans remember Hank Aaron for breaking Babe Ruth’s career home run record; in contrast, despite his three MVPs, seven batting titles, and long, productive career, Stan Musial is probably a tad underrated. Nevertheless, from an objective perspective, both stand apart among the goliaths of the game due to an unprecedented combination of greatness and consistency. Between Aaron and Musial, the Cardinals great was superior in terms of hitting for average (in particular, doubles), and getting on-base, and has the 3-1 lead in MVPs; however, the longtime Braves slugger was no slouch either with two batting titles of his own, and both players could have easily won many more MVP awards given how many top-three and top-five finishes each one had. Aaron has an advantage when it comes to driving in runs and scoring runs, and in particular, a clear edge in home run abilities; moreover, beyond hitting, Aaron was clearly more of a five-tool player, displaying both the base-stealing abilities and strong defense (e.g. three Gold Gloves) in his earlier days that Musial was not necessarily known for. As a result, in terms of the entire package, I would give Aaron the slightest of advantages, though clearly this is no knock on Musial.
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Hank Aaron
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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