Category profile
- Dominance
- 94
- Peak
- 94
- Longevity
- 94
- Honours
- 92
- Statistics
- 95
Career timeline · Home runs per season
| Season | Home runs per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | 20 | |
| 1952 | 4 | |
| 1953 | 41 | |
| 1954 | 51 | |
| 1955 | 36 | |
| 1956 | 35 | |
| 1957 | 29 | |
| 1958 | 34 | |
| 1959 | 29 | |
| 1960 | 40 | |
| 1961 | 49 | |
| 1962 | 38 | |
| 1963 | 47 | |
| 1964 | 52 | |
| 1965 | 37 | |
| 1966 | 22 | |
| 1967 | 23 | |
| 1968 | 13 | |
| 1969 | 18 | |
| 1970 | 8 | |
| 1971 | 6 |
Data sources
- MLB
- Baseball Reference
- Olympics.com
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Willie Mays ranks #2 in Baseball
Willie Mays ranks 2nd among Baseball athletes on GOAT Rank and 88th of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 93.8 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 94, Peak 94, Longevity 94, Honours 92, Statistics 95. Those categories are normalised against the full Baseball reference universe of 262 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1951–1973 with 21 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1964, which sets the Peak component at 94. Statistics is the defining strength of the profile at 95 out of 100, and it carries 15% of the final score. The underlying career record includes home runs 660, mvp awards 2, gold gloves 12, all-star selections 24.
Immediately ahead sits Hank Aaron on 93.7, a gap of -0.1 points. Directly behind is Ty Cobb on 92.8. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
Willie Mays GOAT Score explained
- Dominance94/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Mays stood above the field while competing. Scored 94/100 against the full Baseball cohort.
- Peak94/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1964. Scored 94/100.
- Longevity94/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 22 years of competition and 21 recorded seasons. Scored 94/100.
- Honours92/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 92/100.
- Statistics95/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 95/100.
Top Mays comparisons
Willie Mays — frequently asked
- Is Willie Mays the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Willie Mays ranks 2nd in Baseball with a GOAT Score of 93.8, behind Hank Aaron on 93.7.
- What is Willie Mays's GOAT Score?
- 93.8 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 94 (25%), Peak 94 (20%), Longevity 94 (20%), Honours 92 (20%), Statistics 95 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Willie Mays rank all time?
- 88th of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 2nd within Baseball.
- Willie Mays vs Hank Aaron: who ranks higher?
- Willie Mays, on 93.8 against Hank Aaron's 93.7 — a margin of 0.1 points.