Who is better, Banks or Smith?
Ernie Banks leads with a GOAT score of 86.5 against 86.4 for Hilton Smith — a gap of 0.1 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Banks vs Smith
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Ernie Banks above Hilton Smith: 86.5 vs 86.4. Ernie Banks leads on Peak. Hilton Smith leads on Statistics.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
BanksWinner
86.5Banks wins: Peak
Smith
86.4Smith wins: Statistics
Candidates
Locked to BaseballShareable URL · /compare/ernie-banks-vs-hilton-smith
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Ernie Banks
86.5
Banks leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Ernie Banks
2. Hilton Smith
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through season 5 · Form index per season1. 🇺🇸 Ernie Banks5 seasons played · career day 1,825329 home runs
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Hilton Smith5 seasons played · career day 3,28771 home runs
-78.4% vs Banks at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Banks | 0 | 0 | 50 | 108 | 329 | 692 |
| 🇺🇸 Smith | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 71 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | BanksRetired | SmithRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Career home runs | 512 | — |
| MVP awards | 2 | — |
| All-Star selections | 14 | — |
| Career RBIs | 1,636 | — |
| Gold Gloves | 1 | — |
| Negro World Series titles | — | 1 |
| Negro League pennants | — | 4 |
| East-West All-Star selections | — | 6 |
| Career winning percentage | — | 0.72 |
| Seasons played | — | 17 |
| Dominance w25% | 84 | 84 |
| Peak w20% | 94 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 82 | 82 |
| Honours w20% | 84 | 84 |
| Statistics w15% | 90 | 92 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Banks86.5
Smith86.4
FAQ
Where does Smith beat Banks?
Smith scores higher on statistics. Banks leads on peak.
How is the Banks vs Smith score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Banks: 86.5, Smith: 86.4.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Banks vs Smith. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.