Willie Mays Stats by NUT: All 22 Seasons Graded, #7 All Time
Willie Mays finished with +95.6 career NUT, #7 among 7,896 major league hitters since 1876 and #2 among center fielders behind Ty Cobb, and his best season was 1965 at +7.5 SEASON NUT. Below is every season of his career, graded, with where it ranked in the National League. The Postal Service named him one of its 2027 stamp subjects this month.
NUT is one number for production against league average, built on the advanced hitting and pitching stats analysts trust, not batting average or ERA. Defense is left out, so none of Mays's 12 Gold Gloves count here. Each season is scored against its own year's league. His player page has the full year-by-year line.
Willie Mays Career Stats by NUT
Mays's +95.6 CAREER NUT grades S. It sits 0.1 ahead of Lou Gehrig and 5.4 behind Hank Aaron, his NL rival for 20 seasons. He hit 660 home runs and batted .301 over 22 seasons.
Willie Mays Stats by Season
From 1954 through 1966, Mays finished in the NL's top 6 by NUT 13 straight seasons, and he led the league 5 times. 13 of his 22 seasons graded S. He missed 1953 and most of 1952 to military service.
Willie Mays's Best Seasons by NUT
His 1965 ranks #66 of 43,463 hitter seasons since 1876, and his 1954 ranks #94. The stamp goes back to 1954: it shows Mays in a New York Giants cap and his over-the-shoulder catch from that year's World Series.
Willie Mays's MVPs vs NUT
Mays won the NL MVP in 1954 and 1965. In 1954 he was #2 among NL hitters by NUT, at +7.1 behind Duke Snider's +7.5. In 1965 he was #1 in all of MLB.
He also led NL hitters four times without winning: 1955 (Roy Campanella won, #9 at +3.8), 1957 (Hank Aaron, #3 at +5.6), 1958 (Ernie Banks, #2 at +5.4) and 1964 (Ken Boyer, #11 at +3.8). More on those gaps in MVP voting history vs NUT, and on the players who never won one in the best players never to win MVP.
Where Mays Ranks Among Center Fielders
Second, behind Ty Cobb's +109.9. Mickey Mantle (+88.3) and Tris Speaker (+88.0) are next, and Joe DiMaggio is fifth at +59.5. The full list is on the best center fielders by NUT, and every career since 1876 is on the all-time boards →
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Quick Answers
What were Willie Mays’s career stats?
660 home runs and a .301 average over 22 seasons, 1951 to 1973, for the Giants and Mets. By NUT that adds up to +95.6 career NUT, #7 among 7,896 hitters since 1876.
What was Willie Mays’s best season?
1965: 52 home runs, .317, and +7.5 SEASON NUT, #1 among NL hitters and #66 of 43,463 hitter seasons since 1876. He won the NL MVP that year.
How many MVPs did Willie Mays win?
Two, in 1954 and 1965. He led NL hitters in NUT 5 times: 1955, 1957, 1958, 1964 and 1965. Only 1965 brought an MVP; in 1954 he was #2 behind Duke Snider.
Is Willie Mays the best center fielder ever?
By NUT, he is second among center fielders, at +95.6 career NUT behind Ty Cobb (+109.9). NUT leaves out defense, where Mays won 12 Gold Gloves.
Is there a Willie Mays stamp?
Yes. The Postal Service named Willie Mays one of its 2027 stamp subjects in November 2026, the 50th stamp in its Black Heritage series.