Career OPS+
Career OPS+ is simply the average OPS+ calculated over the course of a player’s career. Depending on the player, obviously, that can be a few years or a few decades, although all the greats we’re looking at had substantial careers.
One of the telling aspects of Pujols’ career is that he was predominantly a peak player. That is, his best seasons were almost without exception attained during the St. Louis portion of his career. In Anaheim, his performances tended to decline into the realm of ordinary with age.
Pujols’ career divides almost perfectly between St. Louis and Anaheim; 11 seasons in the Gateway city, 10 in Disneyland. Yet his best Anaheim season as measured by OPS+, 138 in 2012, was statistically worse than any of his 11 seasons in St. Louis.
As a result, Pujols’ performance on the career leader boards is generally weaker than his performance on the peak leader boards.
At 145, he ranks only 19th for career OPS+, his closest comparable being Willie McCovey at 147. There’s nothing wrong with being compared to McCovey, but here’s the top 10.
Rank Player Career
1 Babe Ruth 206
2 Ted Williams 191
3 Barry Bonds 182
4 Lou Gehrig 179
5 Rogers Hornsby 175
6 Mickey Mantle 172
7 Ty Cobb 168
8 Jimmie Foxx 163
9 Stan Musial 159
10 Tris Speaker 158