Nine Numbers For Number 9

521
Career home runs, including one, in 1960, on his final at bat, placing Williams 12th on the major league list (along with Willie McCovey). His total ranks sixth in the American League, eighth among outfielders, fourth among lefthanded batters (also with McCovey), second among leftfielders and No. 1 among Red Sox players.

1,839
Career runs batted in, good for 12th on the alltime list. Williams led his league in RBIs four times and had a career-high 159 in 1949, the second of his two MVP seasons.

2,654
Career hits. Although he never had 200 hits in a season, Williams is one of only three major leaguers (the others: Babe Ruth and Rickey Henderson) to get 2,500 hits and 2,000 walks, finishing with 2,019 bases on balls.

11
Years in which Williams drew at least 100 walks. Only Ruth accomplished this feat more times (13). Williams is one of only three men to walk 160 times in a season and the only one to have done it twice.

.483
Career on-base percentage, highest in history. Williams led his league in this stat 12 times, including in 1941, when he set the major league single-season record of .551. In '57, at age 39, he had the fifth best on-base percentage ever (.526).

.634
Career slugging percentage, second only to Ruth's .690. Williams led his league nine times in this category.

801
Career games missed while in military service. During 1952 and '53, Marine captain Williams flew 39 missions in Korea, including one that ended in a crash landing of his jet. Earlier he had missed the '43, '44 and '45 seasons while serving as a pilot in World War II.

2,909
Career games that Williams might have played had he not lost those nearly five seasons to military service. Assuming average performance, he would have ended up with 2,332 RBIs and 2,583 walks—both records—657 home runs and 3,383 hits.

60
Full seasons since Williams batted .406—the last time anyone has batted .400 or better over a full season. His career .344 average ranks eighth.