Babe Adams
Born: 5/18/1882 in Tipton, IN, USA
Died: 7/27/1968 in Silver Spring, MD, USA
MLB Debut: 1906-04-18 | Final Game: 1926-08-11
Bats: L | Throws: R | Height: 5'11" | Weight: 185 lbs
Full name: Charles Benjamin Adams
Biography
Babe Adams was a prominent pitcher in Major League Baseball, known for his exceptional control and durability during the early 20th century. Born in 1882, Adams made his debut in 1906 and enjoyed a successful career that spanned two decades, concluding with his retirement in 1926. He finished his career with an impressive record of 194 wins and 140 losses, along with a notable earned run average (ERA) of 2.76. Over the course of his time in the league, he accumulated 1,036 strikeouts and recorded 15 saves, showcasing his ability as a reliable pitcher in high-pressure situations.
Adams played primarily in an era characterized by the transition from the deadball era to the more offensive-minded styles of the 1920s. His effectiveness on the mound helped define the role of the modern pitcher, as he combined a strategic approach with a repertoire that kept hitters off balance. Adams's contributions to the game were significant, particularly during his tenure with the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he became a key figure in the team's pitching rotation. His legacy remains as a testament to the evolution of pitching in baseball history.
Career Pitching Statistics
| W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 194 | 140 | 482 | 355 | 206 | 44 | 15 | 2995.3 | 2841 | 917 | 68 | 430 | 1036 | 2.76 | 0 |
Season-by-Season Pitching
| Year | Team | Lg | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1906 | STL | NL | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 13.50 | - |
| 1907 | PIT | NL | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 22.0 | 40 | 17 | 3 | 11 | 6.95 | -47.8 |
| 1909 | PIT | NL | 12 | 3 | 25 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 130.0 | 88 | 16 | 23 | 65 | 1.11 | 2388.1 |
| 1910 | PIT | NL | 18 | 9 | 34 | 30 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 245.0 | 217 | 61 | 60 | 101 | 2.24 | 1677.4 |
| 1911 | PIT | NL | 22 | 12 | 40 | 37 | 24 | 6 | 0 | 293.3 | 253 | 76 | 42 | 133 | 2.33 | 6051.6 |
| 1912 | PIT | NL | 11 | 8 | 28 | 21 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 170.3 | 169 | 55 | 35 | 63 | 2.91 | 1250.5 |
| 1913 | PIT | NL | 21 | 10 | 43 | 37 | 24 | 4 | 0 | 313.7 | 271 | 75 | 49 | 144 | 2.15 | 5275.9 |
| 1914 | PIT | NL | 13 | 16 | 40 | 35 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 283.0 | 253 | 79 | 39 | 91 | 2.51 | 2996.1 |
| 1915 | PIT | NL | 14 | 14 | 40 | 30 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 245.0 | 229 | 78 | 34 | 62 | 2.87 | 1551.6 |
| 1916 | PIT | NL | 2 | 9 | 16 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 72.3 | 91 | 46 | 12 | 22 | 5.72 | 55.3 |
| 1918 | PIT | NL | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 22.7 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 1.19 | 304.9 |
| 1919 | PIT | NL | 17 | 10 | 34 | 29 | 23 | 6 | 1 | 263.3 | 213 | 58 | 23 | 92 | 1.98 | 6499.2 |
| 1920 | PIT | NL | 17 | 13 | 35 | 33 | 19 | 8 | 2 | 263.0 | 240 | 63 | 18 | 84 | 2.16 | 5792.0 |
| 1921 | PIT | NL | 14 | 5 | 25 | 20 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 160.0 | 155 | 47 | 18 | 55 | 2.64 | 3945.1 |
| 1922 | PIT | NL | 8 | 11 | 27 | 19 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 171.3 | 191 | 68 | 15 | 39 | 3.57 | 4892.4 |
| 1923 | PIT | NL | 13 | 7 | 26 | 22 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 158.7 | 196 | 78 | 25 | 38 | 4.42 | 1587.9 |
| 1924 | PIT | NL | 3 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 39.7 | 31 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 1.13 | 704.1 |
| 1925 | PIT | NL | 6 | 5 | 33 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 101.3 | 129 | 61 | 17 | 18 | 5.42 | 218.5 |
| 1926 | PIT | NL | 2 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 36.7 | 51 | 25 | 8 | 7 | 6.14 | -960.0 |
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 482 | 1019 | 79 | 216 | 31 | 15 | 3 | 75 | 1 | 53 | 194 | 0.212 | 0.252 | 0.281 | 0.532 | -3312.3 |
Season-by-Season Batting
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1906 | STL | NL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1907 | PIT | NL | 4 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.286 | 0.0 |
| 1909 | PIT | NL | 25 | 39 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 0.051 | 0.0 |
| 1910 | PIT | NL | 34 | 83 | 9 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 23 | 0.193 | -273.1 |
| 1911 | PIT | NL | 40 | 103 | 9 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 0.252 | -282.1 |
| 1912 | PIT | NL | 28 | 53 | 5 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 9 | 0.226 | -50.8 |
| 1913 | PIT | NL | 43 | 114 | 13 | 33 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 0.289 | -53.7 |
| 1914 | PIT | NL | 40 | 97 | 8 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 29 | 0.165 | -552.6 |
| 1915 | PIT | NL | 40 | 85 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 0.141 | -658.2 |
| 1916 | PIT | NL | 16 | 22 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0.273 | 0.0 |
| 1918 | PIT | NL | 3 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.333 | 0.0 |
| 1919 | PIT | NL | 34 | 92 | 2 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 0.185 | -459.6 |
| 1920 | PIT | NL | 35 | 89 | 4 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 0.146 | -784.7 |
| 1921 | PIT | NL | 25 | 63 | 7 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0.254 | -147.7 |
| 1922 | PIT | NL | 27 | 56 | 6 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 0.286 | -50.5 |
| 1923 | PIT | NL | 26 | 55 | 5 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 0.273 | 0.6 |
| 1924 | PIT | NL | 9 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.182 | 0.0 |
| 1925 | PIT | NL | 33 | 31 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0.226 | 0.0 |
| 1926 | PIT | NL | 19 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.222 | 0.0 |
Postseason Statistics
Playoff Career Batting
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.000 |
Playoff Batting by Year
| Year | Round | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1925 | WS | PIT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1909 | WS | PIT | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.000 |
Playoff Career Pitching
| W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 28.0 | 20 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 1.29 |
Playoff Pitching by Year
| Year | Round | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1925 | WS | PIT | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 1909 | WS | PIT | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 27.0 | 18 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 1.33 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 482 | 46 | 58 | 648 | 17 | 17 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1906 | SLN | P | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 1907 | PIT | P | 4 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| 1909 | PIT | P | 25 | 12 | 1 | 33 | 3 | 0 |
| 1910 | PIT | P | 34 | 30 | 7 | 44 | 5 | 1 |
| 1911 | PIT | P | 40 | 0 | 3 | 42 | 1 | 2 |
| 1912 | PIT | P | 28 | 0 | 2 | 36 | 0 | 0 |
| 1913 | PIT | P | 43 | 0 | 10 | 74 | 1 | 1 |
| 1914 | PIT | P | 40 | 0 | 13 | 62 | 0 | 2 |
| 1915 | PIT | P | 40 | 0 | 3 | 67 | 0 | 5 |
| 1916 | PIT | P | 16 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 1918 | PIT | P | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 1919 | PIT | P | 34 | 0 | 4 | 55 | 0 | 1 |
| 1920 | PIT | P | 35 | 0 | 3 | 66 | 2 | 1 |
| 1921 | PIT | P | 25 | 0 | 1 | 34 | 0 | 1 |
| 1922 | PIT | P | 27 | 0 | 5 | 43 | 1 | 2 |
| 1923 | PIT | P | 26 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 1 | 0 |
| 1924 | PIT | P | 9 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 1925 | PIT | P | 33 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 1 |
| 1926 | PIT | P | 19 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
Career Games by Position
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | 482 |
Awards & Honors
| Year | Award | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1909 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | P5 |
| 1909 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | P4 |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1913 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 22th | 3.0 | 64 | 0 |
| 1911 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 27th | 1.0 | 64 | 0 |