Pete Appleton
Born: 5/20/1904 in Terryville, CT, USA
Died: 1/18/1974 in Trenton, NJ, USA
MLB Debut: 1927-09-14 | Final Game: 1945-09-20
Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 5'11" | Weight: 180 lbs
Full name: Peter William Appleton
Biography
Pete Appleton was a professional baseball pitcher whose career spanned from 1927 to 1945. Born in 1904, Appleton made his mark in an era characterized by evolving pitching styles and the increasing specialization of relief pitchers. Over his 18-year career, he compiled a record of 57 wins and 66 losses, showcasing his durability and competitiveness on the mound. With a career earned run average (ERA) of 4.3, he demonstrated the ability to navigate the challenges of hitting in a time when offense was beginning to flourish.
Appleton struck out a total of 420 batters and recorded 26 saves, indicating his capability not only as a starting pitcher but also as a reliable option in late-game situations. His contributions to the game were significant during a period that saw the transition from the deadball era to the more offensively driven styles of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Though he may not have achieved the legendary status of some of his contemporaries, Appleton's commitment to the game and his effectiveness on the mound solidified his place in baseball history as a skilled pitcher of his time.
Negro Leagues Career Statistics
Batting
| PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
Pitching
| W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting
| Season | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching
| Season | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Career Pitching Statistics
| W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | 66 | 341 | 71 | 34 | 6 | 26 | 1141.0 | 1187 | 545 | 76 | 486 | 420 | 4.30 | 0 |
Season-by-Season Pitching
| Year | Team | Lg | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1927 | CIN | NL | 2 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 29.7 | 29 | 6 | 17 | 3 | 1.82 | -387.2 |
| 1928 | CIN | NL | 3 | 4 | 31 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 82.7 | 101 | 43 | 22 | 20 | 4.68 | -799.9 |
| 1930 | CLE | AL | 8 | 7 | 39 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 118.7 | 122 | 53 | 53 | 45 | 4.02 | -836.8 |
| 1931 | CLE | AL | 4 | 4 | 29 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 79.7 | 100 | 41 | 29 | 25 | 4.63 | 366.7 |
| 1932 | BOS | AL | 0 | 3 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46.0 | 49 | 21 | 26 | 15 | 4.11 | -673.0 |
| 1932 | CLE | AL | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 | 11 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 16.20 | 0.0 |
| 1933 | NYY | AL | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | - |
| 1936 | WSN | AL | 14 | 9 | 38 | 20 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 201.7 | 199 | 79 | 77 | 77 | 3.53 | - |
| 1937 | WSN | AL | 8 | 15 | 35 | 18 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 168.0 | 167 | 82 | 72 | 62 | 4.39 | - |
| 1938 | WSN | AL | 7 | 9 | 43 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 164.3 | 175 | 84 | 61 | 62 | 4.60 | - |
| 1939 | WSN | AL | 5 | 10 | 40 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 102.7 | 104 | 52 | 48 | 50 | 4.56 | - |
| 1940 | CHW | AL | 4 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 57.7 | 54 | 36 | 28 | 21 | 5.62 | - |
| 1941 | CHW | AL | 0 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 27.3 | 27 | 16 | 17 | 12 | 5.27 | - |
| 1942 | CHW | AL | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3.86 | - |
| 1942 | SLA | AL | 1 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 27.3 | 25 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 2.96 | 180.1 |
| 1945 | SLA | AL | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.3 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 15.43 | 0.0 |
| 1945 | WSN | AL | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 21.3 | 16 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 3.38 | - |
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 343 | 374 | 30 | 87 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 8 | 66 | 0.233 | 0.249 | 0.291 | 0.540 | -1061.8 |
Season-by-Season Batting
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1927 | CIN | NL | 6 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.545 | 0.0 |
| 1928 | CIN | NL | 32 | 31 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.323 | 0.0 |
| 1930 | CLE | AL | 39 | 40 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0.200 | 0.0 |
| 1931 | CLE | AL | 30 | 24 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.208 | 0.0 |
| 1932 | BOS | AL | 11 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.176 | 0.0 |
| 1932 | CLE | AL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1933 | NYY | AL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1936 | WSN | AL | 38 | 76 | 7 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0.250 | -395.7 |
| 1937 | WSN | AL | 35 | 59 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0.186 | -474.1 |
| 1938 | WSN | AL | 43 | 59 | 4 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0.254 | -191.9 |
| 1939 | WSN | AL | 40 | 25 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.160 | 0.0 |
| 1940 | CHW | AL | 25 | 17 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0.176 | 0.0 |
| 1941 | CHW | AL | 13 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.250 | 0.0 |
| 1942 | CHW | AL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1942 | SLA | AL | 14 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.167 | 0.0 |
| 1945 | SLA | AL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1945 | WSN | AL | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.200 | 0.0 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| P | 341 | 0 | 58 | 266 | 12 | 25 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1927 | CIN | P | 6 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 2 |
| 1928 | CIN | P | 31 | 0 | 3 | 28 | 0 | 3 |
| 1928 | CIN | OF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1930 | CLE | P | 39 | 0 | 6 | 30 | 2 | 4 |
| 1931 | CLE | P | 29 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 2 | 1 |
| 1932 | BOS | P | 11 | 0 | 5 | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| 1932 | CLE | P | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1933 | NYA | P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1936 | WS1 | P | 38 | 0 | 9 | 42 | 1 | 1 |
| 1937 | WS1 | P | 35 | 0 | 8 | 43 | 1 | 4 |
| 1938 | WS1 | P | 43 | 0 | 9 | 29 | 4 | 4 |
| 1939 | WS1 | P | 40 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 1 | 2 |
| 1940 | CHA | P | 25 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 1 |
| 1941 | CHA | P | 13 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 1942 | CHA | P | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1942 | SLA | P | 14 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 1 |
| 1945 | SLA | P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1945 | WS1 | P | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
Career Games by Position
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | 341 |
| Right Field | 1 |
College History
| School Name | City | State | Years Attended |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Michigan | Ann Arbor | MI | 1924, 1925, 1926 |