Sam Bankhead

Shortstop · Career Stats, Bio & Records

AVG .284
HR 19
RBI 354
H 702
OPS .728
PIV 1,589
Position
Shortstop
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
5'9" / 165 lb
Born
9/18/1910 in Sulligent, AL, USA
Died
7/24/1976 in Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Awards
9× All-Star

Full name: Samuel Howard Bankhead

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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
2595.0 2290.0 406.0 666.0 89.0 33.0 24.0 238.0 228.0 20.0 87.0 .291 .358 .390 .748

Pitching

W L GS CG GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA WHIP
2 0 4 3 1 0 28.0 23 12 8 0 7 6 2.57 1.07

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
652 2,472 427 702 95 35 19 354 103 255 7 .284 .354 .374 .728 1,589

Career AVG .284 vs. league average .268 across their career seasons — +5.8% above league average.

Career OBP .354 vs. league average .336 across their career seasons — +5.5% above league average.

Career SLG .374 vs. league average .378 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OPS .728 vs. league average .714 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1932 BBB NSL 3 7 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .143 — — — — 0.0
1932 LVB NSL 1 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 — — — — 0.0
1932 NEG NSL 7 16 4 6 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 .375 — — — — 0.0
1933 NEG NN2 36 141 23 40 5 1 0 18 5 12 0 .284 .270 (+5%) .329 (+3%) .377 (-12%) .707 (-5%) -82.8
1934 NEG NN2 37 148 25 50 3 2 1 20 10 8 0 .338 .278 (+22%) .340 (+10%) .392 (+3%) .733 (+7%) 176.1
1935 PC NN2 51 207 49 70 13 8 2 32 8 24 2 .338 .279 (+21%) .342 (+20%) .399 (+27%) .742 (+24%) 891.8
1936 PC NN2 63 231 37 77 16 4 1 39 6 20 0 .333 .283 (+17%) .349 (+11%) .404 (+11%) .753 (+11%) 457.9
1937 PC NN2 8 33 5 9 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 .273 — — — — 0.0
1938 PC NN2 32 128 23 29 5 0 2 16 6 13 0 .227 .272 (-17%) .341 (-13%) .392 (-20%) .734 (-17%) -344.5
1939 HG NN2 35 137 31 40 4 3 2 22 5 13 0 .292 .274 (+6%) .342 (+4%) .393 (+4%) .735 (+4%) 85.2
1942 HG NN2 58 219 35 62 5 4 3 48 9 30 2 .283 .253 (+12%) .323 (+15%) .349 (+10%) .672 (+12%) 517.5
1943 HG NN2 72 265 53 69 5 2 1 42 17 32 0 .260 .255 (+2%) .324 (+7%) .346 (-12%) .671 (-3%) -14.4
1944 HG NN2 56 217 46 55 9 5 1 28 8 29 1 .253 .261 (-3%) .325 (+6%) .357 (-1%) .683 (+2%) 127.4
1945 HG NN2 36 132 16 45 8 1 0 22 3 12 1 .341 .260 (+31%) .328 (+20%) .354 (+17%) .683 (+19%) 413.4
1945 CBE NAL 1 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 — — — — 413.4
1946 HG NN2 53 205 28 55 4 1 3 26 5 16 1 .268 .256 (+4%) .328 (-1%) .358 (-5%) .687 (-3%) -95.1
1947 HG NN2 61 223 19 52 9 2 1 25 13 21 0 .233 .262 (-11%) .336 (-10%) .376 (-19%) .712 (-15%) -527.5
1948 HG NN2 42 155 32 40 6 1 2 14 7 21 0 .258 .263 (-2%) .340 (+4%) .379 (-8%) .719 (-2%) -15.5
Career · 18 seasons 652 2,472 427 702 95 35 19 354 103 255 7 .284 — — — — 2,003

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
2 5 11 8 7 0 0 66.0 74 32 0 10 28 4.36 1413.3

Career ERA 4.36 vs. league average 3.89 across their career seasons — 12.2% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1932 BBB NSL 0 1 2 1 1 0 0 11.7 13 4 2 5 3.09 4.13 (+25%) 392.5
1932 LVB NSL 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 9.3 7 3 0 5 2.89 4.13 (+30%) 0.0
1932 NEG NSL 1 3 4 4 3 0 0 25.7 29 15 2 11 5.26 4.13 (-27%) 896.4
1934 NEG NN2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0.3 1 0 0 0 0.00 — 0.0
1942 HG NN2 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 9.0 9 3 2 3 3.00 3.57 (+16%) 0.0
1944 HG NN2 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 10.0 15 7 4 4 6.30 3.57 (-76%) 124.4
Career · 6 seasons 2 5 11 8 7 0 0 66.0 74 32 10 28 4.36 — 1,413

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
38 135 21 33 3 0 0 7 13 4 .244

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1948 NLC HG 4 14 5 3 2 0 0 0 2 0 .214
1948 NWS HG 2 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .125
1945 NWS HG 4 16 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .062
1944 NWS HG 5 20 6 7 0 0 0 0 2 0 .350
1943 NWS HG 5 19 1 5 1 0 0 3 1 0 .263
1942 NWS HG 2 7 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .286
1939 NLC HG 5 18 2 6 0 0 0 2 2 2 .333
1939 NLP2 HG 2 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .000
1935 NLC PC 7 21 5 8 0 0 0 2 4 0 .381
1932 NSC NEG 2 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (445 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home2348131432401185.295
Away210814137225873.276

Pitching — Home / Away

SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home12.012209.00

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1948-09-08 HOMNW2W 411000110
1948-09-06 HOMBLGW 423000110
1948-08-27 HOMPH5W 400000000
1948-08-23 HOMPH5L 400000000
1948-08-13 HOMBLGL 400000000
1948-08-12 HOMNY6W 501000010
1948-08-11 HOMNW2L 300000010
1948-08-10 HOMNW2L 501000000
1948-08-08 HOMNY5W 321000000
1948-08-08 HOMNY5W 400000000

Last 1 Games — Pitching

DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1944-09-03 HOMPH5 — 2.0122200

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 3 1 17 1 0 0
2B 68 63 157 211 16 34
3B 9 8 8 19 2 0
C 2 1 11 1 1 0
OF 192 191 355 18 12 5
P 11 8 4 16 0 0
SS 386 373 820 1196 89 169

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1932 BBB 2B 1 0 2 0 0 0
1932 BBB P 2 1 0 3 0 0
1932 LVB P 1 1 1 2 0 0
1932 NEG OF 2 2 6 2 0 0
1932 NEG P 4 4 2 6 0 0
1933 NEG OF 29 29 63 4 1 1
1933 NEG SS 10 7 13 25 3 2
1934 NEG 2B 1 1 1 5 1 0
1934 NEG OF 19 18 36 3 0 2
1934 NEG P 1 0 0 0 0 0
1934 NEG SS 21 18 35 43 8 4
1935 PC OF 49 49 65 1 6 0
1935 PC SS 3 2 4 6 0 1
1936 PC 2B 6 3 14 15 1 2
1936 PC 3B 7 7 7 13 2 0
1936 PC OF 39 39 67 5 0 2
1936 PC SS 14 13 23 43 6 7
1937 PC C 1 0 0 0 0 0
1937 PC OF 8 8 15 0 0 0
1938 PC 3B 1 0 0 1 0 0
1938 PC OF 29 29 73 2 3 0
1938 PC SS 2 2 2 5 1 0
1939 HG 2B 35 35 82 116 8 20
1942 HG 1B 3 1 17 1 0 0
1942 HG OF 15 15 29 1 2 0
1942 HG P 1 1 0 2 0 0
1942 HG SS 43 41 82 148 9 16
1943 HG SS 72 72 186 240 9 32
1944 HG 2B 8 8 18 30 3 4
1944 HG P 2 1 1 3 0 0
1944 HG SS 48 47 122 163 16 27
1945 HG 3B 1 1 1 5 0 0
1945 HG C 1 1 11 1 1 0
1945 HG SS 33 33 73 99 6 15
1945 CBE 2B 1 1 3 1 0 0
1946 HG SS 53 53 115 185 13 24
1947 HG OF 2 2 1 0 0 0
1947 HG SS 59 59 124 149 11 30
1948 HG 2B 16 15 37 44 3 8
1948 HG SS 28 26 41 90 7 11

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Pitcher 11
Catcher 2
First Base 3
Second Base 68
Third Base 9
Shortstop 386
Left Field 110
Center Field 77
Right Field 5

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

  1. 98
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    .285 avg, 13 HR
  2. 94
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    .277 avg, 23 HR
  3. 89
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    .269 avg, 18 HR
  4. 89
    Tony Boeckel
    .282 avg, 27 HR
  5. 84
    Gene Robertson
    .280 avg, 20 HR
  6. 78
    Jake Dunn
    .280 avg, 22 HR

Frequently Asked Questions about Sam Bankhead

Was Sam Bankhead a pitcher?
Both. Sam Bankhead pitched in 11 games, going 2-5 with a 4.36 ERA, but spent most of his career as a Shortstop.
How many home runs did Sam Bankhead hit?
Sam Bankhead hit 19 career home runs with 702 hits.