Steve Barber

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1960-1974)

Steve Barber was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1960 to 1974 for 7 teams, including the Baltimore Orioles, a span of 15 seasons. Across 466 career appearances, he went 121-106 with a 3.36 ERA and 1,309 strikeouts. He also batted .115 with 5 home runs. Steve Barber was a 2-time All-Star. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 4133.8.

W (Wins):
Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):
Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):
For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):
Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated

W–L 121–106
ERA 3.36
WHIP 1.38
SO 1,309
Pitcher PIV 4133.8
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
L / L
Height / Weight
6'0" / 195 lb
Born
2/22/1938 in Takoma Park, MD, USA
Died
2/4/2007 in Henderson, NV, USA
MLB Debut
1960-04-21
Last Game
1974-07-31
Awards
2× All-Star

Full name: Stephen David Barber

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Career Pitching Statistics

Steve Barber — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
121 106 466 272 59 21 13 1999.0 1,818 747 125 950 1,309 3.36 4133.8

Career ERA 3.36 vs. league average 3.58 across their career seasons — 6.0% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Steve Barber (b. 1938) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1960 BAL AL 10 7 36 27 6 1 2 181.2 148 65 113 112 3.22 3.82 (+16%) -490.5
1961 BAL AL 18 12 37 34 14 8 1 248.1 194 92 130 150 3.33 4.03 (+17%) 2514.1
1962 BAL AL 9 6 28 19 5 2 0 140.1 145 54 61 89 3.46 3.96 (+12%) 1614.8
1963 BAL AL 20 13 39 36 11 2 0 258.2 253 79 92 180 2.75 3.46 (+21%) 4462.3
1964 BAL AL 9 13 36 26 4 0 1 157.0 144 67 81 118 3.84 3.58 (-7%) -1745.8
1965 BAL AL 15 10 37 32 7 2 0 220.2 177 66 81 130 2.69 3.50 (+23%) 512.5
1966 BAL AL 10 5 25 22 5 3 0 133.1 104 34 49 91 2.29 3.52 (+35%) 1972.6
1967 BAL AL 4 9 15 15 1 1 0 74.2 47 34 61 48 4.10 3.30 (-24%) -2748.1
1967 NYA AL 6 9 17 17 3 1 0 97.2 103 44 54 70 4.05 3.30 (-23%) -208.6
1968 NYA AL 6 5 20 19 3 1 0 128.1 127 46 64 87 3.23 2.98 (-8%) -1034.8
1969 SE1 AL 4 7 25 16 0 0 0 86.1 99 46 48 69 4.80 3.61 (-33%) -766.7
1970 CHN NL 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 5.2 10 6 6 3 9.53 — 0.0
1970 ATL NL 0 1 5 2 0 0 0 14.2 17 8 5 11 4.91 3.89 (-26%) -417.6
1971 ATL NL 3 1 39 3 0 0 2 75.0 92 40 25 40 4.80 3.47 (-38%) -67.0
1972 ATL NL 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 15.2 18 10 6 6 5.74 3.26 (-76%) -211.2
1972 CAL AL 4 4 34 3 0 0 2 58.0 37 13 30 34 2.02 3.26 (+38%) -670.8
1973 CAL AL 3 2 50 1 0 0 4 89.1 90 35 32 58 3.53 3.75 (+6%) 1309.8
1974 SFN NL 0 1 13 0 0 0 1 13.2 13 8 12 13 5.27 3.63 (-45%) 108.8
Career · 18 seasons 121 106 466 272 59 21 13 1,999.0 1,818 747 950 1,309 3.36 — 4,134

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 Batting Statistics

Steve Barber — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
466 563 24 65 5 2 5 27 0 38 320 .115 .174 .158 .332 -2,553

Career AVG .115 vs. league average .250 across their career seasons — 53.8% below league average.

Career OBP .174 vs. league average .317 across their career seasons — 45.1% below league average.

Career SLG .158 vs. league average .373 across their career seasons — 57.6% below league average.

Career OPS .332 vs. league average .689 across their career seasons — 51.9% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Steve Barber (b. 1938) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1960 BAL AL 36 54 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 5 32 .056 .255 (-78%) .323 (-58%) .387 (-86%) .711 (-73%) -617.2
1961 BAL AL 37 80 6 13 1 0 2 6 0 5 42 .163 .258 (-37%) .328 (-33%) .399 (-37%) .727 (-35%) -452.5
1962 BAL AL 28 42 2 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 24 .071 — — — — 0.0
1963 BAL AL 39 87 3 12 2 0 1 4 0 4 38 .138 .246 (-44%) .308 (-43%) .371 (-47%) .680 (-45%) -600.0
1964 BAL AL 36 47 2 7 0 0 1 4 0 4 24 .149 — — — — -267.4
1965 BAL AL 37 65 2 5 1 0 1 2 0 4 43 .077 .245 (-69%) .310 (-59%) .371 (-63%) .682 (-61%) -615.6
1966 BAL AL 25 44 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 30 .068 — — — — 0.0
1967 BAL AL 15 22 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 2 14 .091 — — — — 0.0
1967 NYA AL 17 29 2 5 1 1 0 4 0 1 17 .172 — — — — 0.0
1968 NYA AL 20 39 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 6 23 .051 — — — — 0.0
1969 SE1 AL 25 25 4 5 0 1 0 1 0 1 15 .200 — — — — 0.0
1970 CHN NL 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1970 ATL NL 5 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .250 — — — — 0.0
1971 ATL NL 39 13 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 10 .154 — — — — 0.0
1972 ATL NL 5 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .200 — — — — 0.0
1972 CAL AL 34 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 .143 — — — — 0.0
1973 CAL AL 50 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1974 SFN NL 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 18 seasons 466 563 24 65 5 2 5 27 0 38 320 .115 — — — — -2,553

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.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (932 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Steve Barber — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home2342761433112.120
Away2322871032415.111

Pitching — Home / Away

Steve Barber — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home2341052.19253604686933.08
Away232946.28933864836153.67

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Steve Barber — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1974-07-31 SFGATL — 1.0220120
1974-07-27 SFGHOU — 1.2444310
1974-07-25 SFGCIN — 2.0000020
1974-07-14 SFGPHI — 1.0111310
1974-07-07 SFGNYN — 1.0110000
1974-07-05 SFGNYN — 0.2000010
1974-07-02 SFGSDP — 0.1000000
1974-06-29 SFGLAD — 2.0111130
1974-06-25 SFGSDP — 0.1110000
1974-06-23 SFGLAD L 0.1111210

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Steve Barber — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
P 466 272 106 372 38 31

Season-by-Season Fielding

Steve Barber — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1960 BAL P 36 27 4 30 2 5
1961 BAL P 37 34 13 60 4 8
1962 BAL P 28 19 16 26 2 1
1963 BAL P 39 36 19 43 4 8
1964 BAL P 36 26 11 37 2 3
1965 BAL P 37 32 12 47 6 1
1966 BAL P 25 22 5 30 2 1
1967 BAL P 15 15 6 13 4 1
1967 NYA P 17 17 5 12 2 0
1968 NYA P 20 19 2 24 4 1
1969 SE1 P 25 16 3 13 2 2
1970 CHN P 5 0 0 0 0 0
1970 ATL P 5 2 0 2 0 0
1971 ATL P 39 3 4 13 1 0
1972 ATL P 5 0 2 5 0 0
1972 CAL P 34 3 1 7 2 0
1973 CAL P 50 1 3 10 0 0
1974 SFN P 13 0 0 0 1 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Steve Barber (b. 1938) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 466

Award Voting History

Steve Barber — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1961 Most Valuable Player AL 14th 7.0 280 0
1960 Most Valuable Player AL 20th 7.0 336 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Steve Barber (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Van Mungo
    120-115, 3.47 ERA
  2. 97
    Fred Norman
    104-103, 3.64 ERA
  3. 87
    Johnny Vander Meer
    119-121, 3.44 ERA
  4. 87
    Sam Jones
    103-104, 3.63 ERA
  5. 84
    Kirby Higbe
    118-101, 3.69 ERA
  6. 84
    Jim Bibby
    111-101, 3.76 ERA

Steve Barber: the record in brief

Steve Barber played a first major league game on April 21, 1960 and a last one on July 31, 1974. The season rows list, in order, the Baltimore Orioles (1960 through 1967), the New York Yankees (1967 to 1968), the Seattle Pilots (1969), the Chicago Cubs (1970), the Atlanta Braves (1970 to 1972), the California Angels (1972 to 1973), and the San Francisco Giants (1974). Barber played primarily as a pitcher and batted and threw left-handed. Born on February 22, 1938, in Takoma Park, MD, USA, Barber was listed at 6'0" and 195 pounds. Barber died on February 4, 2007, in Henderson, NV, USA. Steve Barber was the playing name; the full given name is Stephen David.

Barber's career pitching line is 121 wins, 106 losses and a 3.36 ERA over 466 appearances. The same table counts 1,309 strikeouts, 59 complete games, 21 shutouts, and 13 saves. Against a 3.58 league ERA for the same years, Barber was 6.0% better. The best win total was 20, in 1963.

Frequently Asked Questions about Steve Barber

What years did Steve Barber play?
Steve Barber played in Major League Baseball from 1960 to 1974.
Was Steve Barber a pitcher?
Yes. Steve Barber pitched in the major leagues, recording 121 wins and 1309 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Steve Barber hit?
Steve Barber hit 5 career home runs with 65 hits.
What was Steve Barber's career batting average?
Steve Barber batted .115 over his career, with 65 hits in 563 at bats.
How many RBI did Steve Barber have?
Steve Barber drove in 27 runs in his career.
What was Steve Barber's career ERA?
Steve Barber finished with a 3.36 career ERA, going 121-106 with 1,309 strikeouts.