Len Barker

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1976-1987)

Len Barker was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1976 to 1987 for 4 teams, including the Texas Rangers, a span of 12 seasons. Across 248 career appearances, he went 74-76 with a 4.34 ERA and 975 strikeouts. Len Barker was an All-Star. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 15450.6.

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 74–76
ERA 4.34
WHIP 1.36
SO 975
Pitcher PIV 15450.6
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'5" / 225 lb
Born
7/7/1955 in Fort Knox, KY, USA
MLB Debut
1976-09-14
Last Game
1987-09-26
Awards
All-Star

Full name: Leonard Harold Barker

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Career Pitching Statistics

Len Barker — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
74 76 248 194 35 7 5 1323.2 1,289 639 96 513 975 4.34 15450.6

Career ERA 4.34 vs. league average 3.86 across their career seasons — 12.5% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Len Barker Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1976 TEX AL 1 0 2 2 1 1 0 15.0 7 4 6 7 2.40 3.51 (+32%) 80.8
1977 TEX AL 4 1 15 3 0 0 1 47.1 36 14 24 51 2.66 4.00 (+33%) 1859.5
1978 TEX AL 1 5 29 0 0 0 4 52.1 63 28 29 33 4.82 3.69 (-31%) -1183.0
1979 CLE AL 6 6 29 19 2 0 0 137.1 146 75 70 93 4.92 4.00 (-23%) 1706.7
1980 CLE AL 19 12 36 36 8 1 0 246.1 237 114 92 187 4.17 3.84 (-8%) 3582.0
1981 CLE AL 8 7 22 22 9 3 0 154.1 150 67 46 127 3.91 3.58 (-9%) 4481.7
1982 CLE AL 15 11 33 33 10 1 0 244.2 211 106 88 187 3.90 3.86 (-1%) 4213.8
1983 CLE AL 8 13 24 24 4 1 0 149.2 150 85 52 105 5.11 3.87 (-32%) 186.2
1983 ATL NL 1 3 6 6 0 0 0 33.0 31 14 14 21 3.82 3.87 (+1%) 928.0
1984 ATL NL 7 8 21 20 1 0 0 126.1 120 54 38 95 3.85 3.81 (-1%) 1840.1
1985 ATL NL 2 9 20 18 0 0 0 73.2 84 52 37 47 6.35 3.89 (-63%) -1523.2
1987 ML4 AL 2 1 11 11 0 0 0 43.2 54 26 17 22 5.36 4.29 (-25%) -722.1
Career · 12 seasons 74 76 248 194 35 7 5 1,323.2 1,289 639 513 975 4.34 — 15,451

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

Len Barker — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
248 63 3 3 1 0 0 1 0 6 31 .048 .130 .063 .194 0

Career AVG .048 vs. league average .261 across their career seasons — 81.7% below league average.

Career OBP .130 vs. league average .325 across their career seasons — 59.9% below league average.

Career SLG .063 vs. league average .388 across their career seasons — 83.7% below league average.

Career OPS .194 vs. league average .714 across their career seasons — 72.8% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Len Barker 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
1976 TEX AL 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1977 TEX AL 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1978 TEX AL 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1979 CLE AL 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1980 CLE AL 36 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1981 CLE AL 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1982 CLE AL 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1983 CLE AL 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1983 ATL NL 6 8 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 .125 — — — — 0.0
1984 ATL NL 21 38 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 6 19 .053 — — — — 0.0
1985 ATL NL 20 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 .000 — — — — 0.0
1987 ML4 AL 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 12 seasons 248 63 3 3 1 0 0 1 0 6 31 .048 — — — — 0

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 (496 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Len Barker — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home131342201.059
Away117291100.034

Pitching — Home / Away

Len Barker — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home131696.26813322685124.29
Away117627.06083072454634.41

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Len Barker — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1987-09-26 MILBOS — 2.1222401
1987-09-22 MILNYY — 0.0322100
1987-09-14 MILNYY — 4.1743350
1987-09-09 MILTOR — 5.2644040
1987-09-04 MILMIN — 8.0611131
1987-08-29 MILMIN L 3.1633212
1987-08-21 MILKCR W 6.1400230
1987-08-16 MILBAL — 5.1522220
1987-06-10 MILDET — 0.0544000
1987-06-03 MILKCR W 5.0400130

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Len Barker — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
P 248 194 76 177 13 12

Season-by-Season Fielding

Len Barker — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1976 TEX P 2 2 0 2 0 0
1977 TEX P 15 3 4 8 0 1
1978 TEX P 29 0 2 9 1 1
1979 CLE P 29 19 8 13 2 1
1980 CLE P 36 36 11 24 0 2
1981 CLE P 22 22 9 21 2 1
1982 CLE P 33 33 23 27 2 1
1983 CLE P 24 24 5 16 1 3
1983 ATL P 6 6 4 8 2 0
1984 ATL P 21 20 5 34 2 2
1985 ATL P 20 18 2 9 1 0
1987 ML4 P 11 11 3 6 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Len Barker Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 248

Awards & Honors

Len Barker — Awards & Honors
Year Award Notes
1981 Player of the Week Week of 1981-05-15
1979 Player of the Week Week of 1979-08-03

Salary History

Len Barker's recorded salaries total $3,612,500 over 4 seasons, 1985 to 1988. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Barker's career ran from 1976 to 1987. His seasons before 1985 are not included.

Len Barker — Salary History
Year Team League Salary
1988 ATL NL $900,000
1987 ATL NL $890,000
1987 ML4 AL $72,500
1986 ATL NL $880,000
1985 ATL NL $870,000
Total recorded salary (partial) $3,612,500

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Len Barker (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Melido Perez
    78-85, 4.17 ERA
  2. 95
    Jose Contreras
    78-67, 4.57 ERA
  3. 93
    Andrew Cashner
    57-87, 4.10 ERA
  4. 93
    Jose Guzman
    80-74, 4.05 ERA
  5. 93
    Ryan Vogelsong
    61-75, 4.48 ERA
  6. 93
    Chris Tillman
    74-60, 4.57 ERA

Len Barker: the record in brief

Len Barker played a first major league game on September 14, 1976 and a last one on September 26, 1987. The season rows list, in order, the Texas Rangers (1976 through 1978), the Cleveland Indians (1979 through 1983), the Atlanta Braves (1983 to 1985), and the Milwaukee Brewers (1987). Listed as a pitcher, Barker batted and threw right-handed. Height and weight on file: 225 pounds on a 6-foot-5 frame. The birth record reads July 7, 1955, in Fort Knox, KY, USA. Barker's full given name, per the bio, is Leonard Harold Barker.

Barker pitched in 248 games, starting 194, and finished with a 74-76 record and 4.34 ERA. The totals include 975 strikeouts, 35 complete games, and 7 shutouts. The league ERA over Barker's seasons was 3.86, so the 4.34 figure ran 12.5% worse than average. Barker won 19 games in 1980, the most of any season listed. In 1982, one of the busiest seasons, Barker posted a 3.90 ERA; the league figure that year was 3.86.

Frequently Asked Questions about Len Barker

What years did Len Barker play?
Len Barker played in Major League Baseball from 1976 to 1987.
Was Len Barker a pitcher?
Yes. Len Barker pitched in the major leagues, recording 74 wins and 975 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Len Barker hit?
Len Barker hit 0 career home runs with 3 hits.
What teams did Len Barker play for?
Len Barker played for 4 teams: the Texas Rangers (1976–1978), the Cleveland Indians (1979–1983), the Atlanta Braves (1983–1985), and the Milwaukee Brewers (1987).
Did Len Barker win a Cy Young Award?
No. Len Barker did not win the Cy Young Award.
What awards did Len Barker win?
Len Barker was selected to 1 All-Star Game.
What were Len Barker's career stats?
In 248 games, Len Barker went 74-76 with a 4.34 ERA, 975 strikeouts, 1,323.2 innings pitched, and 5 saves.
How much did Len Barker earn in his career?
Len Barker's recorded salaries total $3,612,500 over 4 seasons, 1985 to 1988. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Barker's career ran from 1976 to 1987. His seasons before 1985 are not included.
What was Len Barker's salary?
Len Barker's last recorded salary was $900,000, in 1988. His highest recorded salary was $962,500, in 1987, and his lowest was $870,000, in 1985. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1988.
What position did Len Barker play?
Len Barker played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Len Barker and how much did he weigh?
Len Barker was listed at 6 feet 5 inches and 225 pounds.
What was Len Barker's career ERA?
Len Barker finished with a 4.34 career ERA, going 74-76 with 975 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Len Barker have?
Len Barker recorded 975 career strikeouts.
Is Len Barker in the Hall of Fame?
No. Len Barker has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.