What years did Al Benton play?

Al Benton played in Major League Baseball from 1934 to 1952.

Was Al Benton a pitcher?

Yes. Al Benton pitched in the major leagues, recording 98 wins and 697 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Al Benton hit?

Al Benton hit 0 career home runs with 50 hits.

What teams did Al Benton play for?

Al Benton played for 4 teams: the Philadelphia Athletics (1934–1935), the Detroit Tigers (1938–1942, 1945–1948), the Cleveland Indians (1949–1950), and the Boston Red Sox (1952).

What awards did Al Benton win?

Al Benton was selected to 2 All-Star Games.

What were Al Benton's career stats?

In 455 games, Al Benton went 98-88 with a 3.66 ERA, 697 strikeouts, 1,688.1 innings pitched, and 66 saves. At the plate he had 50 hits and 0 home runs.

What position did Al Benton play?

Al Benton played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Al Benton and how much did he weigh?

Al Benton was listed at 6 feet 4 inches and 215 pounds.

What was Al Benton's career ERA?

Al Benton finished with a 3.66 career ERA, going 98-88 with 697 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Al Benton have?

Al Benton recorded 697 career strikeouts.

Is Al Benton in the Hall of Fame?

No. Al Benton has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

How many All-Star Games did Al Benton make?

Al Benton was selected to 2 All-Star Games.

Al Benton

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1934-1952)

Al Benton was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1934 to 1952 for 4 teams, including the Philadelphia Athletics, a span of 19 seasons. Across 455 career appearances, he went 98-88 with a 3.66 ERA, 697 strikeouts, and 66 saves. He also batted .098 with 0 home runs. Al Benton was a 2-time All-Star.

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 October 15, 2026

W–L 98–88

ERA 3.66

WHIP 1.42

SO 697

Pitcher PIV -5782.4

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'4" / 215 lb
Born: 3/18/1911 in Noble, OK, USA
Died: 4/14/1968 in Lynwood, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 1934-04-18
Last Game: 1952-09-21
Awards: 2× All-Star

Full name: John Alton Benton

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Career Pitching Statistics

Al Benton — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
98	88	455	167	58	10	66	1688.1	1,672	686	106	733	697	3.66	-5782.4

Career ERA 3.66 vs. league average 4.03 across their career seasons — 9.3% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Al Benton Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1934	PHA	AL	7	9	32	21	7	0	1	155.0	145	84	88	58	4.88	4.29 (-14%)	-1975.4
1935	PHA	AL	3	4	27	9	0	0	0	78.1	110	67	47	42	7.70	4.35 (-77%)	-1509.6
1938	DET	AL	5	3	19	10	6	0	0	95.1	93	35	39	33	3.30	4.35 (+24%)	-1609.7
1939	DET	AL	6	8	37	16	3	0	5	150.0	182	76	58	67	4.56	4.28 (-6%)	-91.6
1940	DET	AL	6	10	42	0	0	0	17	79.1	93	39	36	50	4.42	4.21 (-5%)	584.5
1941	DET	AL	15	6	38	14	7	1	7	157.2	130	52	65	63	2.97	3.94 (+25%)	-1065.2
1942	DET	AL	7	13	35	30	9	1	2	226.2	210	73	84	110	2.90	3.57 (+19%)	1986.4
1945	DET	AL	13	8	31	27	12	5	3	191.2	175	43	63	76	2.02	3.67 (+45%)	1250.6
1946	DET	AL	11	7	28	15	6	1	1	140.2	132	57	58	60	3.65	3.59 (-2%)	-817.4
1947	DET	AL	6	7	36	14	4	0	7	133.0	147	65	61	33	4.40	3.97 (-11%)	-2333.6
1948	DET	AL	2	2	30	0	0	0	3	44.1	45	28	36	18	5.68	4.10 (-39%)	-1701.2
1949	CLE	AL	9	6	40	11	4	2	10	135.2	116	32	51	41	2.12	4.12 (+48%)	1364.0
1950	CLE	AL	4	2	36	0	0	0	4	63.0	57	25	30	26	3.57	4.36 (+18%)	-504.8
1952	BOS	AL	4	3	24	0	0	0	6	37.2	37	10	17	20	2.39	3.70 (+35%)	640.7
Career · 14 seasons			98	88	455	167	58	10	66	1,688.1	1,672	686	733	697	3.66	—	-5,782

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

Al Benton — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
455	512	22	50	7	0	0	14	0	7	200	.098	.112	.111	.223	-2,722

Career AVG .098 vs. league average .265 across their career seasons — 63.2% below league average.

Career OBP .112 vs. league average .336 across their career seasons — 66.8% below league average.

Career SLG .111 vs. league average .379 across their career seasons — 70.6% below league average.

Career OPS .223 vs. league average .716 across their career seasons — 68.9% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Al Benton Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1934	PHA	AL	32	55	1	6	0	2	0	22	.109	.278 (-61%)	.340 (-68%)	.392 (-72%)	.733 (-70%)	-622.2
1935	PHA	AL	27	25	1	1	0	0	2	11	.040	—	—	—	—	0.0
1938	DET	AL	19	33	1	4	0	1	0	13	.121	—	—	—	—	0.0
1939	DET	AL	37	44	5	4	0	1	0	15	.091	—	—	—	—	0.0
1940	DET	AL	42	17	0	0	0	0	0	8	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1941	DET	AL	38	50	2	3	1	0	0	20	.060	.262 (-77%)	.332 (-82%)	.373 (-79%)	.705 (-80%)	-630.0
1942	DET	AL	35	67	3	5	1	0	0	32	.075	.253 (-71%)	.323 (-77%)	.349 (-74%)	.672 (-76%)	-764.3
1945	DET	AL	31	63	2	4	2	3	2	21	.063	.260 (-76%)	.328 (-72%)	.354 (-73%)	.683 (-73%)	-705.6
1946	DET	AL	28	49	3	9	1	3	0	17	.184	—	—	—	—	0.0
1947	DET	AL	36	39	1	6	1	2	0	10	.154	—	—	—	—	0.0
1948	DET	AL	30	11	1	2	1	1	0	6	.182	—	—	—	—	0.0
1949	CLE	AL	40	38	1	5	0	1	1	11	.132	—	—	—	—	0.0
1950	CLE	AL	36	12	1	1	0	0	2	9	.083	—	—	—	—	0.0
1952	BOS	AL	24	9	0	0	0	0	0	5	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 14 seasons			455	512	22	50	7	14	7	200	.098	—	—	—	—	-2,722

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

Al Benton — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Al Benton — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1945	WS	DET	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Al Benton — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	0	3	0	0	4.2	6	1	0	5	1.93

Playoff Pitching by Year

Al Benton — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1945	WS	DET	0	0	3	0	0	4.2	6	1	0	5	1.93

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (910 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Al Benton — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	219	260	12	31	0	9	.119
Away	236	251	10	19	0	5	.076

Pitching — Home / Away

Al Benton — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	219	879.1	878	348	340	385	3.56
Away	236	809.0	795	339	391	311	3.77

Last 10 Games — Batting

Al Benton — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB
1952-09-21	BOS	MIN	W	0
1952-09-12	BOS	CLE	L	0
1952-09-11	BOS	DET	L	0
1952-08-29	BOS	PHA	L	0
1952-08-28	BOS	PHA	L	1
1952-08-24	BOS	SLA	W	1
1952-08-20	BOS	CLE	L	0
1952-08-19	BOS	CLE	W	0
1952-08-18	BOS	NYY	L	0
1952-08-15	BOS	NYY	W	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Al Benton — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1952-09-21	BOS	MIN	SV	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0
1952-09-12	BOS	CLE	—	0.2	3	2	2	1	0	0
1952-09-11	BOS	DET	L	1.0	3	2	2	1	1	1
1952-08-29	BOS	PHA	—	0.2	1	0	0	0	0	0
1952-08-28	BOS	PHA	L	3.1	3	2	2	2	1	0
1952-08-24	BOS	SLA	W	2.0	1	0	0	0	2	0
1952-08-20	BOS	CLE	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0
1952-08-19	BOS	CLE	W	2.0	1	0	0	0	1	0
1952-08-18	BOS	NYY	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0
1952-08-15	BOS	NYY	SV	1.0	2	0	0	0	1	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Al Benton — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	455	0	97	301	26	18

Season-by-Season Fielding

Al Benton — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	PO	A	E	DP
1934	PHA	P	32	11	28	1	3
1935	PHA	P	27	2	12	1	0
1938	DET	P	19	3	25	1	0
1939	DET	P	37	6	27	2	0
1940	DET	P	42	5	11	3	1
1941	DET	P	38	9	27	3	4
1942	DET	P	35	18	39	5	0
1945	DET	P	31	11	44	2	4
1946	DET	P	28	16	26	2	0
1947	DET	P	36	6	24	4	1
1948	DET	P	30	2	8	1	1
1949	CLE	P	40	4	17	0	2
1950	CLE	P	36	1	8	0	2
1952	BOS	P	24	3	5	1	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Al Benton Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	455

Award Voting History

Al Benton — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1945	Most Valuable Player	AL	23th	6.0	336	0
1941	Most Valuable Player	AL	19th	8.0	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

Al Benton (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Al Benton: the record in brief

Al Benton's major league career runs from a debut on April 18, 1934 to a final game on September 21, 1952. Club by club, the record runs the Philadelphia Athletics (1934 to 1935), the Detroit Tigers (1938 to 1948), the Cleveland Indians (1949 to 1950), and the Boston Red Sox (1952). Benton, born on March 18, 1911, in Noble, OK, USA, is listed as a pitcher and batted and threw right-handed. The bio gives 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds. Benton died on April 14, 1968, in Lynwood, CA, USA. Benton's full given name, per the bio, is John Alton Benton.

The pitching table credits Benton with a 98-88 record and a 3.66 ERA in 455 games. The same table counts 697 strikeouts, 58 complete games, 10 shutouts, and 66 saves. Against a 4.03 league ERA for the same years, Benton was 9.3% better. Benton won 15 games in 1941, the most of any season listed. 1942 produced Benton's most strikeouts, 110. The most saves in one season was 17, in 1940.

Frequently Asked Questions about Al Benton

What years did Al Benton play?: Al Benton played in Major League Baseball from 1934 to 1952.
Was Al Benton a pitcher?: Yes. Al Benton pitched in the major leagues, recording 98 wins and 697 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Al Benton hit?: Al Benton hit 0 career home runs with 50 hits.
What teams did Al Benton play for?: Al Benton played for 4 teams: the Philadelphia Athletics (1934–1935), the Detroit Tigers (1938–1942, 1945–1948), the Cleveland Indians (1949–1950), and the Boston Red Sox (1952).
What awards did Al Benton win?: Al Benton was selected to 2 All-Star Games.
What were Al Benton's career stats?: In 455 games, Al Benton went 98-88 with a 3.66 ERA, 697 strikeouts, 1,688.1 innings pitched, and 66 saves. At the plate he had 50 hits and 0 home runs.
What position did Al Benton play?: Al Benton played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Al Benton and how much did he weigh?: Al Benton was listed at 6 feet 4 inches and 215 pounds.
What was Al Benton's career ERA?: Al Benton finished with a 3.66 career ERA, going 98-88 with 697 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Al Benton have?: Al Benton recorded 697 career strikeouts.
Is Al Benton in the Hall of Fame?: No. Al Benton has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
How many All-Star Games did Al Benton make?: Al Benton was selected to 2 All-Star Games.