Rube Benton

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1910-1925)

Rube Benton was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1910 to 1925 for the Cincinnati Reds and the New York Giants, a span of 16 seasons. Across 437 career appearances, he went 150-144 with a 3.09 ERA, 950 strikeouts, and 21 saves. He also batted .172 with 1 home runs. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 8353.3.

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 150–144
ERA 3.09
WHIP 1.26
SO 950
Pitcher PIV 8353.3
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / L
Height / Weight
6'1" / 190 lb
Born
6/27/1890 in Clinton, NC, USA
Died
12/12/1937 in Dothan, AL, USA
MLB Debut
1910-06-28
Last Game
1925-09-21

Full name: John Cleave Benton

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Career Pitching Statistics

Rube Benton — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
150 144 437 305 145 24 21 2517.1 2,472 863 52 712 950 3.09 8353.3

Career ERA 3.09 vs. league average 3.37 across their career seasons — 8.3% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Rube 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
1910 CIN NL 0 1 12 2 0 0 0 38.0 44 20 23 15 4.74 2.79 (-70%) -960.3
1911 CIN NL 3 3 6 6 5 0 0 44.2 44 10 23 28 2.01 3.37 (+40%) 90.1
1912 CIN NL 18 20 50 39 22 2 2 302.0 316 104 118 162 3.10 3.36 (+8%) 1053.2
1913 CIN NL 11 7 23 22 9 1 0 144.1 140 56 60 68 3.49 3.07 (-14%) -1359.0
1914 CIN NL 16 18 41 31 16 5 2 271.0 223 89 95 121 2.96 2.93 (-1%) 301.9
1915 CIN NL 6 13 35 21 6 2 4 176.1 165 65 67 83 3.32 2.90 (-15%) -462.3
1915 NY1 NL 3 5 10 7 3 0 1 60.2 57 19 9 26 2.82 2.90 (+3%) 991.0
1916 NY1 NL 16 8 38 30 15 3 2 238.2 210 76 58 115 2.87 2.78 (-3%) 1525.6
1917 NY1 NL 15 9 35 25 14 3 3 215.0 190 65 41 70 2.72 2.69 (-1%) 496.6
1918 NY1 NL 1 2 3 3 2 0 0 24.0 17 5 3 9 1.88 2.83 (+34%) 549.8
1919 NY1 NL 17 11 35 28 11 1 2 209.0 181 61 52 53 2.63 3.09 (+15%) -147.9
1920 NY1 NL 9 16 33 25 12 4 2 193.1 222 65 31 52 3.03 3.45 (+12%) 625.7
1921 NY1 NL 5 2 18 9 3 1 0 72.0 72 23 17 11 2.88 4.02 (+28%) 165.4
1923 CIN NL 14 10 33 26 15 0 1 219.0 243 89 57 59 3.66 4.03 (+9%) 543.5
1924 CIN NL 7 9 32 15 6 1 1 162.2 166 50 24 42 2.77 4.13 (+33%) 3204.4
1925 CIN NL 9 10 33 16 6 1 1 146.2 182 66 34 36 4.05 4.55 (+11%) 1735.8
Career · 16 seasons 150 144 437 305 145 24 21 2,517.1 2,472 863 712 950 3.09 — 8,353

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

Rube Benton — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
437 825 45 142 19 4 1 60 4 22 188 .172 .196 .208 .404 -4,521

Career AVG .172 vs. league average .266 across their career seasons — 35.3% below league average.

Career OBP .196 vs. league average .330 across their career seasons — 40.8% below league average.

Career SLG .208 vs. league average .358 across their career seasons — 41.7% below league average.

Career OPS .404 vs. league average .688 across their career seasons — 41.3% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Rube Benton 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
1910 CIN NL 12 11 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 .091 — — — — 0.0
1911 CIN NL 6 14 0 2 1 0 0 2 0 0 6 .143 — — — — 0.0
1912 CIN NL 50 104 6 14 3 0 0 9 1 0 31 .135 .268 (-50%) .335 (-57%) .358 (-54%) .694 (-56%) -909.3
1913 CIN NL 23 48 8 10 0 1 0 8 0 4 7 .208 — — — — -162.5
1914 CIN NL 41 91 4 13 2 1 0 7 1 1 31 .143 .255 (-44%) .322 (-53%) .339 (-45%) .661 (-49%) -677.5
1915 CIN NL 35 53 1 11 1 0 0 3 0 0 11 .208 .250 (-17%) .318 (-35%) .332 (-32%) .651 (-33%) -267.1
1915 NY1 NL 10 23 2 5 2 0 0 4 1 0 5 .217 — — — — -267.1
1916 NY1 NL 38 78 3 7 0 1 0 3 1 2 21 .090 .248 (-64%) .314 (-64%) .326 (-65%) .640 (-64%) -731.8
1917 NY1 NL 35 72 1 12 1 1 0 2 0 2 18 .167 .248 (-33%) .312 (-39%) .323 (-36%) .635 (-37%) -400.2
1918 NY1 NL 3 7 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 .143 — — — — 0.0
1919 NY1 NL 35 67 5 13 0 0 1 7 0 0 8 .194 .262 (-26%) .322 (-40%) .347 (-31%) .670 (-35%) -363.4
1920 NY1 NL 33 65 3 6 0 0 0 3 0 0 14 .092 .271 (-66%) .331 (-72%) .363 (-75%) .694 (-73%) -733.5
1921 NY1 NL 18 21 1 3 1 0 0 1 0 1 4 .143 — — — — 0.0
1923 CIN NL 33 80 5 23 3 0 0 4 0 1 12 .287 .282 (+2%) .344 (-12%) .390 (-17%) .734 (-14%) -188.3
1924 CIN NL 32 46 5 12 2 0 0 3 0 5 10 .261 — — — — -87.8
1925 CIN NL 33 45 0 9 2 0 0 4 0 4 3 .200 — — — — 0.0
Career · 16 seasons 437 825 45 142 19 4 1 60 4 22 188 .172 — — — — -4,788

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

Rube Benton — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000

Playoff Batting by Year

Rube Benton — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1917 WS NY1 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

Rube Benton — Playoff Career Pitching
W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1 1 2 2 0 14.0 9 0 1 8 0.00

Playoff Pitching by Year

Rube Benton — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1917 WS NY1 1 1 2 2 0 14.0 9 0 1 8 0.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (874 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Rube Benton — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home2204062575126.185
Away2174192067034.160

Pitching — Home / Away

Rube Benton — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home2201313.112083953304872.71
Away2171195.012674793834633.61

Last 10 Games — Batting

Rube Benton — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1925-09-21 CINBSNL 100000000
1925-09-07 CINSTLW 000000000
1925-09-05 CINCHCW 401000000
1925-08-28 CINBROW 300000000
1925-08-24 CINBSNL 000000000
1925-08-18 CINPHIW 200000100
1925-08-14 CINPITL 101000000
1925-08-12 CINBROL 000000000
1925-08-10 CINBROL 000000000
1925-08-02 CINBSNL 201000001

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Rube Benton — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1925-09-21 CINBSN L 3.2644120
1925-09-07 CINSTL — 1.0411010
1925-09-05 CINCHC W 9.0711031
1925-08-28 CINBRO W 6.21055200
1925-08-24 CINBSN — 2.0000010
1925-08-18 CINPHI — 6.0973110
1925-08-14 CINPIT — 4.0666210
1925-08-12 CINBRO — 1.0000000
1925-08-10 CINBRO L 0.2464200
1925-08-02 CINBSN L 7.01052020

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Rube Benton — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
P 437 2 75 680 29 23

Season-by-Season Fielding

Rube Benton — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1910 CIN P 12 2 1 13 0 1
1911 CIN P 6 0 0 6 1 2
1912 CIN P 50 0 13 78 3 2
1913 CIN P 23 0 0 35 4 0
1914 CIN P 41 0 9 70 5 3
1915 CIN P 35 0 7 56 2 2
1915 NY1 P 10 0 1 16 1 0
1916 NY1 P 38 0 6 57 0 3
1917 NY1 P 35 0 2 58 3 0
1918 NY1 P 3 0 1 7 0 1
1919 NY1 P 35 0 3 60 0 0
1920 NY1 P 33 0 13 74 2 0
1921 NY1 P 18 0 2 16 1 1
1923 CIN P 33 0 7 57 2 2
1924 CIN P 32 0 7 46 4 3
1925 CIN P 33 0 3 31 1 3

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Rube Benton Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 437

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

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

  1. 98
    Claude Passeau
    162-150, 3.32 ERA
  2. 93
    Bill Doak
    169-157, 2.98 ERA
  3. 90
    George Mogridge
    132-131, 3.21 ERA
  4. 90
    Urban Shocker
    187-117, 3.17 ERA
  5. 80
    Lon Warneke
    192-121, 3.18 ERA
  6. 80
    Art Nehf
    184-120, 3.20 ERA

Rube Benton: the record in brief

Rube Benton's major league career runs from a debut on June 28, 1910 to a final game on September 21, 1925. Club by club, the record runs the Cincinnati Reds (1910 to 1925) and the New York Giants (1915 through 1921). Benton played primarily as a pitcher and threw left-handed and batted right-handed. Born on June 27, 1890, in Clinton, NC, USA, Benton was listed at 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds. Benton died on December 12, 1937, in Dothan, AL, USA. Rube Benton was the playing name; the full given name is John Cleave.

Across 437 games (305 starts), Benton recorded 150 wins against 144 losses with a 3.09 ERA. The totals include 950 strikeouts, 145 complete games, 24 shutouts, and 21 saves. That 3.09 ERA compares with a 3.37 league average across the same seasons, 8.3% better. No season topped the 18 wins of 1912. Among the heaviest workloads, the lowest ERA was 2.63 in 1919, when the league's was 3.09.

Frequently Asked Questions about Rube Benton

What years did Rube Benton play?
Rube Benton played in Major League Baseball from 1910 to 1925.
Was Rube Benton a pitcher?
Yes. Rube Benton pitched in the major leagues, recording 150 wins and 950 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Rube Benton hit?
Rube Benton hit 1 career home runs with 142 hits.
What was Rube Benton's career batting average?
Rube Benton batted .172 over his career, with 142 hits in 825 at bats.
How many RBI did Rube Benton have?
Rube Benton drove in 60 runs in his career.
What was Rube Benton's career ERA?
Rube Benton finished with a 3.09 career ERA, going 150-144 with 950 strikeouts.