Buddy Black

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1981-1995)

W–L 121–116
ERA 3.84
WHIP 1.27
SO 1,039
Pitcher PIV -11746.5
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
L / L
Height / Weight
6'2" / 180 lb
Born
6/30/1957 in San Mateo, CA, USA
MLB Debut
1981-09-05
Last Game
1995-07-09

Full name: Harry Ralston Black

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Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
121 116 398 296 32 12 11 2053.3 1,978 876 217 623 1,039 3.84 -11746.5

Career ERA 3.84 vs. league average 3.96 across their career seasons — near 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
1981 SEA AL 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1.0 2 0 3 0 0.00 — 0.0
1982 KCA AL 4 6 22 14 0 0 0 88.3 92 45 34 40 4.58 3.86 (-19%) -1493.5
1983 KCA AL 10 7 24 24 3 0 0 161.3 159 68 43 58 3.79 3.87 (+2%) -2143.5
1984 KCA AL 17 12 35 35 8 1 0 257.0 226 89 64 140 3.12 3.81 (+18%) 1526.6
1985 KCA AL 10 15 33 33 5 2 0 205.7 216 99 59 122 4.33 3.89 (-11%) 1841.8
1986 KCA AL 5 10 56 4 0 0 9 121.0 100 43 43 68 3.20 3.97 (+19%) -1265.5
1987 KCA AL 8 6 29 18 0 0 1 122.3 126 49 35 61 3.60 4.29 (+16%) -799.6
1988 KCA AL 2 1 17 0 0 0 0 22.0 23 12 11 19 4.91 3.73 (-31%) 5.6
1988 CLE AL 2 3 16 7 0 0 1 59.0 59 33 23 44 5.03 3.73 (-35%) -352.1
1989 CLE AL 12 11 33 32 6 3 0 222.3 213 83 52 88 3.36 3.71 (+9%) 1193.6
1990 CLE AL 11 10 29 29 5 2 0 191.0 171 75 58 103 3.53 3.86 (+8%) 3.1
1990 TOR AL 2 1 3 2 0 0 0 15.7 10 7 3 3 4.02 3.86 (-4%) -387.6
1991 SFN NL 12 16 34 34 3 3 0 214.3 201 95 71 104 3.99 3.91 (-2%) -2894.3
1992 SFN NL 10 12 28 28 2 1 0 177.0 178 78 59 82 3.97 3.75 (-6%) -3616.8
1993 SFN NL 8 2 16 16 0 0 0 93.7 89 37 33 45 3.56 4.19 (+15%) -1784.7
1994 SFN NL 4 2 10 10 0 0 0 54.3 50 27 16 28 4.47 4.51 (+1%) -1074.7
1995 CLE AL 4 2 11 10 0 0 0 47.3 63 36 16 34 6.85 4.45 (-54%) -505.1
Career · 17 seasons 121 116 398 296 32 12 11 2,053.1 1,978 876 623 1,039 3.84 — -11,747

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

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
400 179 6 26 4 0 0 12 0 4 49 .145 .164 .168 .332 -1,121

Career AVG .145 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — 44.0% below league average.

Career OBP .164 vs. league average .326 across their career seasons — 49.7% below league average.

Career SLG .168 vs. league average .392 across their career seasons — 57.2% below league average.

Career OPS .332 vs. league average .718 across their career seasons — 53.8% below 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
1981 SEA AL 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1982 KCA AL 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1983 KCA AL 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1984 KCA AL 35 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1985 KCA AL 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1986 KCA AL 56 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1987 KCA AL 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1988 KCA AL 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1988 CLE AL 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1989 CLE AL 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1990 CLE AL 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1990 TOR AL 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1991 SFN NL 35 71 3 13 3 0 0 6 0 0 20 .183 .255 (-28%) .323 (-43%) .384 (-41%) .708 (-42%) -478.0
1992 SFN NL 28 54 1 3 1 0 0 2 0 2 16 .056 .255 (-78%) .322 (-72%) .377 (-80%) .699 (-77%) -642.7
1993 SFN NL 16 37 2 9 0 0 0 3 0 2 8 .243 — — — — 0.0
1994 SFN NL 10 17 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 .059 — — — — 0.0
1995 CLE AL 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 17 seasons 400 179 6 26 4 0 0 12 0 4 49 .145 — — — — -1,121

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
6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1985 ALCS KCA 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1985 WS KCA 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000
1984 ALCS KCA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
0 2 6 3 0 21.0 22 9 10 15 3.86

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1985 ALCS KCA 0 0 3 1 0 10.7 11 2 4 8 1.69
1985 WS KCA 0 1 2 1 0 5.3 4 3 5 4 5.06
1984 ALCS KCA 0 1 1 1 0 5.0 7 4 1 3 7.20

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (798 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home2018411305.155
Away1999551307.137

Pitching — Home / Away

SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home2011059.110204242975353.60
Away197994.09584523265044.09

Last 10 Games — Pitching

DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1995-07-09 CLESEA — 2.0344121
1995-07-04 CLETEX — 3.2744120
1995-06-29 CLEMIN W 6.0833160
1995-06-24 CLECHW L 2.1774310
1995-06-17 CLENYY W 6.0644122
1995-06-11 CLEMIL W 5.2743171
1995-06-06 CLEDET — 6.0333451
1995-06-01 CLECHW W 5.0422111
1995-05-27 CLETOR — 6.0200170
1995-05-21 CLEBOS — 2.0966101

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 398 296 89 356 13 25

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1981 SEA P 2 0 0 1 0 0
1982 KCA P 22 14 6 12 1 1
1983 KCA P 24 24 7 32 1 5
1984 KCA P 35 35 13 51 2 2
1985 KCA P 33 33 6 30 4 0
1986 KCA P 56 4 3 21 0 1
1987 KCA P 29 18 4 19 0 0
1988 KCA P 17 0 0 1 0 0
1988 CLE P 16 7 5 11 0 0
1989 CLE P 33 32 13 33 2 3
1990 CLE P 29 29 7 27 1 2
1990 TOR P 3 2 0 6 0 0
1991 SFN P 34 34 14 38 0 4
1992 SFN P 28 28 5 37 0 4
1993 SFN P 16 16 3 22 2 2
1994 SFN P 10 10 3 7 0 1
1995 CLE P 11 10 0 8 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Pitcher 398

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1984 Player of the Week Week of 1984-09-21

Salary History

Year Team League Salary
1995 CLE AL $350,000
1994 SFN NL $3,250,000
1993 SFN NL $2,250,000
1992 SFN NL $2,750,000
1991 SFN NL $1,750,000
1990 CLE AL $775,000
1989 CLE AL $600,000
1988 KCA AL $635,000
1987 KCA AL $600,000
1986 KCA AL $645,000
1985 KCA AL $465,000
Total Career Earnings $14,070,000

College History

School Name City State Years Attended
San Diego State University San Diego CA 1978, 1979
Lower Columbia College Longview WA 1976, 1977

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Buddy Black (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Joaquin Andujar
    127-118, 3.58 ERA
  2. 97
    Frank Lary
    128-116, 3.49 ERA
  3. 95
    Don Cardwell
    102-138, 3.92 ERA
  4. 92
    Ed Whitson
    126-123, 3.79 ERA
  5. 92
    Larry Gura
    126-97, 3.76 ERA
  6. 88
    Jack Sanford
    137-101, 3.69 ERA

Frequently Asked Questions about Buddy Black

What years did Buddy Black play?
Buddy Black played in Major League Baseball from 1981 to 1995.
Was Buddy Black a pitcher?
Yes. Buddy Black pitched in the major leagues, recording 121 wins and 1039 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Buddy Black hit?
Buddy Black hit 0 career home runs with 26 hits.