Ray Boone
Third Baseman · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1948-1960)
Ray Boone was a third baseman who played in Major League Baseball from 1948 to 1960 for 6 teams, including the Cleveland Guardians, a span of 13 seasons. In 1,373 career games, he hit .275 with 1,260 hits, 151 home runs, and 737 RBI. Ray Boone was a 2-time All-Star. His totals include Negro Leagues seasons, which MLB recognized as major league in 2020. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 9,167.
- AVG (Batting Average):
- Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
- HR (Home Runs):
- Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
- RBI (Runs Batted In):
- Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
- OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
- On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.
Data updated
- Position
- Third Baseman
- Bats / Throws
- R / R
- Height / Weight
- 6'0" / 172 lb
- Died
- 10/17/2004 in San Diego, CA, USA
- MLB Debut
- 1948-09-03
- Last Game
- 1960-08-11
- Awards
- 2× All-Star
Full name: Raymond Otis Boone
Negro Leagues (season totals). Additive Retrosheet-digitized totals for seasons not already in the logs above; they are not summed into the career line. No team/league breakdown is available, and coverage may be partial.
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,373 | 4,589 | 645 | 1,260 | 162 | 46 | 151 | 737 | 21 | 608 | 463 | .275 | .361 | .429 | .789 | 9,167 |
Career AVG .275 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — +5.7% above league average.
Career OBP .361 vs. league average .333 across their career seasons — +8.5% above league average.
Career SLG .429 vs. league average .389 across their career seasons — +10.1% above league average.
Career OPS .789 vs. league average .722 across their career seasons — +9.3% above league average.
Season-by-Season Batting
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | CLE | AL | 6 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .400 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1949 | CLE | AL | 86 | 258 | 39 | 65 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 26 | 0 | 38 | 17 | .252 | .262 (-4%) | .343 (+3%) | .384 (-10%) | .727 (-4%) | -112.4 |
| 1950 | CLE | AL | 109 | 365 | 53 | 110 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 58 | 4 | 56 | 27 | .301 | .265 (+13%) | .346 (+15%) | .401 (+7%) | .747 (+11%) | 903.6 |
| 1951 | CLE | AL | 151 | 544 | 65 | 127 | 14 | 1 | 12 | 51 | 5 | 48 | 36 | .233 | .260 (-11%) | .336 (-10%) | .385 (-15%) | .721 (-13%) | -1096.5 |
| 1952 | CLE | AL | 103 | 316 | 57 | 83 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 45 | 0 | 53 | 33 | .263 | .252 (+4%) | .326 (+14%) | .369 (-1%) | .696 (+6%) | 551.3 |
| 1953 | CLE | AL | 34 | 112 | 21 | 27 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 21 | 1 | 24 | 21 | .241 | .264 (-9%) | .335 (+12%) | .397 (-1%) | .733 (+5%) | 156.7 |
| 1953 | DET | AL | 101 | 385 | 73 | 120 | 16 | 6 | 22 | 93 | 2 | 48 | 47 | .312 | .264 (+18%) | .335 (+18%) | .397 (+40%) | .733 (+30%) | 156.7 |
| 1954 | DET | AL | 148 | 543 | 76 | 160 | 19 | 7 | 20 | 85 | 4 | 71 | 53 | .295 | .261 (+13%) | .333 (+13%) | .390 (+19%) | .723 (+16%) | 1921.2 |
| 1955 | DET | AL | 135 | 500 | 61 | 142 | 22 | 7 | 20 | 116 | 1 | 50 | 49 | .284 | .258 (+10%) | .332 (+4%) | .393 (+21%) | .726 (+13%) | 1190.0 |
| 1956 | DET | AL | 131 | 481 | 77 | 148 | 14 | 6 | 25 | 81 | 0 | 77 | 46 | .308 | .258 (+19%) | .331 (+22%) | .397 (+30%) | .728 (+26%) | 2738.1 |
| 1957 | DET | AL | 129 | 462 | 48 | 126 | 25 | 3 | 12 | 65 | 1 | 57 | 47 | .273 | .257 (+6%) | .323 (+9%) | .391 (+7%) | .715 (+8%) | 783.7 |
| 1958 | DET | AL | 39 | 114 | 16 | 27 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 20 | 0 | 14 | 13 | .237 | .257 (-8%) | .324 (-1%) | .394 (+13%) | .719 (+7%) | 133.4 |
| 1958 | CHA | AL | 77 | 246 | 25 | 60 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 41 | 1 | 18 | 33 | .244 | .257 (-5%) | .324 (-9%) | .394 (-2%) | .719 (-5%) | 133.4 |
| 1959 | CHA | AL | 9 | 21 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 5 | .238 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1959 | KC1 | AL | 61 | 132 | 19 | 36 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 27 | 17 | .273 | .256 (+6%) | .323 (+22%) | .392 (-7%) | .715 (+6%) | 0.0 |
| 1959 | ML1 | NL | 13 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | .200 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1960 | ML1 | NL | 7 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 | .250 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1960 | BOS | AL | 34 | 78 | 6 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 15 | .205 | .255 (-20%) | .323 (-7%) | .387 (-34%) | .711 (-22%) | 0.0 |
| Career · 18 seasons | 1,373 | 4,589 | 645 | 1,260 | 162 | 46 | 151 | 737 | 21 | 608 | 463 | .275 | — | — | — | — | 7,459 | ||
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 (1373 games) →Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).
Batting — Home / Away
| Split | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 689 | 2250 | 307 | 620 | 78 | 349 | .276 |
| Away | 684 | 2338 | 337 | 640 | 73 | 388 | .274 |
Last 10 Games — Batting
| Date | Tm | Opp | Res | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960-08-11 | BOS | CLE | W | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1960-08-09 | BOS | CLE | L | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1960-08-07 | BOS | DET | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1960-08-06 | BOS | DET | W | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1960-08-05 | BOS | DET | W | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1960-08-02 | BOS | KC1 | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1960-08-01 | BOS | KC1 | L | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1960-07-28 | BOS | CHW | W | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1960-07-27 | BOS | CHW | L | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1960-07-26 | BOS | CHW | L | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | 285 | 270 | 2249 | 137 | 29 | 222 |
| 2B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 3B | 510 | 409 | 576 | 1058 | 72 | 112 |
| SS | 464 | 0 | 899 | 1260 | 117 | 311 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | CLE | SS | 4 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 1949 | CLE | SS | 76 | 0 | 162 | 210 | 21 | 58 |
| 1950 | CLE | SS | 102 | 0 | 178 | 267 | 26 | 64 |
| 1951 | CLE | SS | 151 | 0 | 311 | 425 | 33 | 108 |
| 1952 | CLE | 2B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1952 | CLE | 3B | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 1952 | CLE | SS | 96 | 0 | 177 | 251 | 27 | 55 |
| 1953 | CLE | SS | 31 | 0 | 64 | 94 | 8 | 24 |
| 1953 | DET | 3B | 97 | 0 | 111 | 211 | 14 | 32 |
| 1953 | DET | SS | 3 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 2 |
| 1954 | DET | 3B | 148 | 148 | 170 | 332 | 19 | 22 |
| 1954 | DET | SS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1955 | DET | 3B | 126 | 126 | 135 | 252 | 19 | 33 |
| 1956 | DET | 3B | 130 | 130 | 151 | 243 | 17 | 23 |
| 1957 | DET | 1B | 117 | 117 | 972 | 45 | 10 | 103 |
| 1957 | DET | 3B | 4 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 2 | 0 |
| 1958 | DET | 1B | 32 | 32 | 236 | 15 | 3 | 26 |
| 1958 | CHA | 1B | 63 | 60 | 511 | 34 | 8 | 45 |
| 1959 | CHA | 1B | 6 | 5 | 37 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| 1959 | KC1 | 1B | 38 | 30 | 275 | 23 | 5 | 20 |
| 1959 | KC1 | 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 1959 | ML1 | 1B | 3 | 3 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 1960 | ML1 | 1B | 4 | 4 | 33 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 1960 | BOS | 1B | 22 | 19 | 166 | 11 | 1 | 19 |
Career Games by Position
Circle size = games played at each position.
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| First Base | 285 |
| Second Base | 1 |
| Third Base | 510 |
| Shortstop | 465 |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 16th | 16.0 | 336 | 0 |
| 1954 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 26th | 1.0 | 336 | 0 |
| 1953 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 8th | 59.0 | 336 | 0 |
Most Similar Players
Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.
Ray Boone (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.
Compare Ray Boone
Frequently Asked Questions about Ray Boone
- What years did Ray Boone play?
- Ray Boone played in Major League Baseball from 1948 to 1960.
- Was Ray Boone a pitcher?
- No. Ray Boone was a position player (Third Baseman).
- How many home runs did Ray Boone hit?
- Ray Boone hit 151 career home runs with 1260 hits.
- What was Ray Boone's career batting average?
- Ray Boone batted .275 over his career, with 1,260 hits in 4,589 at bats.
- How many RBI did Ray Boone have?
- Ray Boone drove in 737 runs in his career.
- Is Ray Boone in the Hall of Fame?
- No. Ray Boone has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.