Bob Boyd

First Baseman · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1951-1961)

Bob Boyd was a first baseman who played in Major League Baseball from 1951 to 1961 for 5 teams, including the Memphis Red Sox, a span of 11 seasons. In 727 career games, he hit .298 with 620 hits, 21 home runs, and 201 RBI. Bob Boyd 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 2,302.

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

AVG .298
HR 21
RBI 201
H 620
OPS .750
PIV 2,302
Position
First Baseman
Bats / Throws
L / L
Height / Weight
5'10" / 170 lb
Born
10/1/1919 in Potts Camp, MS, USA
Died
9/7/2004 in Wichita, KS, USA
MLB Debut
1951-09-08
Last Game
1961-09-24
Awards
2× All-Star

Full name: Robert Richard Boyd

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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

Bob Boyd — Batting
PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
251.0 236.0 52.0 117.0 17.0 7.0 17.0 72.0 13.0 1.0 11.0 .496 .526 .843 1.369

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.

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Bob Boyd — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting
Season PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1949 80.0 77.0 19.0 36.0 2.0 2.0 7.0 23.0 3.0 1.0 2.0 .468 .487 .818 1.305
Listed seasons · 1 80 77 19 36 2 2 7 23 3 1 2 .468 — — —

Career Batting Statistics

Bob Boyd — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
727 2,078 276 620 91 24 21 201 18 177 114 .298 .355 .396 .750 2,302

Career AVG .298 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — +14.9% above league average.

Career OBP .355 vs. league average .331 across their career seasons — +7.1% above league average.

Career SLG .396 vs. league average .390 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OPS .750 vs. league average .721 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bob Boyd 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
1947 MRS NAL 21 88 14 23 3 0 1 10 4 6 0 .261 .262 (avg) .336 (-4%) .376 (-12%) .712 (-8%) -109.8
1948 MRS NAL 13 54 9 30 7 1 1 16 5 4 0 .556 .263 (+111%) .340 (+74%) .379 (+105%) .719 (+91%) 794.3
1951 CHA AL 12 18 3 3 0 1 0 4 0 3 3 .167 — — — — 0.0
1953 CHA AL 55 165 20 49 6 2 3 23 1 13 11 .297 .264 (+12%) .335 (+5%) .397 (+4%) .733 (+4%) 119.0
1954 CHA AL 29 56 10 10 3 0 0 5 2 4 3 .179 .261 (-32%) .333 (-30%) .390 (-41%) .723 (-36%) -321.2
1956 BAL AL 70 225 28 70 8 3 2 11 0 30 14 .311 .258 (+20%) .331 (+19%) .397 (+1%) .728 (+9%) 480.9
1957 BAL AL 141 485 73 154 16 8 4 34 2 55 31 .318 .257 (+23%) .323 (+20%) .391 (+4%) .715 (+11%) 1293.5
1958 BAL AL 125 401 58 124 21 5 7 36 1 25 24 .309 .257 (+20%) .324 (+8%) .394 (+11%) .719 (+10%) 702.7
1959 BAL AL 128 415 42 110 20 2 3 41 3 29 14 .265 .256 (+3%) .323 (-4%) .392 (-12%) .715 (-8%) -567.3
1960 BAL AL 71 82 9 26 5 2 0 9 0 6 5 .317 .255 (+24%) .323 (+12%) .387 (+10%) .711 (+11%) 152.8
1961 KC1 AL 26 48 7 11 2 0 0 9 0 1 2 .229 — — — — -242.6
1961 ML1 NL 36 41 3 10 0 0 0 3 0 1 7 .244 — — — — -242.6
Career · 12 seasons 727 2,078 276 620 91 24 21 201 18 177 114 .298 — — — — 2,059

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 (754 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Bob Boyd — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home3629851312941292.298
Away392113116136419136.322

Last 10 Games — Batting

Bob Boyd — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1961-09-24 ATLCHCL 100000000
1961-09-19 ATLSFGL 100000001
1961-09-17 ATLLADL 100000001
1961-09-16 ATLLADL 100000100
1961-09-13 ATLCINL 100000000
1961-09-12 ATLSTLL 100000001
1961-09-08 ATLPITL 100000000
1961-09-05 ATLPHIW 100000000
1961-09-03 ATLCHCL 111000000
1961-09-01 ATLLADL 100000001

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Bob Boyd — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 509 409 4007 237 41 390
OF 38 14 51 1 2 0

Season-by-Season Fielding

Bob Boyd — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1947 MRS 1B 21 21 179 11 2 8
1948 MRS 1B 13 13 112 3 3 4
1951 CHA 1B 6 0 36 1 0 8
1953 CHA 1B 29 0 275 16 0 25
1953 CHA OF 16 0 26 0 1 0
1954 CHA 1B 12 4 51 2 1 3
1954 CHA OF 13 12 20 1 1 0
1956 BAL 1B 60 54 469 24 5 46
1956 BAL OF 8 2 5 0 0 0
1957 BAL 1B 132 117 1073 70 10 107
1957 BAL OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
1958 BAL 1B 99 87 757 53 5 85
1959 BAL 1B 109 101 927 46 15 88
1960 BAL 1B 17 3 64 4 0 9
1961 KC1 1B 8 7 44 2 0 4
1961 ML1 1B 3 2 20 5 0 3

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Bob Boyd Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
First Base 509
Left Field 31
Center Field 1
Right Field 6

Award Voting History

Bob Boyd — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1957 Most Valuable Player AL 16th 9.0 336 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Bob Boyd (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Fresco Thompson
    .298 avg, 13 HR
  2. 94
    Jeff Frye
    .290 avg, 16 HR
  3. 91
    Joe Sullivan
    .299 avg, 11 HR
  4. 86
    Dick Burrus
    .291 avg, 11 HR
  5. 82
    Buck Jordan
    .299 avg, 17 HR
  6. 82
    Halley Harding
    .298 avg, 4 HR

Bob Boyd: the record in brief

Bob Boyd's season table begins in 1947 with Negro Leagues seasons, which MLB now counts as major league; the bio gives the date of the MLB debut as September 8, 1951, and the final game as September 24, 1961. Club by club, the record runs the Memphis Red Sox (1947 through 1948), the Chicago White Sox (1951 to 1954), the Baltimore Orioles (1956 to 1960), the Kansas City Athletics (1961), and the Milwaukee Braves (1961). Born on October 1, 1919, in Potts Camp, MS, USA, Boyd is listed as a first baseman and threw and hit left-handed. Size on record: 170 pounds on a 5-foot-10 frame. The bio records the death on September 7, 2004, in Wichita, KS, USA.

Boyd collected 620 hits in 2,078 at bats across 727 games, good for a .298 batting average, adding 21 home runs and 201 runs batted in. The on-base percentage is .355 and the slugging percentage .396, for an OPS of .750.

Frequently Asked Questions about Bob Boyd

What years did Bob Boyd play?
Bob Boyd played in Major League Baseball from 1951 to 1961.
Was Bob Boyd a pitcher?
No. Bob Boyd was a position player (First Baseman).
How many home runs did Bob Boyd hit?
Bob Boyd hit 21 career home runs with 620 hits.
What was Bob Boyd's career batting average?
Bob Boyd batted .298 over his career, with 620 hits in 2,078 at bats.
How many RBI did Bob Boyd have?
Bob Boyd drove in 201 runs in his career.
Is Bob Boyd in the Hall of Fame?
No. Bob Boyd has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.