What years did Jay Buhner play?

Jay Buhner played in Major League Baseball from 1987 to 2001.

Was Jay Buhner a pitcher?

No. Jay Buhner was a position player (Outfielder).

How many home runs did Jay Buhner hit?

Jay Buhner hit 310 career home runs with 1,273 hits.

What teams did Jay Buhner play for?

Jay Buhner played for 2 teams: the New York Yankees (1987–1988) and the Seattle Mariners (1988–2001).

Did Jay Buhner win an MVP award?

No. Jay Buhner did not win the MVP award.

What awards did Jay Buhner win?

Jay Buhner won the Gold Glove (1996). He was selected to 1 All-Star Game.

What were Jay Buhner's career stats?

In 1,472 games, Jay Buhner had 1,273 hits, 310 home runs, 965 RBI, 797 runs, and 6 stolen bases, with a .254 batting average.

What was Jay Buhner's salary?

Jay Buhner's last recorded salary was $1,850,000, in 2001. His highest recorded salary was $5,641,667, in 1996, and his lowest was $67,000, in 1988. The Salary History table lists each season from 1988 to 2001.

What position did Jay Buhner play?

Jay Buhner played primarily as an outfielder, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Jay Buhner and how much did he weigh?

Jay Buhner was listed at 6 feet 3 inches and 220 pounds.

How many home runs did Jay Buhner hit each season?

Jay Buhner's home runs by season: 0 in 1987, 13 in 1988, 9 in 1989, 7 in 1990, 27 in 1991, 25 in 1992, 27 in 1993, 21 in 1994, 40 in 1995, 44 in 1996, 40 in 1997, 15 in 1998, 14 in 1999, 26 in 2000, and 2 in 2001. His most in one season was 44, in 1996.

What was Jay Buhner's career batting average?

Jay Buhner batted .254 over his career, with 1,273 hits in 5,013 at bats.

How many RBI did Jay Buhner have?

Jay Buhner drove in 965 runs in his career.

Jay Buhner

Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1987-2001)

Jay Buhner was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1987 to 2001 for the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners, a span of 15 seasons. In 1,472 career games, he hit .254 with 1,273 hits, 310 home runs, and 965 RBI. Jay Buhner was an All-Star and a Gold Glove. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 16,017.

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 October 17, 2026

AVG .254

HR 310

RBI 965

H 1,273

OPS .852

PIV 16,017

Position: Outfielder
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'3" / 220 lb
Born: 8/13/1964 in Louisville, KY, USA
MLB Debut: 1987-09-11
Last Game: 2001-10-07
Awards: All-Star · Gold Glove

Full name: Jay Campbell Buhner

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Career Batting Statistics

Jay Buhner — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
1,472	5,013	797	1,273	233	19	310	965	6	792	1,406	.254	.359	.494	.852	16,017

Career AVG .254 vs. league average .264 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .359 vs. league average .332 across their career seasons — +7.9% above league average.

Career SLG .494 vs. league average .409 across their career seasons — +20.6% above league average.

Career OPS .852 vs. league average .742 across their career seasons — +14.9% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Jay Buhner 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
1987	NYA	AL	7	22	0	5	2	0	0	1	0	1	6	.227	—	—	—	—	0.0
1988	NYA	AL	25	69	8	13	0	0	3	13	0	3	25	.188	.254 (-26%)	.317 (-21%)	.377 (-16%)	.695 (-18%)	-197.7
1988	SEA	AL	60	192	28	43	13	1	10	25	1	25	68	.224	.254 (-12%)	.317 (+1%)	.377 (+21%)	.695 (+12%)	-197.7
1989	SEA	AL	58	204	27	56	15	1	9	33	1	19	55	.275	.254 (+8%)	.319 (+7%)	.375 (+31%)	.694 (+20%)	644.3
1990	SEA	AL	51	163	16	45	12	0	7	33	2	17	50	.276	.257 (+7%)	.324 (+10%)	.385 (+24%)	.710 (+18%)	506.1
1991	SEA	AL	137	406	64	99	14	4	27	77	0	53	117	.244	.255 (-5%)	.323 (+4%)	.384 (+29%)	.708 (+18%)	1399.2
1992	SEA	AL	152	543	69	132	16	3	25	79	0	71	146	.243	.255 (-5%)	.322 (+3%)	.377 (+12%)	.699 (+8%)	896.9
1993	SEA	AL	158	563	90	153	28	3	27	98	2	100	144	.272	.265 (+3%)	.332 (+14%)	.403 (+18%)	.735 (+16%)	2130.1
1994	SEA	AL	101	358	74	100	23	4	21	68	0	66	63	.279	.269 (+4%)	.338 (+16%)	.424 (+28%)	.763 (+23%)	1722.4
1995	SEA	AL	126	470	86	123	23	0	40	121	0	60	120	.262	.266 (-2%)	.337 (+1%)	.417 (+36%)	.755 (+20%)	1817.7
1996	SEA	AL	150	564	107	153	29	0	44	138	0	84	159	.271	.269 (+1%)	.340 (+8%)	.426 (+30%)	.767 (+21%)	2505.8
1997	SEA	AL	157	540	104	131	18	2	40	109	0	119	175	.243	.266 (-9%)	.336 (+14%)	.419 (+21%)	.756 (+18%)	2412.8
1998	SEA	AL	72	244	33	59	7	1	15	45	0	38	71	.242	.266 (-9%)	.335 (+3%)	.420 (+10%)	.755 (+7%)	348.0
1999	SEA	AL	87	266	37	59	11	0	14	38	0	69	100	.222	.271 (-18%)	.344 (+13%)	.433 (-3%)	.778 (+4%)	439.2
2000	SEA	AL	112	364	50	92	20	0	26	82	0	59	98	.253	.270 (-7%)	.344 (+5%)	.437 (+19%)	.782 (+13%)	1019.8
2001	SEA	AL	19	45	4	10	2	0	2	5	0	8	9	.222	—	—	—	—	-3.5
Career · 16 seasons			1,472	5,013	797	1,273	233	19	310	965	6	792	1,406	.254	—	—	—	—	15,443

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

Jay Buhner — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
26	85	12	26	3	0	8	12	13	28	.306

Playoff Batting by Year

Jay Buhner — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
2001	ALCS	SEA	3	6	2	2	0	1	1	1	3	.333
2001	ALDS1	SEA	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	.000
2000	ALCS	SEA	4	11	0	2	0	0	0	1	6	.182
2000	ALDS2	SEA	2	5	1	1	0	1	1	2	0	.200
1997	ALDS2	SEA	4	13	2	3	0	2	2	3	6	.231
1995	ALCS	SEA	6	23	5	7	2	3	5	2	8	.304
1995	ALDS2	SEA	5	24	2	11	1	1	3	2	4	.458

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1471 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Jay Buhner — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	749	2476	396	614	146	472	.248
Away	722	2533	400	658	164	493	.260

Last 10 Games — Batting

Jay Buhner — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO
2001-10-07	SEA	TEX	L	3	1	1	0	1	1	0	1
2001-10-06	SEA	TEX	W	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
2001-10-04	SEA	TEX	W	2	1	1	0	1	2	0	0
2001-10-02	SEA	LAA	W	3	2	1	1	0	0	1	1
2001-09-29	SEA	OAK	L	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2001-09-28	SEA	OAK	W	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2001-09-24	SEA	TEX	W	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
2001-09-23	SEA	OAK	L	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2001-09-22	SEA	OAK	L	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2001-09-21	SEA	OAK	L	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Jay Buhner — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1B	1	1	9	0	0	1
OF	1397	1351	2528	100	33	27

Season-by-Season Fielding

Jay Buhner — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1987	NYA	OF	7	7	11	1	0	1
1988	NYA	OF	22	16	52	2	2	0
1988	SEA	OF	59	57	134	7	1	3
1989	SEA	OF	57	57	106	6	4	3
1990	SEA	OF	40	35	55	1	2	0
1991	SEA	OF	131	110	244	15	5	4
1992	SEA	OF	150	149	314	14	2	4
1993	SEA	OF	148	146	263	8	6	2
1994	SEA	OF	96	95	178	11	2	2
1995	SEA	OF	120	120	180	5	2	0
1996	SEA	OF	142	142	251	9	3	1
1997	SEA	OF	154	153	295	5	1	3
1998	SEA	OF	70	70	127	5	2	2
1999	SEA	1B	1	1	9	0	0	1
1999	SEA	OF	85	83	127	7	1	2
2000	SEA	OF	104	101	176	4	0	0
2001	SEA	OF	12	10	15	0	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Jay Buhner Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
First Base	1
Left Field	16
Center Field	30
Right Field	1357
Designated Hitter	44

Awards & Honors

Jay Buhner — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1996	Gold Glove	OF
1995	Player of the Week	Week of 1995-09-16

Salary History

Jay Buhner's recorded salaries total $37,162,801 over 14 seasons, 1988 to 2001. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Buhner's career ran from 1987 to 2001. No salary is recorded for 1987.

Jay Buhner — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
2001	SEA	AL	$1,850,000
2000	SEA	AL	$1,450,000
1999	SEA	AL	$4,816,804
1998	SEA	AL	$5,367,702
1997	SEA	AL	$4,827,962
1996	SEA	AL	$5,641,667
1995	SEA	AL	$4,066,666
1994	SEA	AL	$4,350,000
1993	SEA	AL	$2,772,500
1992	SEA	AL	$1,445,000
1991	SEA	AL	$247,500
1990	SEA	AL	$180,000
1989	SEA	AL	$80,000
1988	NYA	AL	$67,000
Total recorded salary (partial)			$37,162,801

College History

Jay Buhner — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
McLennan Community College	Waco	TX	1983, 1984

Award Voting History

Jay Buhner — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max
1997	Most Valuable Player	AL	19th	12.0	392
1996	Most Valuable Player	AL	17th	6.0	392
1995	Most Valuable Player	AL	5th	120.0	392

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Jay Buhner (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Jay Buhner: the record in brief

Jay Buhner played a first major league game on September 11, 1987 and a last one on October 7, 2001. Club by club, the record runs the New York Yankees (1987 to 1988) and the Seattle Mariners (1988 to 2001). Buhner played primarily as an outfielder and both batted and threw right-handed. Born on August 13, 1964, in Louisville, KY, USA, Buhner was listed at 220 pounds on a 6-foot-3 frame. The given name on file is Jay Campbell Buhner.

Buhner's career batting table shows 1,472 games, 5,013 at bats and 1,273 hits, a .254 average; the totals also include 310 homers and 965 runs batted in. The on-base percentage is .359 and the slugging percentage .494, for an OPS of .852. The .254 career average is close to the .264 the league hit across the same seasons. The OPS comparison is .852 to a league .742, 14.9% above average. Buhner's most home runs in a season came in 1996, when the total reached 44 for the Seattle Mariners.

Frequently Asked Questions about Jay Buhner

What years did Jay Buhner play?: Jay Buhner played in Major League Baseball from 1987 to 2001.
Was Jay Buhner a pitcher?: No. Jay Buhner was a position player (Outfielder).
How many home runs did Jay Buhner hit?: Jay Buhner hit 310 career home runs with 1,273 hits.
What teams did Jay Buhner play for?: Jay Buhner played for 2 teams: the New York Yankees (1987–1988) and the Seattle Mariners (1988–2001).
Did Jay Buhner win an MVP award?: No. Jay Buhner did not win the MVP award.
What awards did Jay Buhner win?: Jay Buhner won the Gold Glove (1996). He was selected to 1 All-Star Game.
What were Jay Buhner's career stats?: In 1,472 games, Jay Buhner had 1,273 hits, 310 home runs, 965 RBI, 797 runs, and 6 stolen bases, with a .254 batting average.
How much did Jay Buhner earn in his career?: Jay Buhner's recorded salaries total $37,162,801 over 14 seasons, 1988 to 2001. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Buhner's career ran from 1987 to 2001. No salary is recorded for 1987.
What was Jay Buhner's salary?: Jay Buhner's last recorded salary was $1,850,000, in 2001. His highest recorded salary was $5,641,667, in 1996, and his lowest was $67,000, in 1988. The Salary History table lists each season from 1988 to 2001.
What position did Jay Buhner play?: Jay Buhner played primarily as an outfielder, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Jay Buhner and how much did he weigh?: Jay Buhner was listed at 6 feet 3 inches and 220 pounds.
How many home runs did Jay Buhner hit each season?: Jay Buhner's home runs by season: 0 in 1987, 13 in 1988, 9 in 1989, 7 in 1990, 27 in 1991, 25 in 1992, 27 in 1993, 21 in 1994, 40 in 1995, 44 in 1996, 40 in 1997, 15 in 1998, 14 in 1999, 26 in 2000, and 2 in 2001. His most in one season was 44, in 1996.
What was Jay Buhner's career batting average?: Jay Buhner batted .254 over his career, with 1,273 hits in 5,013 at bats.
How many RBI did Jay Buhner have?: Jay Buhner drove in 965 runs in his career.