Thomas Burns

Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1884-1895)

Thomas Burns was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1884 to 1895 for 5 teams, including the Wilmington Quicksteps, a span of 12 seasons. In 1,188 career games, he hit .300 with 1,392 hits, 65 home runs, and 834 RBI. He also pitched in 25 games, going 8-5 with a 4.09 ERA. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 15,736.

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 .300
HR 65
RBI 834
H 1,392
OPS .814
PIV 15,736
Position
Outfielder
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
5'8" / 183 lb
Born
9/6/1864 in Philadelphia, PA, USA
Died
11/11/1928 in Brooklyn, NY, USA
MLB Debut
1884-08-18
Last Game
1895-09-16

Full name: Thomas P. Burns

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Batting Statistics

Thomas Burns — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,188 4,645 870 1,392 224 129 65 834 263 464 249 .300 .368 .445 .814 15,736

Career AVG .300 vs. league average .262 across their career seasons — +14.6% above league average.

Career OBP .368 vs. league average .325 across their career seasons — +13.3% above league average.

Career SLG .445 vs. league average .354 across their career seasons — +25.7% above league average.

Career OPS .814 vs. league average .679 across their career seasons — +19.8% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Thomas Burns 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
1884 WIL UA 2 7 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 .143 — — — — 0.0
1884 BL2 AA 35 131 34 39 2 6 6 23 0 7 0 .298 .243 (+22%) .278 (+25%) .327 (+66%) .606 (+47%) 0.0
1885 BL2 AA 78 321 47 74 11 6 5 37 0 16 0 .231 .244 (-6%) .287 (-3%) .325 (+7%) .613 (+3%) 112.0
1887 BL2 AA 140 551 122 188 33 19 9 99 58 63 47 .341 .270 (+26%) .331 (+25%) .373 (+39%) .705 (+32%) 3637.7
1888 BL2 AA 79 325 54 97 18 9 4 42 23 24 13 .298 .238 (+25%) .290 (+20%) .319 (+40%) .610 (+30%) 1480.1
1888 BR3 AA 52 204 40 58 9 6 2 25 21 14 7 .284 .238 (+19%) .290 (+17%) .319 (+30%) .610 (+24%) 1480.1
1889 BR3 AA 131 504 105 153 19 13 5 100 32 68 26 .304 .263 (+15%) .334 (+17%) .357 (+18%) .691 (+18%) 1871.7
1890 BRO NL 119 472 102 134 22 12 13 128 21 51 42 .284 .260 (+9%) .336 (+6%) .351 (+32%) .687 (+20%) 1640.9
1891 BRO NL 123 470 75 134 24 13 4 83 21 53 30 .285 .254 (+12%) .331 (+8%) .343 (+21%) .675 (+15%) 1207.6
1892 BRO NL 141 542 88 171 27 18 4 96 33 65 42 .315 .244 (+29%) .316 (+25%) .327 (+39%) .644 (+32%) 3238.4
1893 BRO NL 109 415 68 112 22 8 7 60 14 36 16 .270 .279 (-4%) .356 (-6%) .379 (+9%) .735 (+1%) -13.6
1894 BRO NL 126 513 107 182 32 14 5 109 30 44 18 .355 .309 (+15%) .379 (+8%) .435 (+15%) .814 (+12%) 1298.8
1895 BRO NL 20 76 7 14 0 1 0 7 0 8 2 .184 .296 (-38%) .361 (-25%) .399 (-47%) .761 (-37%) -461.1
1895 NY1 NL 33 114 21 35 5 3 1 25 10 14 6 .307 .296 (+4%) .361 (+7%) .399 (+8%) .761 (+7%) -461.1
Career · 14 seasons 1,188 4,645 870 1,392 224 129 65 834 263 464 249 .300 — — — — 15,031

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 Pitching Statistics

Thomas Burns — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
8 5 25 11 10 1 4 138.2 152 63 2 30 40 4.09 -1482.2

Career ERA 4.09 vs. league average 3.30 across their career seasons — 24.0% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Thomas Burns — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1884 BL2 AA 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 9.0 12 3 2 6 3.00 3.11 (+3%) 0.0
1885 BL2 AA 7 4 15 11 10 1 3 105.2 112 42 21 30 3.58 3.03 (-18%) -1300.6
1887 BL2 AA 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 11.1 16 12 4 2 9.53 4.17 (-128%) -171.2
1888 BL2 AA 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 12.2 12 6 3 2 4.26 2.95 (-45%) -10.4
Career · 4 seasons 8 5 25 11 10 1 4 138.2 152 63 30 40 4.09 — -1,482

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

Thomas Burns — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
16 62 14 14 5 0 3 16 8 10 .226

Playoff Batting by Year

Thomas Burns — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1890 WS BRO 7 27 6 6 2 0 1 5 3 4 .222
1889 WS BR3 9 35 8 8 3 0 2 11 5 6 .229

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Thomas Burns — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 2 0 19 0 1 3
2B 21 0 53 61 14 5
3B 66 0 102 127 44 6
OF 895 0 1272 139 123 34
P 25 0 6 17 1 0
SS 200 0 285 526 153 43

Season-by-Season Fielding

Thomas Burns — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1884 WIL SS 2 0 1 6 2 0
1884 BL2 2B 10 0 32 32 9 1
1884 BL2 3B 1 0 1 0 0 0
1884 BL2 OF 24 0 17 2 4 1
1884 BL2 P 2 0 0 1 0 0
1885 BL2 1B 1 0 8 0 1 1
1885 BL2 2B 6 0 10 19 5 3
1885 BL2 3B 6 0 9 11 3 0
1885 BL2 OF 45 0 74 15 9 4
1885 BL2 P 15 0 6 13 1 0
1885 BL2 SS 10 0 14 25 8 4
1887 BL2 2B 1 0 0 0 0 0
1887 BL2 3B 42 0 69 81 29 3
1887 BL2 P 3 0 0 0 0 0
1887 BL2 SS 98 0 136 245 72 20
1888 BL2 2B 1 0 2 4 0 0
1888 BL2 3B 2 0 3 7 1 0
1888 BL2 OF 56 0 97 3 17 1
1888 BL2 P 5 0 0 3 0 0
1888 BL2 SS 23 0 43 61 20 8
1888 BR3 2B 3 0 9 6 0 1
1888 BR3 OF 14 0 22 0 5 0
1888 BR3 SS 36 0 50 98 26 6
1889 BR3 OF 113 0 139 21 14 5
1889 BR3 SS 19 0 21 62 10 4
1890 BRO 3B 3 0 5 5 0 1
1890 BRO OF 116 0 137 23 10 4
1891 BRO 3B 5 0 3 12 5 0
1891 BRO OF 113 0 173 16 16 5
1891 BRO SS 6 0 11 21 9 1
1892 BRO 3B 7 0 12 11 6 2
1892 BRO OF 129 0 162 16 12 4
1892 BRO SS 5 0 9 7 5 0
1893 BRO OF 108 0 159 19 13 5
1893 BRO SS 1 0 0 1 1 0
1894 BRO OF 126 0 209 15 12 4
1895 BRO OF 19 0 41 4 4 1
1895 NY1 1B 1 0 11 0 0 2
1895 NY1 OF 32 0 42 5 7 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Thomas Burns Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 25
First Base 2
Second Base 21
Third Base 66
Shortstop 200
Left Field 100
Center Field 15
Right Field 781

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Thomas Burns (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Curt Walker
    .304 avg, 64 HR
  2. 97
    Chick Stahl
    .305 avg, 36 HR
  3. 90
    Roy Johnson
    .296 avg, 58 HR
  4. 87
    Carl Reynolds
    .302 avg, 80 HR
  5. 87
    Elmer Smith
    .310 avg, 37 HR
  6. 87
    King Kelly HOF
    .307 avg, 69 HR

Thomas Burns: the record in brief

Thomas Burns's major league career runs from a debut on August 18, 1884 to a final game on September 16, 1895. The team column moves through the Wilmington Quicksteps (1884), the Baltimore Orioles (1884 through 1888), the Brooklyn Bridegrooms (1888 to 1890), the Brooklyn Grooms (1891 through 1895), and the New York Giants (1895). At 5-foot-8 and 183 pounds, Burns is listed as an outfielder. The bio says Burns threw and hit right-handed. The recorded birth is September 6, 1864, in Philadelphia, PA, USA. The bio records the death on November 11, 1928, in Brooklyn, NY, USA. On the record, Thomas Burns was born Thomas P. Burns.

Burns collected 1,392 hits in 4,645 at bats across 1,188 games, good for a .300 batting average, plus 65 home runs, 834 runs batted in, and 263 stolen bases. The on-base percentage is .368 and the slugging percentage .445, for an OPS of .814. Burns's .300 average ran 14.6% above the .262 that the league posted over the same seasons.

Frequently Asked Questions about Thomas Burns

What years did Thomas Burns play?
Thomas Burns played in Major League Baseball from 1884 to 1895.
Was Thomas Burns a pitcher?
Both. Thomas Burns pitched in 25 games, going 8-5 with a 4.09 ERA, but spent most of his career as an Outfielder.
How many home runs did Thomas Burns hit?
Thomas Burns hit 65 career home runs with 1,392 hits.
What teams did Thomas Burns play for?
Thomas Burns played for 4 teams: the Wilmington Quicksteps (1884), the Baltimore Orioles (1884–1885, 1887–1888), the Brooklyn Grooms (1888–1895), and the New York Giants (1895).
What were Thomas Burns's career stats?
In 1,188 games, Thomas Burns had 1,392 hits, 65 home runs, 834 RBI, 870 runs, and 263 stolen bases, with a .300 batting average. As a pitcher, in 25 games, he went 8-5 with a 4.09 ERA, 40 strikeouts, 138.2 innings pitched, and 4 saves.
What position did Thomas Burns play?
Thomas Burns played primarily as an outfielder, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Thomas Burns and how much did he weigh?
Thomas Burns was listed at 5 feet 8 inches and 183 pounds.
How many home runs did Thomas Burns hit each season?
Thomas Burns's home runs by season: 6 in 1884, 5 in 1885, 9 in 1887, 6 in 1888, 5 in 1889, 13 in 1890, 4 in 1891, 4 in 1892, 7 in 1893, 5 in 1894, and 1 in 1895. His most in one season was 13, in 1890.
What was Thomas Burns's career batting average?
Thomas Burns batted .300 over his career, with 1,392 hits in 4,645 at bats.
How many RBI did Thomas Burns have?
Thomas Burns drove in 834 runs in his career.
What was Thomas Burns's career ERA?
Thomas Burns finished with a 4.09 career ERA, going 8-5 with 40 strikeouts.
Is Thomas Burns in the Hall of Fame?
No. Thomas Burns has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.