Bullet Joe Bush

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1912-1928)

W–L 195–183
ERA 3.51
WHIP 1.38
SO 1,319
Pitcher PIV -8678.4
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
5'9" / 173 lb
Born
11/27/1892 in Gull River, MN, USA
Died
11/1/1974 in Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
MLB Debut
1912-09-30
Last Game
1928-09-30

Full name: Leslie Ambrose Bush

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Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
195 183 489 366 225 35 20 3087.3 2,992 1,205 96 1,263 1,319 3.51 -8678.4

Career ERA 3.51 vs. league average 3.58 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
1912 PHA AL 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 8.0 14 7 4 3 7.88 — 0.0
1913 PHA AL 15 6 39 16 6 1 3 200.3 199 85 66 81 3.82 3.07 (-25%) 216.7
1914 PHA AL 16 12 38 22 14 2 3 206.0 184 70 81 109 3.06 2.93 (-4%) 551.8
1915 PHA AL 5 15 25 18 8 0 0 145.7 137 67 89 89 4.14 2.90 (-43%) -1754.8
1916 PHA AL 15 24 40 33 25 8 0 286.7 222 82 130 157 2.57 2.78 (+7%) -195.0
1917 PHA AL 11 17 37 31 17 4 2 233.3 207 64 111 121 2.47 2.69 (+8%) -940.2
1918 BOS AL 15 15 36 31 26 7 2 272.7 241 64 91 125 2.11 2.83 (+25%) 2001.2
1919 BOS AL 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 9.0 11 5 4 3 5.00 3.09 (-62%) 0.0
1920 BOS AL 15 15 35 32 18 0 1 243.7 287 115 94 88 4.25 3.45 (-23%) -404.2
1921 BOS AL 16 9 37 32 21 3 1 254.3 244 99 93 96 3.50 4.02 (+13%) -442.7
1922 NYA AL 26 7 39 30 20 0 3 255.3 240 94 85 92 3.31 4.18 (+21%) -766.4
1923 NYA AL 19 15 37 30 22 3 0 275.7 263 105 117 125 3.43 4.03 (+15%) 1811.0
1924 NYA AL 17 16 39 31 19 3 1 252.0 262 100 109 80 3.57 4.13 (+13%) -1822.7
1925 SLA AL 14 14 33 28 15 2 0 208.7 230 118 91 63 5.09 4.55 (-12%) -4720.6
1926 WS1 AL 1 8 12 11 3 0 0 71.3 83 53 35 27 6.69 4.11 (-63%) -1749.5
1926 PIT NL 6 6 19 11 9 2 3 110.7 97 37 35 38 3.01 4.11 (+27%) -279.2
1927 PIT NL 1 2 5 3 0 0 0 6.7 14 10 5 1 13.50 — 0.0
1927 NY1 NL 1 1 3 2 1 0 0 12.0 18 10 5 6 7.50 4.08 (-84%) -102.3
1928 PHA AL 2 1 11 2 1 0 1 35.3 39 20 18 15 5.09 4.13 (-23%) -81.5
Career · 19 seasons 195 183 489 366 225 35 20 3,087.1 2,992 1,205 1,263 1,319 3.51 — -8,678

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
581 1,239 128 313 59 17 7 137 4 53 194 .253 .283 .345 .628 -2,185

Career AVG .253 vs. league average .271 across their career seasons — 6.8% below league average.

Career OBP .283 vs. league average .334 across their career seasons — 15.2% below league average.

Career SLG .345 vs. league average .368 across their career seasons — 6.4% below league average.

Career OPS .628 vs. league average .702 across their career seasons — 10.6% 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
1912 PHA AL 1 4 1 2 0 1 0 3 0 0 2 .500 — — — — 0.0
1913 PHA AL 39 70 8 11 3 1 0 1 0 2 21 .157 .259 (-40%) .325 (-44%) .345 (-34%) .670 (-39%) -431.4
1914 PHA AL 38 74 6 14 4 0 1 8 0 2 25 .189 .255 (-26%) .322 (-35%) .339 (-16%) .661 (-25%) -301.6
1915 PHA AL 25 49 2 7 0 0 0 0 0 1 22 .143 — — — — -383.0
1916 PHA AL 41 100 4 14 4 0 0 6 0 0 23 .140 .248 (-44%) .314 (-55%) .326 (-45%) .640 (-50%) -740.5
1917 PHA AL 37 80 9 16 2 1 0 4 0 5 12 .200 .248 (-20%) .312 (-21%) .323 (-23%) .635 (-22%) -258.7
1918 BOS AL 36 98 8 27 3 2 0 14 0 6 11 .276 .255 (+8%) .318 (avg) .326 (+6%) .645 (+3%) 21.6
1919 BOS AL 5 5 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 .400 — — — — 0.0
1920 BOS AL 45 102 14 25 2 0 0 7 0 9 15 .245 .271 (-10%) .331 (-8%) .363 (-27%) .694 (-18%) -256.9
1921 BOS AL 50 120 19 39 5 4 0 17 2 3 14 .325 .286 (+14%) .344 (-1%) .395 (+10%) .739 (+5%) 55.0
1922 NYA AL 39 95 15 31 6 2 0 12 0 3 11 .326 .285 (+14%) .345 (avg) .397 (+9%) .743 (+5%) 48.4
1923 NYA AL 38 113 12 31 5 3 2 19 0 3 8 .274 .282 (-3%) .344 (-15%) .390 (+9%) .734 (-2%) -94.7
1924 NYA AL 60 124 13 42 9 3 1 14 0 7 6 .339 .283 (+19%) .345 (+8%) .389 (+24%) .734 (+17%) 330.9
1925 SLA AL 57 102 10 26 12 0 2 18 2 6 8 .255 .288 (-12%) .349 (-15%) .407 (+6%) .756 (-4%) -103.5
1926 WS1 AL 17 30 1 7 0 0 0 3 0 3 2 .233 — — — — 0.0
1926 PIT NL 28 49 5 13 4 0 1 7 0 1 10 .265 — — — — 0.0
1927 PIT NL 7 5 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 .600 — — — — 0.0
1927 NY1 NL 3 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 — — — — 0.0
1928 PHA AL 15 15 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .067 — — — — 0.0
Career · 19 seasons 581 1,239 128 313 59 17 7 137 4 53 194 .253 — — — — -2,114

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
10 24 2 5 1 0 0 2 2 4 .208

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1923 WS NYA 4 7 2 3 1 0 0 1 1 1 .429
1922 WS NYA 2 6 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .167
1918 WS BOS 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000
1914 WS PHA 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000
1913 WS PHA 1 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
2 5 9 6 1 60.7 49 18 20 18 2.67

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1923 WS NYA 1 1 3 1 0 16.7 7 2 4 5 1.08
1922 WS NYA 0 2 2 2 0 15.0 21 8 5 6 4.80
1918 WS BOS 0 1 2 1 1 9.0 7 3 3 0 3.00
1914 WS PHA 0 1 1 1 0 11.0 9 4 4 4 3.27
1913 WS PHA 1 0 1 1 0 9.0 5 1 4 3 1.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1071 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home29761362167476.272
Away28663468151370.238

Pitching — Home / Away

SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home2501629.215195906437353.26
Away2381454.014826136265923.79

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1928-09-30 PHACHWL 401000001
1928-08-20 PHASLAL 000000000
1928-08-16 PHADETW 000000000
1928-08-03 PHACLEL 000000000
1928-07-25 PHACHWW 100000010
1928-07-23 PHAMINL 000000000
1928-07-16 PHADETL 000000000
1928-07-03 PHABOSW 300000000
1928-07-01 PHANYYL 100000001
1928-06-25 PHAMINL 200000000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1928-08-20 PHASLA — 0.1322100
1928-08-16 PHADET SV 1.0222000
1928-08-03 PHACLE — 2.0211100
1928-07-25 PHACHW W 4.2411640
1928-07-16 PHADET — 2.0444120
1928-07-03 PHABOS W 9.0833330
1928-07-01 PHANYY L 3.0444321
1928-06-25 PHAMIN — 4.1422020
1928-06-24 PHAMIN — 1.0100100
1928-06-16 PHACLE — 2.0310000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
OF 9 0 5 0 0 0
P 489 0 208 839 34 50

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1912 PHA P 1 0 1 1 1 1
1913 PHA P 39 0 15 74 2 4
1914 PHA P 38 0 8 55 3 1
1915 PHA P 25 0 7 39 3 3
1916 PHA P 40 0 19 94 6 8
1917 PHA P 37 0 20 61 6 0
1918 BOS P 36 0 16 81 2 5
1919 BOS P 3 0 0 2 0 1
1920 BOS OF 2 0 1 0 0 0
1920 BOS P 35 0 24 66 4 7
1921 BOS OF 4 0 2 0 0 0
1921 BOS P 37 0 13 64 1 0
1922 NYA P 39 0 16 61 0 4
1923 NYA P 37 0 15 74 3 3
1924 NYA P 39 0 24 60 1 4
1925 SLA OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
1925 SLA P 33 0 17 54 0 5
1926 WS1 OF 1 0 1 0 0 0
1926 WS1 P 12 0 3 18 2 2
1926 PIT P 19 0 5 21 0 1
1927 PIT P 5 0 0 2 0 0
1927 NY1 P 3 0 0 2 0 0
1928 PHA OF 1 0 1 0 0 0
1928 PHA P 11 0 5 10 0 1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Pitcher 488
Left Field 5
Center Field 3
Right Field 4

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1922 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1922 Most Valuable Player AL 4th 19.0 64 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Bullet Joe Bush (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Murry Dickson
    172-181, 3.66 ERA
  2. 98
    Bob Lemon HOF
    207-128, 3.23 ERA
  3. 96
    Howard Ehmke
    166-166, 3.75 ERA
  4. 91
    Mel Harder
    223-186, 3.80 ERA
  5. 89
    Tommy Bridges
    194-138, 3.57 ERA
  6. 87
    Jim Slaton
    151-158, 4.03 ERA

Frequently Asked Questions about Bullet Joe Bush

What years did Bullet Joe Bush play?
Bullet Joe Bush played in Major League Baseball from 1912 to 1928.
Was Bullet Joe Bush a pitcher?
Yes. Bullet Joe Bush pitched in the major leagues, recording 195 wins and 1319 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Bullet Joe Bush hit?
Bullet Joe Bush hit 7 career home runs with 313 hits.