Donie Bush

Shortstop · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1908-1923)

Donie Bush was a shortstop who played in Major League Baseball from 1908 to 1923 for the Detroit Tigers and the Washington Senators, a span of 16 seasons. In 1,946 career games, he hit .250 with 1,804 hits, 9 home runs, and 436 RBI. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 3,778.

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 .250
HR 9
RBI 436
H 1,804
OPS .656
PIV 3,778
Position
Shortstop
Bats / Throws
B / R
Height / Weight
5'6" / 140 lb
Born
10/8/1887 in Indianapolis, IN, USA
Died
3/28/1972 in Indianapolis, IN, USA
MLB Debut
1908-09-18
Last Game
1923-09-15

Full name: Owen Joseph Bush

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Career Batting Statistics

Donie Bush — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,946 7,210 1,281 1,804 186 74 9 436 404 1,158 630 .250 .356 .300 .656 3,778

Career AVG .250 vs. league average .262 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .356 vs. league average .326 across their career seasons — +9.4% above league average.

Career SLG .300 vs. league average .349 across their career seasons — 13.9% below league average.

Career OPS .656 vs. league average .674 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Donie Bush 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
1908 DET AL 20 68 13 20 1 1 0 4 2 7 11 .294 .240 (+22%) .298 (+21%) .306 (+10%) .605 (+15%) 166.9
1909 DET AL 157 532 115 145 18 2 0 33 53 88 74 .273 .244 (+12%) .306 (+24%) .312 (avg) .618 (+12%) 1712.6
1910 DET AL 142 496 90 130 13 4 3 34 49 78 82 .262 .249 (+5%) .317 (+15%) .326 (-1%) .644 (+7%) 966.3
1911 DET AL 150 561 126 130 18 5 1 36 40 98 64 .232 .266 (-13%) .336 (+4%) .356 (-20%) .693 (-8%) -418.7
1912 DET AL 144 511 107 118 14 8 2 38 35 117 53 .231 .268 (-14%) .335 (+12%) .358 (-16%) .694 (-2%) 355.3
1913 DET AL 153 597 98 150 19 10 1 40 44 80 32 .251 .259 (-3%) .325 (+6%) .345 (-7%) .670 (-1%) 133.3
1914 DET AL 157 596 97 150 18 4 0 32 35 112 54 .252 .255 (-1%) .322 (+16%) .339 (-13%) .661 (+1%) 737.8
1915 DET AL 155 561 99 128 12 8 1 44 35 118 44 .228 .250 (-9%) .318 (+14%) .332 (-15%) .651 (-1%) 573.8
1916 DET AL 145 550 73 124 5 9 0 34 19 75 42 .225 .248 (-9%) .314 (+2%) .326 (-18%) .640 (-8%) -466.6
1917 DET AL 147 581 112 163 18 3 0 24 34 80 40 .281 .248 (+13%) .312 (+18%) .323 (avg) .635 (+9%) 1338.5
1918 DET AL 128 500 74 117 10 3 0 22 9 79 31 .234 .255 (-8%) .318 (+7%) .326 (-19%) .645 (-6%) -157.1
1919 DET AL 129 509 82 124 11 6 0 26 22 75 36 .244 .262 (-7%) .322 (+6%) .347 (-17%) .670 (-6%) -188.2
1920 DET AL 141 506 85 133 18 5 1 33 15 73 32 .263 .271 (-3%) .331 (+8%) .363 (-11%) .694 (-2%) 76.6
1921 DET AL 104 402 72 113 6 5 0 27 8 45 23 .281 .286 (-2%) .344 (+3%) .395 (-19%) .739 (-9%) -429.2
1921 WS1 AL 23 84 15 18 1 0 0 2 2 12 4 .214 .286 (-25%) .344 (-9%) .395 (-43%) .739 (-27%) -429.2
1922 WS1 AL 41 134 17 32 4 1 0 7 1 21 7 .239 .285 (-16%) .345 (-1%) .397 (-29%) .743 (-16%) -289.8
1923 WS1 AL 10 22 6 9 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 .409 — — — — 0.0
Career · 17 seasons 1,946 7,210 1,281 1,804 186 74 9 436 404 1,158 630 .250 — — — — 3,682

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

Donie Bush — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
7 22 5 7 1 0 0 3 5 3 .318

Playoff Batting by Year

Donie Bush — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1909 WS DET 7 22 5 7 1 0 0 3 5 3 .318

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1948 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Donie Bush — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home97635386789242236.261
Away97236716028777197.239

Last 10 Games — Batting

Donie Bush — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1923-09-15 MINDETW 010000000
1923-09-13 MINDETW 300000000
1923-08-13 MINCHWL 311000000
1923-08-13 MINCHWW 301000001
1923-08-06 MINCLEL 100000000
1923-07-29 MINDETW 220000000
1923-07-27 MINBOSW 422000000
1923-07-26 MINBOSW 222000100
1923-07-26 MINBOSL 502000000
1923-07-24 MINBOSL 000000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Donie Bush — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
2B 26 0 46 77 7 0
3B 43 1 35 90 8 12
SS 1867 317 4038 6119 689 585

Season-by-Season Fielding

Donie Bush — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1908 DET SS 20 19 42 63 7 9
1909 DET SS 157 157 308 567 71 38
1910 DET 3B 1 1 0 2 0 0
1910 DET SS 141 141 310 487 51 31
1911 DET SS 150 0 372 556 75 42
1912 DET SS 144 0 317 547 66 45
1913 DET SS 153 0 331 510 56 61
1914 DET SS 157 0 425 544 58 64
1915 DET SS 155 0 340 504 57 61
1916 DET SS 144 0 278 435 34 41
1917 DET SS 147 0 281 423 51 41
1918 DET SS 128 0 280 364 48 29
1919 DET SS 129 0 290 376 40 38
1920 DET SS 140 0 258 421 45 39
1921 DET 2B 23 0 45 69 7 0
1921 DET SS 81 0 172 260 23 35
1921 WS1 SS 21 0 34 62 7 11
1922 WS1 2B 1 0 0 2 0 0
1922 WS1 3B 37 0 31 79 5 12
1923 WS1 2B 2 0 1 6 0 0
1923 WS1 3B 5 0 4 9 3 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Donie Bush Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Second Base 28
Third Base 41
Shortstop 1867

Awards & Honors

Donie Bush — Awards & Honors
Year Award Notes
1916 Baseball Magazine All-Star SS
1915 Baseball Magazine All-Star SS
1911 Baseball Magazine All-Star SS
1909 Baseball Magazine All-Star SS

Award Voting History

Donie Bush — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1914 Most Valuable Player AL 3rd 17.0 64 0
1913 Most Valuable Player AL 12th 6.0 64 0
1911 Most Valuable Player AL 14th 4.0 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

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

  1. 98
    Miller Huggins HOF
    .265 avg, 9 HR
  2. 97
    Johnny Evers HOF
    .270 avg, 12 HR
  3. 95
    Mark McLemore
    .259 avg, 53 HR
  4. 90
    Roger Peckinpaugh
    .259 avg, 48 HR
  5. 87
    Jimmy Austin
    .246 avg, 13 HR
  6. 87
    Jim Gilliam
    .266 avg, 65 HR

Donie Bush: the record in brief

The profile opens with Donie Bush's first major league game on September 18, 1908; the last one listed came on September 15, 1923. The season rows list, in order, the Detroit Tigers (1908 through 1921) and the Washington Senators (1921 through 1923). Bush played primarily as a shortstop and switch-hit and threw right-handed. Born on October 8, 1887, in Indianapolis, IN, USA, Bush was listed at 140 pounds on a 5-foot-6 frame. Bush's death is recorded on March 28, 1972, in Indianapolis, IN, USA. Bush's full given name, per the bio, is Owen Joseph Bush.

The batting record for Bush: 1,946 games, 1,804 hits in 7,210 at bats, and a .250 average, along with 9 home runs, 436 runs batted in, and 404 stolen bases. Reaching base at a .356 clip and slugging .300, Bush finished with a .656 OPS. The .250 career average is close to the .262 the league hit across the same seasons. 1917 produced Bush's most hits, 163 of them for the Detroit Tigers. Bush drove in a season-high 44 runs in 1915.

Frequently Asked Questions about Donie Bush

What years did Donie Bush play?
Donie Bush played in Major League Baseball from 1908 to 1923.
Was Donie Bush a pitcher?
No. Donie Bush was a position player (Shortstop).
How many home runs did Donie Bush hit?
Donie Bush hit 9 career home runs with 1,804 hits.
What teams did Donie Bush play for?
Donie Bush played for 2 teams: the Detroit Tigers (1908–1921) and the Washington Senators (1921–1923).
What were Donie Bush's career stats?
In 1,946 games, Donie Bush had 1,804 hits, 9 home runs, 436 RBI, 1,281 runs, and 404 stolen bases, with a .250 batting average.
What position did Donie Bush play?
Donie Bush played primarily as a shortstop, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Donie Bush and how much did he weigh?
Donie Bush was listed at 5 feet 6 inches and 140 pounds.
How many home runs did Donie Bush hit each season?
Donie Bush's home runs by season: 0 in 1908, 0 in 1909, 3 in 1910, 1 in 1911, 2 in 1912, 1 in 1913, 0 in 1914, 1 in 1915, 0 in 1916, 0 in 1917, 0 in 1918, 0 in 1919, 1 in 1920, 0 in 1921, 0 in 1922, and 0 in 1923. His most in one season was 3, in 1910.
What was Donie Bush's career batting average?
Donie Bush batted .250 over his career, with 1,804 hits in 7,210 at bats.
How many RBI did Donie Bush have?
Donie Bush drove in 436 runs in his career.
Is Donie Bush in the Hall of Fame?
No. Donie Bush has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.