Bob Caruthers

Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1884-1893)

Bob Caruthers was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1884 to 1893 for 6 teams, including the St. Louis Browns, a span of 10 seasons. In 705 career games, he hit .282 with 695 hits, 29 home runs, and 359 RBI. He also pitched in 340 games, going 218-99 with a 2.83 ERA. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 10,671.

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 .282
HR 29
RBI 359
H 695
OPS .791
PIV 10,671
Position
Outfielder
Bats / Throws
L / R
Height / Weight
5'7" / 138 lb
Born
1/5/1864 in Memphis, TN, USA
Died
8/5/1911 in Peoria, IL, USA
MLB Debut
1884-09-07
Last Game
1893-05-19

Full name: Robert Lee Caruthers

📋 View Manager Career

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Batting Statistics

Bob Caruthers — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
705 2,465 508 695 104 50 29 359 152 417 140 .282 .391 .400 .791 10,671

Career AVG .282 vs. league average .254 across their career seasons — +11.0% above league average.

Career OBP .391 vs. league average .316 across their career seasons — +23.6% above league average.

Career SLG .400 vs. league average .343 across their career seasons — +16.6% above league average.

Career OPS .791 vs. league average .659 across their career seasons — +20.0% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bob Caruthers 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 SL4 AA 23 82 15 22 2 0 2 0 0 4 0 .268 .243 (+10%) .278 (+8%) .327 (+12%) .606 (+10%) 125.8
1885 SL4 AA 60 222 37 50 10 2 1 12 0 20 0 .225 .244 (-8%) .287 (avg) .325 (-7%) .613 (-4%) -68.7
1886 SL4 AA 87 317 91 106 21 14 4 61 26 64 0 .334 .246 (+36%) .302 (+48%) .331 (+59%) .634 (+54%) 3132.7
1887 SL4 AA 98 364 102 130 23 11 8 73 49 66 21 .357 .270 (+32%) .331 (+40%) .373 (+46%) .705 (+43%) 3284.0
1888 BR3 AA 94 335 58 77 10 5 5 53 23 45 40 .230 .238 (-4%) .290 (+13%) .319 (+5%) .610 (+9%) 646.6
1889 BR3 AA 59 172 45 43 8 3 2 31 9 44 17 .250 .263 (-5%) .334 (+22%) .357 (+2%) .691 (+12%) 563.9
1890 BRO NL 71 238 46 63 7 4 1 29 13 47 18 .265 .260 (+2%) .336 (+18%) .351 (-3%) .687 (+7%) 520.0
1891 BRO NL 56 171 24 48 5 3 2 23 4 25 13 .281 .254 (+10%) .331 (+12%) .343 (+11%) .675 (+11%) 372.2
1892 SLN NL 143 513 76 142 16 8 3 69 24 86 29 .277 .244 (+13%) .316 (+22%) .327 (+9%) .644 (+15%) 1865.7
1893 CHN NL 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1893 CIN NL 13 48 14 14 2 0 1 8 4 15 2 .292 — — — — 0.0
Career · 11 seasons 705 2,465 508 695 104 50 29 359 152 417 140 .282 — — — — 10,442

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

Bob Caruthers — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
218 99 340 310 298 24 3 2828.2 2,678 891 59 597 900 2.83 17807.3

Career ERA 2.83 vs. league average 3.49 across their career seasons — 18.7% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bob Caruthers Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1884 SL4 AA 7 2 13 7 7 0 0 82.2 61 24 15 58 2.61 3.11 (+16%) 900.3
1885 SL4 AA 40 13 53 53 53 6 0 482.1 430 111 57 190 2.07 3.03 (+32%) 5182.1
1886 SL4 AA 30 14 44 43 42 2 0 387.1 323 100 86 166 2.32 3.37 (+31%) 3226.2
1887 SL4 AA 29 9 39 39 39 2 0 341.0 337 125 61 74 3.30 4.17 (+21%) 3904.0
1888 BR3 AA 29 15 44 43 42 4 0 391.2 337 104 53 140 2.39 2.95 (+19%) 4941.2
1889 BR3 AA 40 11 56 50 46 7 1 445.0 444 155 104 118 3.13 3.93 (+20%) 2474.4
1890 BRO NL 23 11 37 33 30 1 0 300.0 292 103 87 64 3.09 3.88 (+20%) 112.3
1891 BRO NL 18 14 38 32 29 2 1 297.0 323 103 107 69 3.12 3.52 (+11%) -417.3
1892 SLN NL 2 10 16 10 10 0 1 101.2 131 66 27 21 5.84 3.28 (-78%) -2515.9
Career · 9 seasons 218 99 340 310 298 24 3 2,828.2 2,678 891 597 900 2.83 — 17,807

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

Bob Caruthers — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
27 99 10 22 1 3 0 9 8 8 .222

Playoff Batting by Year

Bob Caruthers — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1890 WS BRO 2 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .000
1889 WS BR3 4 8 1 2 0 0 0 1 3 3 .250
1887 WS SL4 10 46 2 11 0 0 0 3 1 1 .239
1886 WS SL4 6 24 6 6 1 2 0 5 1 4 .250
1885 WS SL4 5 15 1 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 .200

Playoff Career Pitching

Bob Caruthers — Playoff Career Pitching
W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
7 8 18 16 1 147.0 135 41 28 53 2.51

Playoff Pitching by Year

Bob Caruthers — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1889 WS BR3 0 2 4 2 1 24.0 28 10 6 6 3.75
1887 WS SL4 4 4 8 8 0 71.0 64 17 12 19 2.15
1886 WS SL4 2 1 3 3 0 26.0 18 7 6 12 2.42
1885 WS SL4 1 1 3 3 0 26.0 25 7 4 16 2.42

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Bob Caruthers — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 13 0 90 3 8 7
2B 9 0 16 24 7 4
OF 366 0 490 50 77 9
P 340 0 192 580 61 15

Season-by-Season Fielding

Bob Caruthers — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1884 SL4 OF 16 0 11 1 4 0
1884 SL4 P 13 0 3 9 1 0
1885 SL4 OF 7 0 9 2 4 0
1885 SL4 P 53 0 24 77 11 4
1886 SL4 2B 2 0 5 1 1 0
1886 SL4 OF 43 0 42 10 9 3
1886 SL4 P 44 0 25 53 9 2
1887 SL4 1B 7 0 51 2 3 3
1887 SL4 OF 54 0 91 11 11 1
1887 SL4 P 39 0 40 92 4 0
1888 BR3 OF 51 0 93 5 11 3
1888 BR3 P 44 0 34 89 15 2
1889 BR3 1B 2 0 4 0 2 0
1889 BR3 OF 3 0 0 0 0 0
1889 BR3 P 56 0 29 91 4 4
1890 BRO OF 39 0 45 4 8 0
1890 BRO P 37 0 20 79 12 1
1891 BRO 2B 1 0 0 1 1 0
1891 BRO OF 17 0 16 2 5 0
1891 BRO P 38 0 13 66 5 2
1892 SLN 1B 4 0 35 1 3 4
1892 SLN 2B 6 0 11 22 5 4
1892 SLN OF 122 0 159 14 21 2
1892 SLN P 16 0 4 24 0 0
1893 CHN OF 1 0 1 0 0 0
1893 CIN OF 13 0 23 1 4 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Bob Caruthers Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 340
First Base 13
Second Base 9
Left Field 58
Center Field 30
Right Field 280

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

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

  1. 98
    Bobby Estalella
    .282 avg, 44 HR
  2. 96
    Dusty Cooke
    .280 avg, 24 HR
  3. 95
    Ed Swartwood
    .300 avg, 14 HR
  4. 93
    Steve Evans
    .287 avg, 32 HR
  5. 93
    Birdie Cree
    .292 avg, 11 HR
  6. 93
    Merv Rettenmund
    .271 avg, 66 HR

Bob Caruthers: the record in brief

The profile opens with Bob Caruthers's first major league game on September 7, 1884; the last one listed came on May 19, 1893. Club by club, the record runs the St. Louis Browns (1884 through 1892), the Brooklyn Bridegrooms (1888 to 1890), the Brooklyn Grooms (1891), the Chicago Colts (1893), and the Cincinnati Reds (1893). At 5-foot-7 and 138 pounds, Caruthers is listed as an outfielder. The bio says Caruthers threw right-handed and batted left-handed. Caruthers was born on January 5, 1864, in Memphis, TN, USA. Caruthers died on August 5, 1911, in Peoria, IL, USA. Bob Caruthers was the playing name; the full given name is Robert Lee.

Caruthers finished with 695 hits from 2,465 at bats in 705 games, which works out to .282, plus 29 home runs, 359 runs batted in, and 152 stolen bases. Caruthers's career OPS of .791 combines a .391 on-base mark with .400 slugging. The league as a whole hit .254 across Caruthers's seasons, which puts the .282 career mark 11.0% above average.

Frequently Asked Questions about Bob Caruthers

What years did Bob Caruthers play?
Bob Caruthers played in Major League Baseball from 1884 to 1893.
Was Bob Caruthers a pitcher?
Both. Bob Caruthers pitched in 340 games, going 218-99 with a 2.83 ERA, but spent most of his career as an Outfielder.
How many home runs did Bob Caruthers hit?
Bob Caruthers hit 29 career home runs with 695 hits.
What was Bob Caruthers's career batting average?
Bob Caruthers batted .282 over his career, with 695 hits in 2,465 at bats.
How many RBI did Bob Caruthers have?
Bob Caruthers drove in 359 runs in his career.
What was Bob Caruthers's career ERA?
Bob Caruthers finished with a 2.83 career ERA, going 218-99 with 900 strikeouts.