What years did Bert Cunningham play?

Bert Cunningham played in Major League Baseball from 1887 to 1901.

Was Bert Cunningham a pitcher?

Yes. Bert Cunningham pitched in the major leagues, recording 142 wins and 718 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Bert Cunningham hit?

Bert Cunningham hit 9 career home runs with 254 hits.

What was Bert Cunningham's career batting average?

Bert Cunningham batted .216 over his career, with 254 hits in 1,176 at bats.

How many RBI did Bert Cunningham have?

Bert Cunningham drove in 124 runs in his career.

What was Bert Cunningham's career ERA?

Bert Cunningham finished with a 4.22 career ERA, going 142-167 with 718 strikeouts.

Bert Cunningham

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1887-1901)

Bert Cunningham was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1887 to 1901 for 7 teams, including the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, a span of 15 seasons. Across 342 career appearances, he went 142-167 with a 4.22 ERA and 718 strikeouts. He also batted .216 with 9 home runs.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 12, 2026

W–L 142–167

ERA 4.22

WHIP 1.51

SO 718

Pitcher PIV -15894.8

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 5'6" / 147 lb
Born: 11/25/1865 in Wilmington, DE, USA
Died: 5/14/1952 in Cragmere, DE, USA
MLB Debut: 1887-09-15
Last Game: 1901-04-28

Full name: Elmer Ellsworth Cunningham

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Career Pitching Statistics

Bert Cunningham — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
142	167	342	311	287	4	2	2734.2	3,071	1,283	62	1,064	718	4.22	-15894.8

Career ERA 4.22 vs. league average 3.84 across their career seasons — 10.0% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bert Cunningham Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1887	BR3	AA	0	2	3	3	3	0	0	23.0	26	13	13	8	5.09	4.17 (-22%)	-360.0
1888	BL2	AA	22	29	51	51	50	0	0	453.1	412	171	157	186	3.39	2.95 (-15%)	-3222.2
1889	BL2	AA	16	19	39	33	29	0	1	279.1	306	151	141	140	4.87	3.93 (-24%)	-1801.8
1890	PHP	PL	3	9	14	11	11	0	0	108.2	133	63	67	33	5.22	3.88 (-34%)	-1272.2
1890	BFP	PL	9	15	25	25	24	2	0	211.0	251	137	134	78	5.84	3.88 (-51%)	-4097.5
1891	BL3	AA	11	14	30	25	21	0	0	237.2	241	106	138	59	4.01	3.52 (-14%)	-4897.2
1895	LS3	NL	11	16	31	28	24	1	0	231.0	299	122	104	49	4.75	4.77 (avg)	-795.8
1896	LS3	NL	7	14	27	20	17	0	1	189.1	242	107	74	37	5.09	4.36 (-17%)	-1880.4
1897	LS3	NL	14	13	30	28	26	0	0	242.2	294	112	72	49	4.15	4.30 (+3%)	1073.0
1898	LS3	NL	28	15	44	42	41	0	0	362.0	387	127	65	34	3.16	3.59 (+12%)	295.6
1899	LS3	NL	17	17	39	37	33	1	0	323.2	385	138	75	36	3.84	3.85 (avg)	1205.6
1900	CHN	NL	4	3	8	7	7	0	0	64.0	84	31	21	7	4.36	3.68 (-18%)	-142.1
1901	CHN	NL	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	9.0	11	5	3	2	5.00	3.49 (-43%)	0.0
Career · 13 seasons			142	167	342	311	287	4	2	2,734.2	3,071	1,283	1,064	718	4.22	—	-15,895

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

Bert Cunningham — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
359	1,176	145	254	32	14	9	124	14	64	206	.216	.260	.290	.550	-3,669

Career AVG .216 vs. league average .270 across their career seasons — 20.0% below league average.

Career OBP .260 vs. league average .335 across their career seasons — 22.4% below league average.

Career SLG .290 vs. league average .361 across their career seasons — 19.6% below league average.

Career OPS .550 vs. league average .696 across their career seasons — 21.0% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bert Cunningham 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
1887	BR3	AA	3	8	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1888	BL2	AA	51	177	17	33	3	2	1	9	2	5	39	.186	.238 (-22%)	.290 (-25%)	.319 (-24%)	.610 (-25%)	-611.4
1889	BL2	AA	41	131	10	27	4	2	0	18	3	4	25	.206	.263 (-22%)	.334 (-28%)	.357 (-25%)	.691 (-27%)	-565.6
1890	PHP	PL	15	52	6	6	1	1	0	3	1	2	11	.115	.260 (-56%)	.336 (-56%)	.351 (-51%)	.687 (-53%)	-442.5
1890	BFP	PL	28	101	11	23	5	1	0	11	0	6	23	.228	.260 (-12%)	.336 (-20%)	.351 (-15%)	.687 (-17%)	-442.5
1891	BL3	AA	31	100	17	15	3	1	1	11	4	13	20	.150	.254 (-41%)	.331 (-25%)	.343 (-33%)	.675 (-29%)	-446.7
1895	LS3	NL	32	100	14	30	7	3	0	13	0	9	20	.300	.296 (+1%)	.361 (-1%)	.399 (+8%)	.761 (+4%)	35.8
1896	LS3	NL	29	88	11	22	3	2	2	15	0	5	14	.250	.290 (-14%)	.354 (-18%)	.387 (+3%)	.741 (-7%)	-137.4
1897	LS3	NL	32	97	13	22	0	1	2	10	1	1	13	.227	.291 (-22%)	.354 (-32%)	.387 (-20%)	.741 (-26%)	-424.8
1898	LS3	NL	44	140	21	32	3	1	1	16	1	10	20	.229	.270 (-16%)	.333 (-16%)	.347 (-18%)	.680 (-17%)	-369.9
1899	LS3	NL	44	154	17	40	2	0	2	17	1	5	13	.260	.282 (-8%)	.343 (-18%)	.366 (-15%)	.710 (-16%)	-410.1
1900	CHN	NL	8	27	5	4	1	0	0	1	1	1	5	.148	—	—	—	—	0.0
1901	CHN	NL	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 13 seasons			359	1,176	145	254	32	14	9	124	14	64	206	.216	—	—	—	—	-3,815

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.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (189 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Bert Cunningham — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	44	140	24	35	2	16	.250
Away	53	183	19	41	1	16	.224

Pitching — Home / Away

Bert Cunningham — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	44	380.0	429	145	73	36	3.43
Away	48	378.2	438	160	94	43	3.80

Last 10 Games — Batting

Bert Cunningham — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	BB	SO
1901-04-28	CHC	CIN	L	1	0	0	0	0	1	1
1900-09-25	CHC	STL	L	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
1900-09-18	CHC	BSN	L	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
1900-09-13	CHC	NY1	W	4	0	1	0	1	0	2
1900-08-06	CHC	BRO	W	2	1	0	0	0	1	1
1900-07-16	CHC	PIT	L	4	0	1	0	0	0	2
1900-07-08	CHC	NY1	W	4	1	2	1	0	0	0
1900-07-04	CHC	PHI	W	3	2	0	0	0	0	0
1900-05-25	CHC	BRO	L	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
1899-10-07	LS3	CIN	L	4	0	2	0	0	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Bert Cunningham — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
1901-04-28	CHC	CIN	L	9.0	11	6	5	3	2
1900-09-25	CHC	STL	L	8.0	10	8	6	2	0
1900-09-18	CHC	BSN	L	8.0	18	14	6	3	3
1900-09-13	CHC	NY1	W	9.0	10	5	3	3	0
1900-08-06	CHC	BRO	W	9.0	12	7	7	4	0
1900-07-16	CHC	PIT	L	9.0	12	7	3	1	2
1900-07-08	CHC	NY1	W	9.0	6	3	2	6	0
1900-07-04	CHC	PHI	W	9.0	9	4	3	2	2
1900-05-25	CHC	BRO	—	3.0	7	5	4	0	0
1899-10-07	LS3	CIN	L	8.0	8	4	1	2	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Bert Cunningham — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	PO	A	E	DP
OF	15	7	0	3	0
P	342	197	676	111	25
SS	4	6	7	4	0

Season-by-Season Fielding

Bert Cunningham — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	PO	A	E	DP
1887	BR3	P	3	1	4	1	0
1888	BL2	OF	1	0	0	0	0
1888	BL2	P	51	20	106	25	3
1889	BL2	OF	2	1	0	1	0
1889	BL2	P	39	8	54	9	0
1889	BL2	SS	1	0	2	2	0
1890	PHP	OF	1	1	0	1	0
1890	PHP	P	14	7	33	7	3
1890	BFP	OF	3	3	0	1	0
1890	BFP	P	25	7	53	14	2
1891	BL3	OF	2	0	0	0	0
1891	BL3	P	30	11	69	7	3
1891	BL3	SS	1	0	0	0	0
1895	LS3	OF	1	0	0	0	0
1895	LS3	P	31	19	56	10	3
1896	LS3	P	27	23	48	9	3
1896	LS3	SS	1	3	2	1	0
1897	LS3	OF	2	0	0	0	0
1897	LS3	P	30	27	58	7	0
1898	LS3	P	44	29	81	13	5
1899	LS3	OF	3	2	0	0	0
1899	LS3	P	39	35	100	8	2
1899	LS3	SS	1	3	3	1	0
1900	CHN	P	8	8	9	1	1
1901	CHN	P	1	2	5	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Bert Cunningham Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	342
Shortstop	4
Left Field	2
Center Field	3
Right Field	11

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Bert Cunningham (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Bert Cunningham: the record in brief

The profile opens with Bert Cunningham's first major league game on September 15, 1887; the last one listed came on April 28, 1901. The team column moves through the Brooklyn Grays (1887), the Baltimore Orioles (1888 to 1891), the Philadelphia Athletics (1890), the Buffalo Bisons (1890), the Louisville Colonels (1895 to 1899), and the Chicago Orphans (1900 to 1901). Listed as a pitcher, Cunningham both batted and threw right-handed. Cunningham is listed at 5'6" and 147 pounds. The birth record reads November 25, 1865, in Wilmington, DE, USA. Cunningham's death is recorded on May 14, 1952, in Cragmere, DE, USA. Bert Cunningham was the playing name; the full given name is Elmer Ellsworth.

The pitching table credits Cunningham with a 142-167 record and a 4.22 ERA in 342 games. Also on Cunningham's record: 718 strikeouts and 287 complete games. Against a 3.84 league ERA for the same seasons, the 4.22 mark was 10.0% worse. The best win total was 28, in 1898. The strikeout high was 186 in 1888.

Frequently Asked Questions about Bert Cunningham

What years did Bert Cunningham play?: Bert Cunningham played in Major League Baseball from 1887 to 1901.
Was Bert Cunningham a pitcher?: Yes. Bert Cunningham pitched in the major leagues, recording 142 wins and 718 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Bert Cunningham hit?: Bert Cunningham hit 9 career home runs with 254 hits.
What was Bert Cunningham's career batting average?: Bert Cunningham batted .216 over his career, with 254 hits in 1,176 at bats.
How many RBI did Bert Cunningham have?: Bert Cunningham drove in 124 runs in his career.
What was Bert Cunningham's career ERA?: Bert Cunningham finished with a 4.22 career ERA, going 142-167 with 718 strikeouts.