Babe Dahlgren

First Baseman · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1935-1946)

Babe Dahlgren was a first baseman who played in Major League Baseball from 1935 to 1946 for 8 teams, including the Boston Red Sox, a span of 12 seasons. In 1,137 career games, he hit .261 with 1,056 hits, 82 home runs, and 569 RBI. Babe Dahlgren was an All-Star. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 1,653.

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 .261
HR 82
RBI 569
H 1,056
OPS .713
PIV 1,653
Position
First Baseman
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'0" / 190 lb
Born
6/15/1912 in San Francisco, CA, USA
Died
9/4/1996 in Arcadia, CA, USA
MLB Debut
1935-04-16
Last Game
1946-09-03
Awards
All-Star

Full name: Ellsworth Tenney Dahlgren

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Career Batting Statistics

Babe Dahlgren — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,137 4,045 470 1,056 174 37 82 569 18 390 401 .261 .329 .383 .713 1,653

Career AVG .261 vs. league average .267 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .329 vs. league average .335 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .383 vs. league average .376 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OPS .713 vs. league average .711 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Babe Dahlgren 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
1935 BOS AL 149 525 77 138 27 7 9 63 6 56 67 .263 .279 (-6%) .342 (-2%) .399 (-2%) .742 (-2%) -135.4
1936 BOS AL 16 57 6 16 3 1 1 7 2 7 1 .281 .283 (-1%) .349 (+3%) .404 (+4%) .753 (+4%) 35.3
1937 NYA AL 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1938 NYA AL 27 43 8 8 1 0 0 1 0 1 7 .186 — — — — 0.0
1939 NYA AL 144 531 71 125 18 6 15 89 2 57 54 .235 .274 (-14%) .342 (-9%) .393 (-4%) .735 (-6%) -577.5
1940 NYA AL 155 568 51 150 24 4 12 73 1 46 54 .264 .267 (-1%) .335 (-3%) .387 (-1%) .722 (-2%) -197.8
1941 BSN NL 44 166 20 39 8 1 7 30 0 16 13 .235 .262 (-10%) .332 (-8%) .373 (+13%) .705 (+3%) 51.4
1941 CHN NL 99 359 50 101 20 1 16 59 2 43 39 .281 .262 (+7%) .332 (+8%) .373 (+28%) .705 (+18%) 51.4
1942 CHN NL 17 56 4 12 1 0 0 6 0 4 2 .214 .253 (-15%) .323 (-17%) .349 (-34%) .672 (-26%) -213.6
1942 SLA AL 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — -213.6
1942 BRO NL 17 19 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 5 .053 — — — — -213.6
1943 PHI NL 136 508 55 146 19 2 5 56 2 50 39 .287 .255 (+12%) .324 (+9%) .346 (+5%) .671 (+7%) 718.0
1944 PIT NL 158 599 67 173 28 7 12 101 2 47 56 .289 .261 (+10%) .325 (+6%) .357 (+17%) .683 (+12%) 1353.1
1945 PIT NL 144 531 57 133 24 8 5 75 1 51 51 .250 .260 (-4%) .328 (-3%) .354 (avg) .683 (-2%) -176.7
1946 SLA AL 28 80 2 14 1 0 0 9 0 8 13 .175 .256 (-32%) .328 (-24%) .358 (-48%) .687 (-36%) -433.4
Career · 15 seasons 1,137 4,045 470 1,056 174 37 82 569 18 390 401 .261 — — — — 47

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

Babe Dahlgren — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
4 14 2 3 2 0 1 2 0 4 .214

Playoff Batting by Year

Babe Dahlgren — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1939 WS NYA 4 14 2 3 2 0 1 2 0 4 .214

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1137 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Babe Dahlgren — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home580199923251131252.256
Away557204723954451319.266

Last 10 Games — Batting

Babe Dahlgren — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1946-09-03 SLACLEL 100000000
1946-09-03 SLACLEL 200000100
1946-09-02 SLACLEL 200000010
1946-09-02 SLACLEW 300000000
1946-08-31 SLADETL 300000002
1946-08-28 SLAPHAW 201000001
1946-08-22 SLANYYL 100000000
1946-07-27 SLABOSL 100000000
1946-06-15 SLANYYW 300000001
1946-06-14 SLANYYL 200000001

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Babe Dahlgren — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 1030 0 9619 587 102 848
3B 48 0 49 72 14 4
C 1 0 0 0 0 0
SS 25 0 53 53 6 11

Season-by-Season Fielding

Babe Dahlgren — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1935 BOS 1B 149 0 1433 69 18 109
1936 BOS 1B 16 0 136 8 3 10
1938 NYA 1B 6 0 26 2 0 2
1938 NYA 3B 8 0 11 8 4 0
1939 NYA 1B 144 0 1303 68 13 140
1940 NYA 1B 155 0 1488 75 15 143
1941 BSN 1B 39 0 379 28 3 45
1941 BSN 3B 5 0 5 12 1 0
1941 CHN 1B 98 0 957 38 9 84
1942 CHN 1B 14 0 136 10 2 7
1942 BRO 1B 10 0 47 4 0 6
1943 PHI 1B 73 0 714 46 9 66
1943 PHI 3B 35 0 33 52 9 4
1943 PHI C 1 0 0 0 0 0
1943 PHI SS 25 0 53 53 6 11
1944 PIT 1B 158 0 1440 128 20 105
1945 PIT 1B 144 0 1373 93 6 115
1946 SLA 1B 24 0 187 18 4 16

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Babe Dahlgren Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Catcher 1
First Base 1028
Third Base 48
Shortstop 25

Award Voting History

Babe Dahlgren — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1944 Most Valuable Player NL 12th 33.0 336 1
1943 Most Valuable Player NL 29th 2.0 336 0
1941 Most Valuable Player NL 28th 6.0 336 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Babe Dahlgren (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Vance Law
    .256 avg, 71 HR
  2. 97
    Roy Howell
    .261 avg, 80 HR
  3. 93
    Aaron Ward
    .268 avg, 50 HR
  4. 92
    Adam Frazier
    .263 avg, 68 HR
  5. 88
    Ed Charles
    .263 avg, 86 HR
  6. 88
    Charlie Neal
    .259 avg, 87 HR

Babe Dahlgren: the record in brief

According to the bio, Babe Dahlgren debuted on April 16, 1935 and played a final game on September 3, 1946. The team column moves through the Boston Red Sox (1935 to 1936), the New York Yankees (1937 to 1940), the Boston Braves (1941), the Chicago Cubs (1941 to 1942), the St. Louis Browns (1942 to 1946), the Brooklyn Dodgers (1942), the Philadelphia Blue Jays (1943), and the Pittsburgh Pirates (1944 to 1945). Listed as a first baseman, Dahlgren both batted and threw right-handed. Height and weight on file: 6'0" and 190 pounds. Dahlgren was born on June 15, 1912, in San Francisco, CA, USA. Dahlgren died on September 4, 1996, in Arcadia, CA, USA. On the record, Babe Dahlgren was born Ellsworth Tenney Dahlgren.

Dahlgren finished with 1,056 hits from 4,045 at bats in 1,137 games, which works out to .261, plus 82 homers and 569 runs batted in. The on-base percentage is .329 and the slugging percentage .383, for an OPS of .713.

Frequently Asked Questions about Babe Dahlgren

What years did Babe Dahlgren play?
Babe Dahlgren played in Major League Baseball from 1935 to 1946.
Was Babe Dahlgren a pitcher?
No. Babe Dahlgren was a position player (First Baseman).
How many home runs did Babe Dahlgren hit?
Babe Dahlgren hit 82 career home runs with 1056 hits.
What was Babe Dahlgren's career batting average?
Babe Dahlgren batted .261 over his career, with 1,056 hits in 4,045 at bats.
How many RBI did Babe Dahlgren have?
Babe Dahlgren drove in 569 runs in his career.
Is Babe Dahlgren in the Hall of Fame?
No. Babe Dahlgren has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.