Mike Donlin

Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1899-1914)

Mike Donlin was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1899 to 1914 for 6 teams, including the St. Louis Cardinals, a span of 16 seasons. In 1,049 career games, he hit .333 with 1,282 hits, 51 home runs, and 543 RBI. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 20,363.

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 .333
HR 51
RBI 543
H 1,282
OPS .854
PIV 20,363
Position
Outfielder
Bats / Throws
L / L
Height / Weight
5'9" / 170 lb
Born
5/30/1878 in Peoria, IL, USA
Died
9/24/1933 in Hollywood, CA, USA
MLB Debut
1899-07-19
Last Game
1914-10-01

Full name: Michael Joseph Donlin

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Career Batting Statistics

Mike Donlin — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,049 3,854 669 1,282 176 97 51 543 213 312 311 .333 .386 .468 .854 20,363

Career AVG .333 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — +28.1% above league average.

Career OBP .386 vs. league average .320 across their career seasons — +20.4% above league average.

Career SLG .468 vs. league average .340 across their career seasons — +37.7% above league average.

Career OPS .854 vs. league average .660 across their career seasons — +29.3% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Mike Donlin 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
1899 SLN NL 66 266 49 86 9 6 6 27 20 17 33 .323 .282 (+14%) .343 (+7%) .366 (+28%) .710 (+18%) 764.4
1900 SLN NL 78 276 40 90 8 6 10 48 14 14 34 .326 .279 (+17%) .338 (+7%) .366 (+39%) .705 (+23%) 1041.0
1901 BLA AL 121 476 107 162 23 13 5 67 33 53 31 .340 .271 (+25%) .326 (+25%) .359 (+32%) .686 (+29%) 2700.9
1902 CIN NL 34 143 30 41 5 4 0 9 9 9 14 .287 .266 (+7%) .321 (+4%) .343 (+10%) .665 (+7%) 130.7
1903 CIN NL 126 496 110 174 25 18 7 67 26 56 40 .351 .261 (+34%) .316 (+33%) .345 (+49%) .662 (+41%) 3877.3
1904 CIN NL 60 236 42 84 11 7 1 38 21 18 21 .356 .246 (+44%) .300 (+35%) .321 (+48%) .622 (+42%) 1522.8
1904 NY1 NL 42 132 17 37 7 3 2 14 1 10 9 .280 .246 (+14%) .300 (+13%) .321 (+32%) .622 (+23%) 1522.8
1905 NY1 NL 150 606 124 216 31 16 7 80 33 56 41 .356 .248 (+44%) .307 (+34%) .322 (+53%) .629 (+44%) 4838.1
1906 NY1 NL 37 121 15 38 5 1 1 14 9 11 10 .314 .247 (+27%) .307 (+21%) .315 (+26%) .622 (+23%) 432.9
1908 NY1 NL 155 593 71 198 26 13 6 106 30 23 39 .334 .240 (+39%) .298 (+22%) .306 (+47%) .605 (+35%) 3333.8
1911 NY1 NL 12 12 3 4 0 0 1 1 2 0 1 .333 — — — — 0.0
1911 BSN NL 56 222 33 70 16 1 2 34 7 22 17 .315 .266 (+18%) .336 (+12%) .356 (+19%) .693 (+16%) 0.0
1912 PIT NL 77 244 27 77 9 8 2 35 8 20 16 .316 .268 (+17%) .335 (+10%) .358 (+23%) .694 (+17%) 688.8
1914 NY1 NL 35 31 1 5 1 1 1 3 0 3 5 .161 — — — — 0.0
Career · 14 seasons 1,049 3,854 669 1,282 176 97 51 543 213 312 311 .333 — — — — 20,853

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

Mike Donlin — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
0 1 4 1 0 0 0 16.1 16 13 1 14 6 7.16 -800.9

Career ERA 7.16 vs. league average 3.48 across their career seasons — 106.1% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Mike Donlin — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1899 SLN NL 0 1 3 1 0 0 0 15.1 15 13 14 6 7.63 3.85 (-98%) -800.9
1902 CIN NL 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.0 1 0 0 0 0.00 — 0.0
Career · 2 seasons 0 1 4 1 0 0 0 16.1 16 13 14 6 7.16 — -801

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

Mike Donlin — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
5 19 4 5 1 0 0 1 2 1 .263

Playoff Batting by Year

Mike Donlin — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1905 WS NY1 5 19 4 5 1 0 0 1 2 1 .263

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1056 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Mike Donlin — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home537191534766933272.349
Away515194632361318239.315

Pitching — Home / Away

Mike Donlin — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home212.114111248.03
Away24.020220.00

Last 10 Games — Batting

Mike Donlin — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1914-10-01 NY1BSNL 100000000
1914-09-23 NY1STLL 100000000
1914-09-10 NY1BROL 100000000
1914-09-08 NY1BSNL 100000000
1914-08-23 NY1CINL 100000000
1914-08-19 NY1PITL 100000000
1914-08-18 NY1PITL 000000010
1914-08-17 NY1PITW 100000000
1914-08-14 NY1BSNL 100000000
1914-08-06 NY1CHCL 100000000

Last 4 Games — Pitching

Mike Donlin — Last 4 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1902-10-04 CINPIT — 1.0100000
1899-08-29 STLWSN L 7.19128930
1899-07-27 STLBRO — 5.0533310
1899-07-19 STLBSN — 3.0100220

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Mike Donlin — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 95 6 891 42 36 34
OF 867 417 1521 109 135 24
P 4 0 1 9 0 1
SS 4 0 3 5 5 1

Season-by-Season Fielding

Mike Donlin — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1899 SLN 1B 13 0 116 5 9 3
1899 SLN OF 51 0 96 7 15 2
1899 SLN P 3 0 1 9 0 1
1899 SLN SS 3 0 2 4 5 1
1900 SLN 1B 21 0 209 4 12 9
1900 SLN OF 47 0 99 7 9 5
1901 BLA 1B 47 0 435 24 9 19
1901 BLA OF 74 0 179 12 17 2
1902 CIN OF 32 0 59 5 9 1
1902 CIN P 1 0 0 0 0 0
1902 CIN SS 1 0 1 1 0 0
1903 CIN 1B 7 0 66 5 3 3
1903 CIN OF 118 0 209 15 25 4
1904 CIN 1B 6 6 55 3 3 0
1904 CIN OF 53 53 87 8 14 1
1904 NY1 OF 37 32 44 1 4 1
1905 NY1 OF 150 150 250 17 19 4
1906 NY1 1B 1 0 10 1 0 0
1906 NY1 OF 29 27 39 0 3 0
1908 NY1 OF 155 155 239 21 6 1
1911 NY1 OF 3 0 1 0 0 0
1911 BSN OF 56 0 117 8 12 2
1912 PIT OF 62 0 102 8 2 1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Mike Donlin Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 4
First Base 98
Shortstop 4
Left Field 287
Center Field 342
Right Field 241

Awards & Honors

Mike Donlin — Awards & Honors
Year Award Notes
1911 Baseball Magazine All-Star CF
1908 Baseball Magazine All-Star CF

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Mike Donlin (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Tip O'Neill
    .326 avg, 52 HR
  2. 83
    Ross Youngs HOF
    .322 avg, 42 HR
  3. 80
    Bug Holliday
    .312 avg, 65 HR
  4. 80
    Pete Browning
    .341 avg, 46 HR
  5. 78
    Jake Stenzel
    .338 avg, 32 HR
  6. 78
    Bill Lange
    .330 avg, 39 HR

Compare Mike Donlin

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Donlin's closest peers by position and era.

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Mike Donlin: the record in brief

The profile opens with Mike Donlin's first major league game on July 19, 1899; the last one listed came on October 1, 1914. The team column moves through the St. Louis Perfectos (1899), the St. Louis Cardinals (1900), the Baltimore Orioles (1901), the Cincinnati Reds (1902 to 1904), the New York Giants (1904 to 1914), the Boston Rustlers (1911), and the Pittsburgh Pirates (1912). The bio lists Donlin as an outfielder who batted and threw left-handed. Donlin is listed at 5'9" and 170 pounds. The birth record reads May 30, 1878, in Peoria, IL, USA. Donlin died on September 24, 1933, in Hollywood, CA, USA. Donlin's full given name, per the bio, is Michael Joseph Donlin.

The batting record for Donlin: 1,049 games, 1,282 hits in 3,854 at bats, and a .333 average, plus 51 home runs, 543 RBI, and 213 stolen bases. Reaching base at a .386 clip and slugging .468, Donlin finished with a .854 OPS.

Frequently Asked Questions about Mike Donlin

What years did Mike Donlin play?
Mike Donlin played in Major League Baseball from 1899 to 1914.
Was Mike Donlin a pitcher?
No. Mike Donlin was a position player (Outfielder), though he did pitch in 4 career games.
How many home runs did Mike Donlin hit?
Mike Donlin hit 51 career home runs with 1,282 hits.
What teams did Mike Donlin play for?
Mike Donlin played for 6 teams: the St. Louis Cardinals (1899–1900), the Baltimore Orioles (1901), the Cincinnati Reds (1902–1904), the New York Giants (1904–1906, 1908, 1911, 1914), the Boston Rustlers (1911), and the Pittsburgh Pirates (1912).
What were Mike Donlin's career stats?
In 1,049 games, Mike Donlin had 1,282 hits, 51 home runs, 543 RBI, 669 runs, and 213 stolen bases, with a .333 batting average.
What position did Mike Donlin play?
Mike Donlin played primarily as an outfielder, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Mike Donlin and how much did he weigh?
Mike Donlin was listed at 5 feet 9 inches and 170 pounds.
How many home runs did Mike Donlin hit each season?
Mike Donlin's home runs by season: 6 in 1899, 10 in 1900, 5 in 1901, 0 in 1902, 7 in 1903, 3 in 1904, 7 in 1905, 1 in 1906, 6 in 1908, 3 in 1911, 2 in 1912, and 1 in 1914. His most in one season was 10, in 1900.
What was Mike Donlin's career batting average?
Mike Donlin batted .333 over his career, with 1,282 hits in 3,854 at bats.
How many RBI did Mike Donlin have?
Mike Donlin drove in 543 runs in his career.
What was Mike Donlin's career ERA?
Mike Donlin finished with a 7.16 career ERA, going 0-1 with 6 strikeouts.
Is Mike Donlin in the Hall of Fame?
No. Mike Donlin has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.