Dick Donovan

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1950-1965)

W–L 122–99
ERA 3.67
WHIP 1.23
SO 880
Pitcher PIV 8578.4
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
L / R
Height / Weight
6'3" / 190 lb
Born
12/7/1927 in Boston, MA, USA
Died
1/6/1997 in Weymouth, MA, USA
MLB Debut
1950-04-24
Last Game
1965-06-12
Awards
3× All-Star

Full name: Richard Edward Donovan

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Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
122 99 345 273 101 25 5 2017.3 1,988 822 198 495 880 3.67 8578.4

Career ERA 3.67 vs. league average 3.84 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1950 BSN NL 0 2 10 3 0 0 0 29.7 28 27 34 9 8.19 4.36 (-88%) -2233.8
1951 BSN NL 0 0 8 2 0 0 0 13.7 17 8 11 4 5.27 4.04 (-30%) -91.8
1952 BSN NL 0 2 7 2 0 0 1 13.0 18 8 12 6 5.54 3.70 (-50%) -648.6
1954 DET AL 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 6.0 9 7 5 2 10.50 — 0.0
1955 CHA AL 15 9 29 24 11 5 0 187.0 186 69 48 88 3.32 4.00 (+17%) 2780.3
1956 CHA AL 12 10 34 31 14 3 0 234.7 212 95 59 120 3.64 3.96 (+8%) 3502.6
1957 CHA AL 16 6 28 28 16 2 0 220.7 203 68 45 88 2.77 3.83 (+28%) 2612.6
1958 CHA AL 15 14 34 34 16 4 0 248.0 240 83 53 127 3.01 3.86 (+22%) 3121.9
1959 CHA AL 9 10 31 29 5 1 0 179.7 171 73 58 71 3.66 3.90 (+6%) 65.5
1960 CHA AL 6 1 33 8 0 0 3 78.7 87 47 25 30 5.38 3.82 (-41%) -2062.7
1961 WS2 AL 10 10 23 22 11 2 0 168.7 138 45 35 62 2.40 4.03 (+40%) 3232.6
1962 CLE AL 20 10 34 34 16 5 0 250.7 255 100 47 94 3.59 3.96 (+9%) 2035.1
1963 CLE AL 11 13 30 30 7 3 0 206.0 211 97 28 84 4.24 3.46 (-23%) -2003.4
1964 CLE AL 7 9 30 23 5 0 1 158.3 181 80 29 83 4.55 3.58 (-27%) -488.3
1965 CLE AL 1 3 12 3 0 0 0 22.7 32 15 6 12 5.96 3.50 (-70%) -1243.8
Career · 15 seasons 122 99 345 273 101 25 5 2,017.1 1,988 822 495 880 3.67 — 8,578

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

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
371 694 67 113 14 0 15 64 0 78 292 .163 .257 .248 .505 -2,864

Career AVG .163 vs. league average .256 across their career seasons — 36.3% below league average.

Career OBP .257 vs. league average .325 across their career seasons — 21.1% below league average.

Career SLG .248 vs. league average .387 across their career seasons — 36.0% below league average.

Career OPS .505 vs. league average .712 across their career seasons — 29.2% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1950 BSN NL 10 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 .167 — — — — 0.0
1951 BSN NL 8 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 .333 — — — — 0.0
1952 BSN NL 7 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 — — — — 0.0
1954 DET AL 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 — — — — 0.0
1955 CHA AL 40 76 10 17 0 0 1 5 0 9 26 .224 .258 (-13%) .332 (-1%) .393 (-33%) .726 (-18%) -177.2
1956 CHA AL 44 90 10 20 4 0 3 15 0 14 30 .222 .258 (-14%) .331 (avg) .397 (-8%) .728 (-4%) -44.1
1957 CHA AL 30 83 8 12 1 0 3 10 0 8 32 .145 .257 (-44%) .323 (-32%) .391 (-32%) .715 (-32%) -425.0
1958 CHA AL 34 80 5 9 0 0 0 1 0 10 33 .113 .257 (-56%) .324 (-30%) .394 (-71%) .719 (-53%) -637.1
1959 CHA AL 31 61 4 8 4 0 1 5 0 5 32 .131 .256 (-49%) .323 (-39%) .392 (-37%) .715 (-38%) -380.1
1960 CHA AL 33 23 3 3 1 0 0 2 0 1 13 .130 — — — — 0.0
1961 WS2 AL 24 56 6 10 1 0 1 7 0 6 23 .179 .258 (-31%) .328 (-21%) .399 (-37%) .727 (-30%) -263.4
1962 CLE AL 34 89 8 16 1 0 4 9 0 7 32 .180 .257 (-30%) .326 (-22%) .393 (-17%) .719 (-19%) -271.5
1963 CLE AL 31 69 4 9 1 0 1 2 0 2 31 .130 .246 (-47%) .308 (-50%) .371 (-49%) .680 (-50%) -519.7
1964 CLE AL 31 48 7 7 0 0 1 8 0 10 27 .146 — — — — -145.7
1965 CLE AL 12 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 15 seasons 371 694 67 113 14 0 15 64 0 78 292 .163 — — — — -2,864

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

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
3 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .333

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1959 WS CHA 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .333

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
0 1 3 1 1 8.3 4 5 3 5 5.40

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1959 WS CHA 0 1 3 1 1 8.3 4 5 3 5 5.40

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (716 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home1783243759734.182
Away1933703054830.146

Pitching — Home / Away

SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home1651013.19823792254293.37
Away1801004.010064452704533.99

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1965-06-12 CLEKC1L 000000000
1965-06-11 CLEKC1L 100000001
1965-06-08 CLEMINL 000000000
1965-05-23 CLEBOSL 200000002
1965-05-16 CLETEXL 000000000
1965-05-15 CLETEXL 000000000
1965-05-13 CLEBALL 000000000
1965-05-11 CLEBALL 000000000
1965-05-04 CLENYYL 000000000
1965-05-02 CLETEXL 000000000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1965-06-12 CLEKC1 — 2.0522220
1965-06-11 CLEKC1 — 2.0200030
1965-06-08 CLEMIN — 0.1000000
1965-05-23 CLEBOS L 4.1944121
1965-05-16 CLETEX L 0.1111001
1965-05-15 CLETEX — 1.0222001
1965-05-13 CLEBAL — 2.0100020
1965-05-11 CLEBAL — 0.0100000
1965-05-04 CLENYY — 1.1111101
1965-05-02 CLETEX — 0.1000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 345 266 144 336 20 25

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1950 BSN P 10 0 1 5 0 1
1951 BSN P 8 0 1 4 0 0
1952 BSN P 7 0 0 6 1 0
1954 DET P 2 0 0 1 0 0
1955 CHA P 29 24 11 33 0 2
1956 CHA P 34 31 11 46 1 4
1957 CHA P 28 28 18 37 0 3
1958 CHA P 34 34 16 34 2 3
1959 CHA P 31 29 11 26 4 1
1960 CHA P 33 8 6 19 1 0
1961 WS2 P 23 22 15 26 4 1
1962 CLE P 34 34 23 36 3 6
1963 CLE P 30 30 20 29 2 1
1964 CLE P 30 23 9 30 1 3
1965 CLE P 12 3 2 4 1 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Pitcher 345

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1962 TSN All-Star P
1962 TSN Pitcher of the Year

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1962 Most Valuable Player AL 5th 64.0 280 0
1961 Most Valuable Player AL 17th 5.0 280 0
1958 Most Valuable Player AL 25th 1.0 336 0
1957 Cy Young Award ML 2nd 1.0 16 1
1957 Most Valuable Player AL 13th 19.0 336 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Dick Donovan (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Bob Purkey
    129-115, 3.79 ERA
  2. 97
    Larry Jansen
    122-89, 3.58 ERA
  3. 93
    Preacher Roe
    127-84, 3.43 ERA
  4. 93
    Bill Monbouquette
    114-112, 3.68 ERA
  5. 91
    Bryn Smith
    108-94, 3.53 ERA
  6. 90
    Randy Jones
    100-123, 3.42 ERA

Frequently Asked Questions about Dick Donovan

What years did Dick Donovan play?
Dick Donovan played in Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1965.
Was Dick Donovan a pitcher?
Yes. Dick Donovan pitched in the major leagues, recording 122 wins and 880 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Dick Donovan hit?
Dick Donovan hit 15 career home runs with 113 hits.