What years did Richard Dotson play?

Richard Dotson played in Major League Baseball from 1979 to 1990.

Was Richard Dotson a pitcher?

Yes. Richard Dotson pitched in the major leagues, recording 111 wins and 973 strikeouts.

What was Richard Dotson's career ERA?

Richard Dotson finished with a 4.23 career ERA, going 111-113 with 973 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Richard Dotson have?

Richard Dotson recorded 973 career strikeouts.

Is Richard Dotson in the Hall of Fame?

No. Richard Dotson has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Richard Dotson

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1979-1990)

Richard Dotson was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1979 to 1990 for the Chicago White Sox, the New York Yankees, and the Kansas City Royals, a span of 12 seasons. Across 305 career appearances, he went 111-113 with a 4.23 ERA and 973 strikeouts. Richard Dotson was an All-Star.

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 111–113

ERA 4.23

WHIP 1.41

SO 973

Pitcher PIV -21040.3

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'1" / 190 lb
Born: 1/10/1959 in Cincinnati, OH, USA
MLB Debut: 1979-09-04
Last Game: 1990-06-05
Awards: All-Star

Full name: Richard Elliott Dotson

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Career Pitching Statistics

Richard Dotson — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
111	113	305	295	55	11	0	1857.1	1,884	872	194	740	973	4.23	-21040.3

Career ERA 4.23 vs. league average 3.88 across their career seasons — 9.0% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Richard Dotson Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1979	CHA	AL	2	0	5	5	1	1	24.1	28	10	6	13	3.70	4.00 (+8%)	977.4
1980	CHA	AL	12	10	33	32	8	0	198.0	185	94	87	109	4.27	3.84 (-11%)	-2632.2
1981	CHA	AL	9	8	24	24	5	4	141.0	145	59	49	73	3.77	3.58 (-5%)	-1084.0
1982	CHA	AL	11	15	34	31	3	1	196.2	219	84	73	109	3.84	3.86 (avg)	-938.8
1983	CHA	AL	22	7	35	35	8	1	240.0	209	86	106	137	3.23	3.87 (+17%)	-1171.1
1984	CHA	AL	14	15	32	32	14	1	245.2	216	98	103	120	3.59	3.81 (+6%)	-3645.5
1985	CHA	AL	3	4	9	9	0	0	52.1	53	26	17	33	4.47	3.89 (-15%)	108.1
1986	CHA	AL	10	17	34	34	3	1	197.0	226	120	69	110	5.48	3.97 (-38%)	-1707.7
1987	CHA	AL	11	12	31	31	7	2	211.1	201	98	86	114	4.17	4.29 (+3%)	-1034.6
1988	NYA	AL	12	9	32	29	4	0	171.0	178	95	72	77	5.00	3.73 (-34%)	-6501.1
1989	NYA	AL	2	5	11	9	1	0	51.2	69	32	17	14	5.57	3.71 (-50%)	-2026.2
1989	CHA	AL	3	7	17	17	1	0	99.2	112	43	41	55	3.88	3.71 (-5%)	-564.2
1990	KCA	AL	0	4	8	7	0	0	28.2	43	27	14	9	8.48	3.86 (-120%)	-820.4
Career · 13 seasons			111	113	305	295	55	11	1,857.1	1,884	872	740	973	4.23	—	-21,040

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

Richard Dotson — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
312	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	0

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Richard Dotson Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	R	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1979	CHA	AL	5	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1980	CHA	AL	36	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1981	CHA	AL	27	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1982	CHA	AL	34	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1983	CHA	AL	35	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1984	CHA	AL	33	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1985	CHA	AL	9	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1986	CHA	AL	34	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1987	CHA	AL	31	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1988	NYA	AL	32	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1989	NYA	AL	11	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1989	CHA	AL	17	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1990	KCA	AL	8	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 13 seasons			312	1	—	—	—	—	—	0

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

Richard Dotson — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Richard Dotson — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1983	ALCS	CHA	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Richard Dotson — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	1	1	1	0	5.0	6	6	3	3	10.80

Playoff Pitching by Year

Richard Dotson — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1983	ALCS	CHA	0	1	1	1	0	5.0	6	6	3	3	10.80

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (617 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Richard Dotson — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	156	0	1	0	0	0	—
Away	156	0	0	0	0	0	—

Pitching — Home / Away

Richard Dotson — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	152	957.2	920	416	387	507	3.91
Away	153	899.2	964	456	353	466	4.56

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Richard Dotson — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1990-06-05	KCR	LAA	L	1.2	5	4	4	1	1	1
1990-06-02	KCR	OAK	—	2.0	3	2	2	0	1	0
1990-05-22	KCR	DET	—	2.0	5	5	5	1	1	1
1990-05-12	KCR	CHW	L	2.2	9	5	3	1	1	0
1990-05-05	KCR	CHW	L	4.0	6	4	4	1	1	0
1990-04-29	KCR	TEX	—	4.2	5	2	2	3	0	0
1990-04-24	KCR	MIL	L	6.0	5	5	5	3	2	1
1990-04-17	KCR	CLE	—	5.2	5	2	2	4	2	0
1989-10-01	CHW	CLE	L	8.0	5	1	1	2	9	0
1989-09-25	CHW	MIN	W	7.0	10	2	2	3	3	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Richard Dotson — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	305	295	116	269	11	25

Season-by-Season Fielding

Richard Dotson — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1979	CHA	P	5	5	1	4	0	0
1980	CHA	P	33	32	13	33	1	0
1981	CHA	P	24	24	7	20	0	4
1982	CHA	P	34	31	13	24	1	1
1983	CHA	P	35	35	20	48	1	8
1984	CHA	P	32	32	8	36	1	3
1985	CHA	P	9	9	3	5	0	0
1986	CHA	P	34	34	13	23	3	0
1987	CHA	P	31	31	14	38	2	4
1988	NYA	P	32	29	17	14	0	1
1989	NYA	P	11	9	1	5	0	1
1989	CHA	P	17	17	4	16	2	2
1990	KCA	P	8	7	2	3	0	1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Richard Dotson Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	305
Designated Hitter	3

Awards & Honors

Richard Dotson — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1983	Pitcher of the Month	September
1981	Player of the Week	Week of 1981-05-08

Salary History

Richard Dotson — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1990	KCA	AL	$550,000
1989	NYA	AL	$68,000
1988	NYA	AL	$900,000
1987	CHA	AL	$1,075,000
1986	CHA	AL	$975,000
1985	CHA	AL	$900,000
Total Career Earnings			$4,468,000

Award Voting History

Richard Dotson — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max
1983	Cy Young Award	AL	4th	9.0	140
1983	Most Valuable Player	AL	20th	3.0	392
1980	Rookie of the Year	AL	7th	1.0	140

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Richard Dotson (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Richard Dotson: the record in brief

Richard Dotson's major league career runs from a debut on September 4, 1979 to a final game on June 5, 1990. Dotson played for the Chicago White Sox (1979 to 1989), the New York Yankees (1988 to 1989), and the Kansas City Royals (1990). Dotson played primarily as a pitcher and threw and hit right-handed. The bio adds a birth date on January 10, 1959, in Cincinnati, OH, USA and a listed size of 190 pounds on a 6-foot-1 frame. Dotson's full given name, per the bio, is Richard Elliott Dotson.

Dotson pitched in 305 games, starting 295, and finished with a 111-113 record and 4.23 ERA. Dotson had 973 strikeouts, 55 complete games, and 11 shutouts. Against a 3.88 league ERA for the same seasons, the 4.23 mark was 9.0% worse. 1983 brought Dotson a season-high 22 wins. In 1983, one of the busiest seasons, Dotson posted a 3.23 ERA; the league figure that year was 3.87.

The playoff pitching line reads 0-1, 10.80 ERA, across 1 appearances. Those appearances came in 1983.

The awards table records Pitcher of the Month and Player of the Week, in 1981 and 1983. The bio's awards line reads All-Star. Dotson finished 4th in the 1983 Cy Young Award voting, the best showing in the voting table.

Frequently Asked Questions about Richard Dotson

What years did Richard Dotson play?: Richard Dotson played in Major League Baseball from 1979 to 1990.
Was Richard Dotson a pitcher?: Yes. Richard Dotson pitched in the major leagues, recording 111 wins and 973 strikeouts.
What was Richard Dotson's career ERA?: Richard Dotson finished with a 4.23 career ERA, going 111-113 with 973 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Richard Dotson have?: Richard Dotson recorded 973 career strikeouts.
Is Richard Dotson in the Hall of Fame?: No. Richard Dotson has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
What teams did Richard Dotson play for?: Richard Dotson played for the Chicago White Sox, the New York Yankees, and the Kansas City Royals.