What years did Dick Drago play?

Dick Drago played in Major League Baseball from 1969 to 1981.

Was Dick Drago a pitcher?

Yes. Dick Drago pitched in the major leagues, recording 108 wins and 987 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Dick Drago hit?

Dick Drago hit 0 career home runs with 21 hits.

What was Dick Drago's career batting average?

Dick Drago batted .077 over his career, with 21 hits in 274 at bats.

How many RBI did Dick Drago have?

Dick Drago drove in 12 runs in his career.

What was Dick Drago's career ERA?

Dick Drago finished with a 3.62 career ERA, going 108-117 with 987 strikeouts.

Dick Drago

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1969-1981)

Dick Drago was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1969 to 1981 for 5 teams, including the Kansas City Royals, a span of 13 seasons. Across 519 career appearances, he went 108-117 with a 3.62 ERA, 987 strikeouts, and 58 saves. He also batted .077 with 0 home runs. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 3531.2.

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 108–117

ERA 3.62

WHIP 1.31

SO 987

Pitcher PIV 3531.2

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'1" / 190 lb
Born: 6/25/1945 in Toledo, OH, USA
Died: 11/3/2023 in Tampa, FL, USA
MLB Debut: 1969-04-11
Last Game: 1981-09-30

Full name: Richard Anthony Drago

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Career Pitching Statistics

Dick Drago — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
108	117	519	189	62	10	58	1875.0	1,901	755	157	558	987	3.62	3531.2

Career ERA 3.62 vs. league average 3.70 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Dick Drago Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1969	KCA	AL	11	13	41	26	10	2	1	200.2	190	84	65	108	3.77	3.61 (-4%)	-260.4
1970	KCA	AL	9	15	35	34	7	1	0	240.0	239	100	72	127	3.75	3.89 (+3%)	1479.4
1971	KCA	AL	17	11	35	34	15	4	0	241.1	251	80	46	109	2.98	3.47 (+14%)	3059.1
1972	KCA	AL	12	17	34	33	11	2	0	239.1	230	80	51	135	3.01	3.26 (+8%)	525.1
1973	KCA	AL	12	14	37	33	10	1	0	212.2	252	100	76	98	4.23	3.75 (-13%)	-249.5
1974	BOS	AL	7	10	33	18	8	0	3	175.2	165	68	56	90	3.48	3.63 (+4%)	-992.7
1975	BOS	AL	2	2	40	2	0	0	15	72.2	69	31	31	43	3.84	3.71 (-3%)	244.8
1976	CAL	AL	7	8	43	0	0	0	6	79.1	80	39	31	43	4.42	3.51 (-26%)	-1076.5
1977	CAL	AL	0	1	13	0	0	0	2	21.0	22	7	3	15	3.00	4.00 (+25%)	212.7
1977	BAL	AL	6	3	36	0	0	0	3	39.2	49	16	15	20	3.63	4.00 (+9%)	403.2
1978	BOS	AL	4	4	37	1	0	0	7	77.1	71	26	32	42	3.03	3.69 (+18%)	-94.2
1979	BOS	AL	10	6	53	1	0	0	13	89.0	85	30	21	67	3.03	4.00 (+24%)	2469.8
1980	BOS	AL	7	7	43	7	1	0	3	132.2	127	61	44	63	4.14	3.84 (-8%)	-2436.7
1981	SEA	AL	4	6	39	0	0	0	5	53.2	71	33	15	27	5.53	3.58 (-54%)	246.9
Career · 14 seasons			108	117	519	189	62	10	58	1,875.0	1,901	755	558	987	3.62	—	3,531

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

Dick Drago — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
521	274	11	21	4	0	0	12	0	21	149	.077	.145	.091	.237	-2,714

Career AVG .077 vs. league average .256 across their career seasons — 70.1% below league average.

Career OBP .145 vs. league average .323 across their career seasons — 55.1% below league average.

Career SLG .091 vs. league average .377 across their career seasons — 75.8% below league average.

Career OPS .237 vs. league average .700 across their career seasons — 66.2% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Dick Drago Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1969	KCA	AL	41	52	2	3	1	2	3	25	.058	.248 (-77%)	.320 (-66%)	.369 (-79%)	.689 (-73%)	-584.3
1970	KCA	AL	35	76	2	4	0	1	2	44	.053	.253 (-79%)	.325 (-76%)	.385 (-86%)	.711 (-82%)	-975.7
1971	KCA	AL	35	77	3	10	3	4	8	44	.130	.249 (-48%)	.316 (-33%)	.365 (-54%)	.682 (-44%)	-510.2
1972	KCA	AL	35	68	4	4	0	5	8	36	.059	.243 (-76%)	.310 (-46%)	.353 (-83%)	.664 (-66%)	-644.2
1973	KCA	AL	38	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1974	BOS	AL	33	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1975	BOS	AL	40	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1976	CAL	AL	43	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1977	CAL	AL	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1977	BAL	AL	36	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1978	BOS	AL	37	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1979	BOS	AL	53	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1980	BOS	AL	43	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1981	SEA	AL	39	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 14 seasons			521	274	11	21	4	12	21	149	.077	—	—	—	—	-2,714

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

Dick Drago — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Dick Drago — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1975	ALCS	BOS	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1975	WS	BOS	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Dick Drago — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	1	4	0	2	8.2	5	1	2	3	1.04

Playoff Pitching by Year

Dick Drago — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1975	ALCS	BOS	0	0	2	0	2	4.2	2	0	1	2	0.00
1975	WS	BOS	0	1	2	0	0	4.0	3	1	1	1	2.25

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1038 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Dick Drago — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	253	131	7	10	0	8	.076
Away	267	143	4	11	0	4	.077

Pitching — Home / Away

Dick Drago — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	252	944.2	937	382	292	497	3.64
Away	266	930.0	964	372	266	490	3.60

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Dick Drago — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1981-09-30	SEA	TEX	—	6.0	3	0	0	1	2	0
1981-09-27	SEA	KCR	—	0.2	4	3	3	0	0	0
1981-09-24	SEA	TEX	SV	0.2	0	0	0	0	1	0
1981-09-16	SEA	CHW	L	1.0	4	2	2	0	0	0
1981-09-15	SEA	CHW	SV	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0
1981-09-06	SEA	BOS	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0
1981-09-03	SEA	BOS	—	0.2	2	1	1	0	0	0
1981-08-30	SEA	CLE	—	0.2	4	3	3	0	0	0
1981-08-29	SEA	CLE	—	0.2	2	0	0	0	0	0
1981-08-25	SEA	BAL	L	1.1	2	3	3	1	1	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Dick Drago — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	519	189	83	268	13	33

Season-by-Season Fielding

Dick Drago — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1969	KCA	P	41	26	25	32	1	6
1970	KCA	P	35	34	10	33	1	5
1971	KCA	P	35	34	7	42	2	9
1972	KCA	P	34	33	4	28	2	5
1973	KCA	P	37	33	14	38	3	3
1974	BOS	P	33	18	3	21	0	1
1975	BOS	P	40	2	3	12	0	0
1976	CAL	P	43	0	3	4	1	0
1977	CAL	P	13	0	0	2	0	0
1977	BAL	P	36	0	0	7	1	0
1978	BOS	P	37	1	2	10	1	0
1979	BOS	P	53	1	5	11	1	2
1980	BOS	P	43	7	6	17	0	1
1981	SEA	P	39	0	1	11	0	1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Dick Drago Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	519

Award Voting History

Dick Drago — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1971	Cy Young Award	AL	5th	1.0	120	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 Drago (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Dick Drago: the record in brief

Between the debut on April 11, 1969 and the final game on September 30, 1981, Dick Drago built the record summarized on this page. The team column moves through the Kansas City Royals (1969 to 1973), the Boston Red Sox (1974 to 1980), the California Angels (1976 through 1977), the Baltimore Orioles (1977), and the Seattle Mariners (1981). At 190 pounds on a 6-foot-1 frame, Drago is listed as a pitcher. The bio says Drago both batted and threw right-handed. The recorded birth is June 25, 1945, in Toledo, OH, USA. Drago died on November 3, 2023, in Tampa, FL, USA. Dick Drago was the playing name; the full given name is Richard Anthony.

Across 519 games (189 starts), Drago recorded 108 wins against 117 losses with a 3.62 ERA. The totals include 987 strikeouts, 62 complete games, 10 shutouts, and 58 saves. Drago's 3.62 ERA was close to the 3.70 league figure for those seasons. 1971 brought Drago a season-high 17 wins.

Frequently Asked Questions about Dick Drago

What years did Dick Drago play?: Dick Drago played in Major League Baseball from 1969 to 1981.
Was Dick Drago a pitcher?: Yes. Dick Drago pitched in the major leagues, recording 108 wins and 987 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Dick Drago hit?: Dick Drago hit 0 career home runs with 21 hits.
What was Dick Drago's career batting average?: Dick Drago batted .077 over his career, with 21 hits in 274 at bats.
How many RBI did Dick Drago have?: Dick Drago drove in 12 runs in his career.
What was Dick Drago's career ERA?: Dick Drago finished with a 3.62 career ERA, going 108-117 with 987 strikeouts.