What years did Howard Ehmke play?

Howard Ehmke played in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1930.

Was Howard Ehmke a pitcher?

Yes. Howard Ehmke pitched in the major leagues, recording 166 wins and 1030 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Howard Ehmke hit?

Howard Ehmke hit 0 career home runs with 210 hits.

What was Howard Ehmke's career batting average?

Howard Ehmke batted .208 over his career, with 210 hits in 1,009 at bats.

How many RBI did Howard Ehmke have?

Howard Ehmke drove in 73 runs in his career.

What was Howard Ehmke's career ERA?

Howard Ehmke finished with a 3.75 career ERA, going 166-166 with 1,030 strikeouts.

Howard Ehmke

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1915-1930)

Howard Ehmke was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1930 for 4 teams, including the Buffalo Blues, a span of 16 seasons. Across 427 career appearances, he went 166-166 with a 3.75 ERA and 1,030 strikeouts. He also batted .208 with 0 home runs.

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 166–166

ERA 3.75

WHIP 1.39

SO 1,030

Pitcher PIV -9809.2

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'3" / 190 lb
Born: 4/24/1894 in Silver Creek, NY, USA
Died: 3/17/1959 in Philadelphia, PA, USA
MLB Debut: 1915-04-12
Last Game: 1930-05-22

Full name: Howard John Ehmke

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Career Pitching Statistics

Howard Ehmke — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
166	166	427	339	199	20	14	2820.2	2,873	1,174	103	1,042	1,030	3.75	-9809.2

Career ERA 3.75 vs. league average 3.86 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Howard Ehmke Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1915	BUF	FL	0	2	18	2	0	0	0	53.2	69	33	25	18	5.53	2.90 (-91%)	-1357.0
1916	DET	AL	3	1	5	4	4	0	0	37.1	34	13	15	15	3.13	2.78 (-13%)	3.4
1917	DET	AL	10	15	35	25	13	4	2	206.0	174	68	88	90	2.97	2.69 (-10%)	-1344.6
1919	DET	AL	17	10	33	31	20	2	0	248.2	255	88	107	79	3.18	3.09 (-3%)	-2548.4
1920	DET	AL	15	18	38	33	23	2	3	268.1	250	97	124	98	3.25	3.45 (+6%)	-3602.3
1921	DET	AL	13	14	30	22	13	1	0	196.1	220	99	81	68	4.54	4.02 (-13%)	-4331.5
1922	DET	AL	17	17	45	30	16	1	1	279.2	299	131	101	108	4.22	4.18 (-1%)	-917.5
1923	BOS	AL	20	17	43	39	28	2	3	316.2	318	133	119	121	3.78	4.03 (+6%)	-367.1
1924	BOS	AL	19	17	45	36	26	4	4	315.0	324	121	81	119	3.46	4.13 (+16%)	3608.2
1925	BOS	AL	9	20	34	31	22	0	1	260.2	285	108	85	95	3.73	4.55 (+18%)	1203.3
1926	BOS	AL	3	10	14	14	7	1	0	97.1	115	59	45	38	5.46	4.11 (-33%)	-225.1
1926	PHA	AL	12	4	20	18	10	1	0	147.1	125	46	50	55	2.81	4.11 (+32%)	2267.1
1927	PHA	AL	12	10	30	27	10	1	0	189.2	200	89	60	68	4.22	4.08 (-3%)	-1669.6
1928	PHA	AL	9	8	23	18	5	1	0	139.1	135	56	44	34	3.62	4.13 (+12%)	-228.2
1929	PHA	AL	7	2	11	8	2	0	0	54.2	48	20	15	20	3.29	4.60 (+28%)	876.9
1930	PHA	AL	0	1	3	1	0	0	0	10.0	22	13	2	4	11.70	4.80 (-144%)	-1176.8
Career · 16 seasons			166	166	427	339	199	20	14	2,820.2	2,873	1,174	1,042	1,030	3.75	—	-9,809

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

Howard Ehmke — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
429	1,009	71	210	38	6	0	73	5	26	111	.208	.228	.258	.486	-4,081

Career AVG .208 vs. league average .276 across their career seasons — 24.7% below league average.

Career OBP .228 vs. league average .339 across their career seasons — 32.7% below league average.

Career SLG .258 vs. league average .382 across their career seasons — 32.5% below league average.

Career OPS .486 vs. league average .721 across their career seasons — 32.6% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Howard Ehmke Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1915	BUF	FL	18	12	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1916	DET	AL	5	14	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	5	.143	—	—	—	—	0.0
1917	DET	AL	35	69	3	17	2	0	2	0	4	13	.246	.248 (-1%)	.312 (-8%)	.323 (-15%)	.635 (-11%)	-113.0
1919	DET	AL	33	91	6	23	3	1	5	0	3	12	.253	.262 (-4%)	.322 (-14%)	.347 (-12%)	.670 (-13%)	-193.0
1920	DET	AL	38	105	4	25	7	2	5	0	0	10	.238	.271 (-12%)	.331 (-28%)	.363 (-6%)	.694 (-16%)	-317.3
1921	DET	AL	30	74	9	21	3	1	9	0	1	7	.284	.286 (-1%)	.344 (-15%)	.395 (-11%)	.739 (-13%)	-170.2
1922	DET	AL	45	102	6	16	4	1	8	0	2	10	.157	.285 (-45%)	.345 (-50%)	.397 (-46%)	.743 (-48%)	-817.4
1923	BOS	AL	43	112	4	25	3	0	7	0	2	11	.223	.282 (-21%)	.344 (-31%)	.390 (-36%)	.734 (-34%)	-618.9
1924	BOS	AL	46	126	14	28	2	0	14	4	5	9	.222	.283 (-22%)	.345 (-27%)	.389 (-39%)	.734 (-33%)	-676.7
1925	BOS	AL	34	88	6	13	2	0	5	0	4	11	.148	.288 (-49%)	.349 (-47%)	.407 (-58%)	.756 (-53%)	-779.2
1926	BOS	AL	14	34	4	5	2	0	3	0	1	5	.147	—	—	—	—	0.0
1926	PHA	AL	21	46	2	7	1	0	5	1	2	6	.152	—	—	—	—	0.0
1927	PHA	AL	30	68	5	14	5	0	3	0	0	4	.206	.282 (-27%)	.344 (-40%)	.392 (-29%)	.736 (-34%)	-395.2
1928	PHA	AL	23	46	6	11	3	1	5	0	1	3	.239	—	—	—	—	0.0
1929	PHA	AL	11	19	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	2	.105	—	—	—	—	0.0
1930	PHA	AL	3	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.333	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 16 seasons			429	1,009	71	210	38	6	73	5	26	111	.208	—	—	—	—	-4,081

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

Howard Ehmke — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
2	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.200

Playoff Batting by Year

Howard Ehmke — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1929	WS	PHA	2	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.200

Playoff Career Pitching

Howard Ehmke — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1	0	2	2	0	12.2	14	2	3	13	1.42

Playoff Pitching by Year

Howard Ehmke — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1929	WS	PHA	1	0	2	2	0	12.2	14	2	3	13	1.42

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (856 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Howard Ehmke — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	217	490	37	99	0	35	.202
Away	212	518	34	111	0	37	.214

Pitching — Home / Away

Howard Ehmke — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	216	1478.0	1494	568	509	580	3.46
Away	211	1343.0	1390	617	542	460	4.13

Last 10 Games — Batting

Howard Ehmke — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	BB	SO
1930-05-22	PHA	NYY	L	0	0	0	1	0
1930-04-27	PHA	MIN	L	3	1	1	0	0
1930-04-21	PHA	MIN	L	0	0	0	0	0
1929-09-13	PHA	CHW	W	2	0	0	0	0
1929-09-02	PHA	NYY	W	1	0	0	0	1
1929-08-07	PHA	NYY	L	0	0	0	0	0
1929-07-26	PHA	CHW	W	3	0	0	0	0
1929-07-15	PHA	CLE	L	1	0	0	0	0
1929-07-10	PHA	SLA	W	3	0	1	0	1
1929-06-23	PHA	NYY	W	3	0	0	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Howard Ehmke — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1930-05-22	PHA	NYY	L	2.0	8	5	5	0	1	2
1930-04-27	PHA	MIN	—	6.2	12	6	6	2	2	1
1930-04-21	PHA	MIN	—	1.1	2	2	2	0	1	1
1929-09-13	PHA	CHW	W	8.0	7	2	0	1	3	0
1929-09-02	PHA	NYY	W	3.1	2	0	0	0	2	0
1929-08-07	PHA	NYY	L	1.1	5	8	8	4	1	1
1929-07-26	PHA	CHW	W	9.0	4	1	1	0	1	0
1929-07-15	PHA	CLE	—	1.1	3	3	2	2	0	0
1929-07-10	PHA	SLA	W	9.0	2	1	1	2	3	0
1929-06-23	PHA	NYY	W	7.1	8	4	4	3	1	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Howard Ehmke — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	427	0	143	853	44	35

Season-by-Season Fielding

Howard Ehmke — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	PO	A	E	DP
1915	BUF	P	18	2	25	3	2
1916	DET	P	5	3	13	0	0
1917	DET	P	35	14	68	4	1
1919	DET	P	33	9	86	3	3
1920	DET	P	38	20	93	4	2
1921	DET	P	30	9	55	2	3
1922	DET	P	45	11	75	2	2
1923	BOS	P	43	18	101	3	8
1924	BOS	P	45	15	78	3	1
1925	BOS	P	34	6	88	6	4
1926	BOS	P	14	3	29	4	3
1926	PHA	P	20	7	37	3	2
1927	PHA	P	30	13	57	4	1
1928	PHA	P	23	6	35	2	2
1929	PHA	P	11	7	10	1	0
1930	PHA	P	3	0	3	0	1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Howard Ehmke Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	427

Awards & Honors

Howard Ehmke — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1923	Baseball Magazine All-Star	P3

Award Voting History

Howard Ehmke — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max
1925	Most Valuable Player	AL	24th	2.0	64
1924	Most Valuable Player	AL	15th	5.0	64
1923	Most Valuable Player	AL	11th	7.0	64

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Howard Ehmke (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Howard Ehmke: the record in brief

According to the bio, Howard Ehmke debuted on April 12, 1915 and played a final game on May 22, 1930. The team column moves through the Buffalo Blues (1915), the Detroit Tigers (1916 to 1922), the Boston Red Sox (1923 through 1926), and the Philadelphia Athletics (1926 through 1930). Born on April 24, 1894, in Silver Creek, NY, USA, Ehmke is listed as a pitcher and batted and threw right-handed. The bio gives 6 feet, 3 inches and 190 pounds. The bio records the death on March 17, 1959, in Philadelphia, PA, USA. Howard Ehmke was the playing name; the full given name is Howard John.

Ehmke's career pitching line is 166 wins, 166 losses and a 3.75 ERA over 427 appearances. Also on Ehmke's record: 1,030 strikeouts, 199 complete games, 20 shutouts, and 14 saves. Ehmke's 3.75 ERA was close to the 3.86 league figure for those seasons. The best win total was 20, in 1923. 1917 was Ehmke's sharpest full season, a 2.97 ERA against the league's 2.69.

Frequently Asked Questions about Howard Ehmke

What years did Howard Ehmke play?: Howard Ehmke played in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1930.
Was Howard Ehmke a pitcher?: Yes. Howard Ehmke pitched in the major leagues, recording 166 wins and 1030 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Howard Ehmke hit?: Howard Ehmke hit 0 career home runs with 210 hits.
What was Howard Ehmke's career batting average?: Howard Ehmke batted .208 over his career, with 210 hits in 1,009 at bats.
How many RBI did Howard Ehmke have?: Howard Ehmke drove in 73 runs in his career.
What was Howard Ehmke's career ERA?: Howard Ehmke finished with a 3.75 career ERA, going 166-166 with 1,030 strikeouts.