Paul Erickson
Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1941-1948)
Paul Erickson was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1941 to 1948 for the Chicago Cubs, the Philadelphia Phillies, and the New York Giants, a span of 8 seasons. Across 207 career appearances, he went 37-48 with a 3.86 ERA and 432 strikeouts. He also batted .147 with 3 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
- Position
- Pitcher
- Bats / Throws
- R / R
- Height / Weight
- 6'2" / 200 lb
- Died
- 4/5/2002 in Fond du Lac, WI, USA
- MLB Debut
- 1941-04-17
- Last Game
- 1948-07-10
Full name: Paul Walford Erickson
Season-by-Season Pitching
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | CHN | NL | 5 | 7 | 32 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 141.0 | 126 | 58 | 64 | 85 | 3.70 | 3.94 (+6%) | 2718.9 |
| 1942 | CHN | NL | 1 | 6 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 63.0 | 70 | 38 | 41 | 26 | 5.43 | 3.57 (-52%) | -1513.4 |
| 1943 | CHN | NL | 1 | 3 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42.2 | 47 | 29 | 22 | 24 | 6.12 | 3.50 (-75%) | -991.8 |
| 1944 | CHN | NL | 5 | 9 | 33 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 124.1 | 113 | 49 | 67 | 82 | 3.55 | 3.57 (+1%) | 242.7 |
| 1945 | CHN | NL | 7 | 4 | 28 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 108.1 | 94 | 40 | 48 | 53 | 3.32 | 3.67 (+9%) | -527.8 |
| 1946 | CHN | NL | 9 | 7 | 32 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 137.0 | 119 | 37 | 65 | 70 | 2.43 | 3.59 (+32%) | 1225.8 |
| 1947 | CHN | NL | 7 | 12 | 40 | 20 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 174.0 | 179 | 84 | 93 | 82 | 4.34 | 3.97 (-9%) | -3226.2 |
| 1948 | CHN | NL | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.2 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 6.35 | — | 0.0 |
| 1948 | PHI | NL | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17.1 | 19 | 10 | 17 | 5 | 5.19 | 4.10 (-27%) | -1098.8 |
| 1948 | NY1 | NL | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0.00 | — | 0.0 |
| Career · 10 seasons | 37 | 48 | 207 | 86 | 27 | 5 | 6 | 814.1 | 774 | 349 | 425 | 432 | 3.86 | — | -3,171 | ||
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 207 | 258 | 12 | 38 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 89 | .147 | .170 | .225 | .395 | -191 |
Career AVG .147 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — 43.3% below league average.
Career OBP .170 vs. league average .330 across their career seasons — 48.6% below league average.
Career SLG .225 vs. league average .362 across their career seasons — 37.9% below league average.
Career OPS .395 vs. league average .692 across their career seasons — 43.0% below league average.
Season-by-Season Batting
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | CHN | NL | 32 | 46 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | .152 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1942 | CHN | NL | 18 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | .143 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1943 | CHN | NL | 15 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | .200 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1944 | CHN | NL | 33 | 36 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 15 | .056 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1945 | CHN | NL | 28 | 32 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | .156 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1946 | CHN | NL | 32 | 40 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | .050 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1947 | CHN | NL | 40 | 60 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 19 | .250 | .262 (-5%) | .336 (-26%) | .376 (-11%) | .712 (-18%) | -190.8 |
| 1948 | CHN | NL | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1948 | PHI | NL | 4 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .143 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1948 | NY1 | NL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| Career · 10 seasons | 207 | 258 | 12 | 38 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 89 | .147 | — | — | — | — | -191 | ||
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.
Game Log & Splits
View full game log (414 games) →Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).
Batting — Home / Away
| Split | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 112 | 121 | 7 | 22 | 2 | 7 | .182 |
| Away | 95 | 137 | 5 | 15 | 1 | 4 | .109 |
Pitching — Home / Away
| Split | G | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 112 | 418.2 | 372 | 152 | 205 | 218 | 3.27 |
| Away | 95 | 395.2 | 400 | 201 | 225 | 218 | 4.57 |
Last 10 Games — Batting
| Date | Tm | Opp | Res | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948-07-10 | NY1 | BRO | L | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948-07-03 | NY1 | BRO | L | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948-06-13 | PHI | PIT | L | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948-06-08 | PHI | STL | L | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948-06-05 | PHI | CHC | W | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1948-05-25 | PHI | PIT | W | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948-05-16 | CHC | CIN | L | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948-04-30 | CHC | PIT | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948-04-29 | CHC | PIT | L | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1947-09-26 | CHC | STL | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Last 10 Games — Pitching
| Date | Tm | Opp | Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948-07-10 | NY1 | BRO | — | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1948-07-03 | NY1 | BRO | — | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948-06-13 | PHI | PIT | — | 1.2 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 1948-06-08 | PHI | STL | — | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948-06-05 | PHI | CHC | W | 8.2 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 0 |
| 1948-05-25 | PHI | PIT | W | 6.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| 1948-05-16 | CHC | CIN | — | 1.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 1948-04-30 | CHC | PIT | — | 3.0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 1948-04-29 | CHC | PIT | — | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1947-09-26 | CHC | STL | L | 5.0 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | CHN | P | 32 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 1 | 1 |
| 1942 | CHN | P | 18 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 2 |
| 1943 | CHN | P | 15 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 1944 | CHN | P | 33 | 0 | 7 | 30 | 2 | 1 |
| 1945 | CHN | P | 28 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| 1946 | CHN | P | 32 | 0 | 5 | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| 1947 | CHN | P | 40 | 0 | 8 | 33 | 1 | 3 |
| 1948 | CHN | P | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948 | PHI | P | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948 | NY1 | P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Career Games by Position
Circle size = games played at each position.
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | 207 |
Most Similar Players
Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.
Paul Erickson (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.
Paul Erickson: the record in brief
Between the debut on April 17, 1941 and the final game on July 10, 1948, Paul Erickson built the record summarized on this page. By club, Erickson's seasons break down as the Chicago Cubs (1941 through 1948), the Philadelphia Phillies (1948), and the New York Giants (1948). Born on December 14, 1915, in Zion, IL, USA, Erickson is listed as a pitcher and both batted and threw right-handed. Size on record: 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds. Erickson died on April 5, 2002, in Fond du Lac, WI, USA. Erickson's full given name, per the bio, is Paul Walford Erickson.
Across 207 games (86 starts), Erickson recorded 37 wins against 48 losses with a 3.86 ERA. The totals include 432 strikeouts, 27 complete games, and 5 shutouts. Erickson's 3.86 ERA was close to the 3.74 league figure for those seasons. 1946 brought Erickson a season-high 9 wins. Erickson struck out 85 batters in 1941, a career high.
Frequently Asked Questions about Paul Erickson
- What years did Paul Erickson play?
- Paul Erickson played in Major League Baseball from 1941 to 1948.
- Was Paul Erickson a pitcher?
- Yes. Paul Erickson pitched in the major leagues, recording 37 wins and 432 strikeouts.
- How many home runs did Paul Erickson hit?
- Paul Erickson hit 3 career home runs with 38 hits.
- What was Paul Erickson's career batting average?
- Paul Erickson batted .147 over his career, with 38 hits in 258 at bats.
- How many RBI did Paul Erickson have?
- Paul Erickson drove in 11 runs in his career.
- What was Paul Erickson's career ERA?
- Paul Erickson finished with a 3.86 career ERA, going 37-48 with 432 strikeouts.