Carl Erskine

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1948-1959)

Carl Erskine was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1948 to 1959 for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, a span of 12 seasons. Across 335 career appearances, he went 122-78 with a 4.00 ERA and 981 strikeouts. He also batted .156 with 1 home runs. Carl Erskine was an All-Star. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 328.9.

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

W–L 122–78
ERA 4.00
WHIP 1.33
SO 981
Pitcher PIV 328.9
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
5'10" / 165 lb
Born
12/13/1926 in Anderson, IN, USA
Died
4/16/2024 in Anderson, IN, USA
MLB Debut
1948-07-25
Last Game
1959-06-14
Awards
All-Star

Full name: Carl Daniel Erskine

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Career Pitching Statistics

Carl Erskine — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
122 78 335 216 71 14 13 1718.2 1,637 763 199 646 981 4.00 328.9

Career ERA 4.00 vs. league average 3.99 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Carl Erskine Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1948 BRO NL 6 3 17 9 3 0 0 64.0 51 23 35 29 3.23 4.10 (+21%) -747.5
1949 BRO NL 8 1 22 3 2 0 0 79.2 68 41 51 49 4.63 4.12 (-12%) -274.6
1950 BRO NL 7 6 22 13 3 0 1 103.0 109 54 35 50 4.72 4.36 (-8%) -505.1
1951 BRO NL 16 12 46 19 7 0 4 189.2 206 94 78 95 4.46 4.04 (-10%) -1325.2
1952 BRO NL 14 6 33 26 10 4 2 206.2 167 62 71 131 2.70 3.70 (+27%) 2433.0
1953 BRO NL 20 6 39 33 16 4 3 246.2 213 97 95 187 3.54 4.14 (+14%) 4961.1
1954 BRO NL 18 15 38 37 12 2 1 260.1 239 120 92 166 4.15 3.90 (-6%) 826.6
1955 BRO NL 11 8 31 29 7 2 1 194.2 185 82 64 84 3.79 4.00 (+5%) -2090.3
1956 BRO NL 13 11 31 28 8 1 0 186.1 189 88 57 95 4.25 3.96 (-7%) -294.2
1957 BRO NL 5 3 15 7 1 0 0 66.0 62 26 20 26 3.55 3.83 (+7%) -528.9
1958 LAN NL 4 4 31 9 2 1 0 98.1 115 56 35 54 5.13 3.86 (-33%) -1069.8
1959 LAN NL 0 3 10 3 0 0 1 23.1 33 20 13 15 7.71 3.90 (-98%) -1056.1
Career · 12 seasons 122 78 335 216 71 14 13 1,718.2 1,637 763 646 981 4.00 — 329

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

Carl Erskine — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
360 588 51 92 11 0 1 31 0 12 120 .156 .175 .180 .355 -3,427

Career AVG .156 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — 39.8% below league average.

Career OBP .175 vs. league average .333 across their career seasons — 47.4% below league average.

Career SLG .180 vs. league average .390 across their career seasons — 53.7% below league average.

Career OPS .355 vs. league average .723 across their career seasons — 50.8% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Carl Erskine Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1948 BRO NL 17 21 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .095 — — — — 0.0
1949 BRO NL 22 26 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 .115 — — — — 0.0
1950 BRO NL 22 37 4 9 1 0 0 0 0 1 10 .243 — — — — 0.0
1951 BRO NL 46 61 6 8 1 0 0 4 0 2 9 .131 .260 (-50%) .336 (-53%) .385 (-62%) .721 (-58%) -566.3
1952 BRO NL 34 66 7 10 1 0 0 2 0 3 19 .152 .252 (-40%) .326 (-39%) .369 (-55%) .696 (-47%) -482.7
1953 BRO NL 43 93 12 20 2 0 0 8 0 1 17 .215 .264 (-19%) .335 (-33%) .397 (-40%) .733 (-37%) -566.6
1954 BRO NL 39 88 4 14 2 0 0 4 0 4 23 .159 .261 (-39%) .333 (-42%) .390 (-53%) .723 (-48%) -687.5
1955 BRO NL 42 74 12 15 3 0 1 11 0 0 12 .203 .258 (-22%) .332 (-41%) .393 (-28%) .726 (-34%) -438.3
1956 BRO NL 32 66 1 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 8 .121 .258 (-53%) .331 (-63%) .397 (-66%) .728 (-65%) -685.4
1957 BRO NL 21 22 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 .091 — — — — 0.0
1958 LAN NL 32 27 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 .037 — — — — 0.0
1959 LAN NL 10 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 12 seasons 360 588 51 92 11 0 1 31 0 12 120 .156 — — — — -3,427

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

Carl Erskine — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
11 12 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 .083

Playoff Batting by Year

Carl Erskine — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1956 WS BRO 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000
1955 WS BRO 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1953 WS BRO 3 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250
1952 WS BRO 3 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000
1949 WS BRO 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

Carl Erskine — Playoff Career Pitching
W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
2 2 11 7 0 41.2 36 27 24 31 5.83

Playoff Pitching by Year

Carl Erskine — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1956 WS BRO 0 1 2 1 0 5.0 4 3 2 2 5.40
1955 WS BRO 0 0 1 1 0 3.0 3 3 2 3 9.00
1953 WS BRO 1 0 3 3 0 14.0 14 9 9 16 5.79
1952 WS BRO 1 1 3 2 0 18.0 12 9 10 10 4.50
1949 WS BRO 0 0 2 0 0 1.2 3 3 1 0 16.20

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (695 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Carl Erskine — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home1833203060123.188
Away177268213208.119

Pitching — Home / Away

Carl Erskine — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home175951.28654023435453.80
Away160767.07733623034364.25

Last 10 Games — Batting

Carl Erskine — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1959-06-14 LADPITL 000000000
1959-06-12 LADPITW 000000000
1959-06-04 LADCINL 200000000
1959-05-29 LADCHCL 100000000
1959-05-20 LADCINL 100000001
1959-05-16 LADATLL 000000000
1959-05-11 LADPHIW 000000000
1959-05-02 LADCINL 000000000
1959-04-26 LADSTLW 100000001
1959-04-22 LADSFGL 200000002

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Carl Erskine — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1959-06-14 LADPIT L 0.2544011
1959-06-12 LADPIT SV 1.0100000
1959-06-04 LADCIN — 4.2211310
1959-05-29 LADCHC — 2.1311101
1959-05-20 LADCIN L 2.0544111
1959-05-16 LADATL — 2.0200120
1959-05-11 LADPHI — 1.1220010
1959-05-02 LADCIN — 2.1222221
1959-04-26 LADSTL — 3.0544201
1959-04-22 LADSFG L 4.0644370

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Carl Erskine — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
P 335 113 105 262 20 20

Season-by-Season Fielding

Carl Erskine — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1948 BRO P 17 0 2 6 1 2
1949 BRO P 22 0 3 13 1 2
1950 BRO P 22 0 10 12 2 2
1951 BRO P 46 0 13 32 2 1
1952 BRO P 33 0 16 45 3 4
1953 BRO P 39 0 15 30 4 0
1954 BRO P 38 37 14 41 2 2
1955 BRO P 31 29 6 26 3 1
1956 BRO P 31 28 9 34 1 2
1957 BRO P 15 7 6 5 0 0
1958 LAN P 31 9 10 15 1 4
1959 LAN P 10 3 1 3 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Carl Erskine Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 335

Award Voting History

Carl Erskine — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1953 Most Valuable Player NL 9th 54.0 336 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Carl Erskine (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Whit Wyatt
    106-95, 3.79 ERA
  2. 93
    Bruce Kison
    115-88, 3.66 ERA
  3. 91
    Johnny Allen
    142-75, 3.75 ERA
  4. 89
    Tex Carleton
    100-76, 3.91 ERA
  5. 89
    Ken Brett
    83-85, 3.93 ERA
  6. 86
    Joey Jay
    99-91, 3.77 ERA

Carl Erskine: the record in brief

July 25, 1948 and June 14, 1959 bracket Carl Erskine's time in the majors: the debut and the last game on record. By club, Erskine's seasons break down as the Brooklyn Dodgers (1948 to 1957) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (1958 to 1959). At 5-foot-10 and 165 pounds, Erskine is listed as a pitcher. Erskine batted and threw right-handed, per the bio block. Erskine was born on December 13, 1926, in Anderson, IN, USA. The bio records the death on April 16, 2024, in Anderson, IN, USA. Carl Erskine was the playing name; the full given name is Carl Daniel.

Erskine pitched in 335 games, starting 216, and finished with a 122-78 record and 4.00 ERA. Erskine had 981 strikeouts, 71 complete games, 14 shutouts, and 13 saves. Erskine's 4.00 ERA was close to the 3.99 league figure for those seasons. 1953 brought Erskine a season-high 20 wins. In 1952, one of the busiest seasons, Erskine posted a 2.70 ERA; the league figure that year was 3.70.

Frequently Asked Questions about Carl Erskine

What years did Carl Erskine play?
Carl Erskine played in Major League Baseball from 1948 to 1959.
Was Carl Erskine a pitcher?
Yes. Carl Erskine pitched in the major leagues, recording 122 wins and 981 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Carl Erskine hit?
Carl Erskine hit 1 career home run with 92 hits.
What teams did Carl Erskine play for?
Carl Erskine played for one team, the Los Angeles Dodgers (1948–1959).
Did Carl Erskine win a Cy Young Award?
No. Carl Erskine did not win the Cy Young Award.
What awards did Carl Erskine win?
Carl Erskine was selected to 1 All-Star Game.
What were Carl Erskine's career stats?
In 335 games, Carl Erskine went 122-78 with a 4.00 ERA, 981 strikeouts, 1,718.2 innings pitched, and 13 saves. At the plate he had 92 hits and 1 home runs.
What position did Carl Erskine play?
Carl Erskine played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Carl Erskine and how much did he weigh?
Carl Erskine was listed at 5 feet 10 inches and 165 pounds.
What was Carl Erskine's career ERA?
Carl Erskine finished with a 4.00 career ERA, going 122-78 with 981 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Carl Erskine have?
Carl Erskine recorded 981 career strikeouts.
Is Carl Erskine in the Hall of Fame?
No. Carl Erskine has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
How many All-Star Games did Carl Erskine make?
Carl Erskine was selected to 1 All-Star Game.