What years did Roy Face play?

Roy Face played in Major League Baseball from 1953 to 1969.

Was Roy Face a pitcher?

Yes. Roy Face pitched in the major leagues, recording 104 wins and 877 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Roy Face hit?

Roy Face hit 0 career home runs with 31 hits.

What was Roy Face's career batting average?

Roy Face batted .160 over his career, with 31 hits in 194 at bats.

How many RBI did Roy Face have?

Roy Face drove in 7 runs in his career.

What was Roy Face's career ERA?

Roy Face finished with a 3.48 career ERA, going 104-95 with 877 strikeouts.

Roy Face

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1953-1969)

Roy Face was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1953 to 1969 for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Detroit Tigers, and the Montreal Expos, a span of 17 seasons. Across 848 career appearances, he went 104-95 with a 3.48 ERA, 877 strikeouts, and 193 saves. Roy Face was a 3-time All-Star. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 14396.6.

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 104–95

ERA 3.48

WHIP 1.24

SO 877

Pitcher PIV 14396.6

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 5'8" / 155 lb
Born: 2/20/1928 in Stephentown, NY, USA
MLB Debut: 1953-04-16
Last Game: 1969-08-15
Awards: 3× All-Star

Full name: Elroy Leon Face

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Career Pitching Statistics

Roy Face — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
104	95	848	27	6	0	193	1375.0	1,347	531	141	362	877	3.48	14396.6

Career ERA 3.48 vs. league average 3.69 across their career seasons — 5.7% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Roy Face Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1953	PIT	NL	6	8	41	13	2	0	119.0	145	87	30	56	6.58	4.14 (-59%)	-1175.2
1955	PIT	NL	5	7	42	10	4	5	125.2	128	50	40	84	3.58	4.00 (+10%)	3155.8
1956	PIT	NL	12	13	68	3	0	6	135.1	131	53	42	96	3.52	3.96 (+11%)	1823.8
1957	PIT	NL	4	6	59	1	0	10	93.2	97	32	24	53	3.07	3.83 (+20%)	1095.0
1958	PIT	NL	5	2	57	0	0	20	84.0	77	27	22	47	2.89	3.86 (+25%)	1689.0
1959	PIT	NL	18	1	57	0	0	10	93.1	91	28	25	69	2.70	3.90 (+31%)	3112.2
1960	PIT	NL	10	8	68	0	0	24	114.2	93	37	29	72	2.90	3.82 (+24%)	1586.9
1961	PIT	NL	6	12	62	0	0	17	92.0	94	39	10	55	3.82	4.03 (+5%)	1391.3
1962	PIT	NL	8	7	63	0	0	28	91.0	74	19	18	45	1.88	3.96 (+52%)	1624.0
1963	PIT	NL	3	9	56	0	0	16	69.2	75	25	19	41	3.23	3.46 (+7%)	158.9
1964	PIT	NL	3	3	55	0	0	4	79.2	82	46	27	63	5.20	3.58 (-45%)	-582.0
1965	PIT	NL	5	2	16	0	0	0	20.1	20	6	7	19	2.66	3.50 (+24%)	601.5
1966	PIT	NL	6	6	54	0	0	18	70.0	68	21	24	67	2.70	3.52 (+23%)	243.9
1967	PIT	NL	7	5	61	0	0	17	74.1	62	20	22	41	2.42	3.30 (+27%)	198.5
1968	PIT	NL	2	4	43	0	0	13	52.0	46	15	7	34	2.60	2.98 (+13%)	834.9
1968	DET	AL	0	0	2	0	0	0	1.0	2	0	1	1	0.00	—	0.0
1969	MON	NL	4	2	44	0	0	5	59.1	62	26	15	34	3.94	3.61 (-9%)	-1362.0
Career · 17 seasons			104	95	848	27	6	193	1,375.0	1,347	531	362	877	3.48	—	14,397

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

Roy Face — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
853	194	9	31	3	0	0	7	0	2	47	.160	.168	.175	.344	0

Career AVG .160 vs. league average .252 across their career seasons — 36.6% below league average.

Career OBP .168 vs. league average .319 across their career seasons — 47.2% below league average.

Career SLG .175 vs. league average .380 across their career seasons — 53.9% below league average.

Career OPS .344 vs. league average .699 across their career seasons — 50.9% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Roy Face 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
1953	PIT	NL	43	30	1	4	1	2	0	10	.133	—	—	—	—	0.0
1955	PIT	NL	43	26	1	3	1	1	1	4	.115	—	—	—	—	0.0
1956	PIT	NL	69	26	2	5	0	1	0	5	.192	—	—	—	—	0.0
1957	PIT	NL	59	16	1	2	0	1	0	4	.125	—	—	—	—	0.0
1958	PIT	NL	57	7	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1959	PIT	NL	58	13	0	3	0	0	0	0	.231	—	—	—	—	0.0
1960	PIT	NL	68	17	3	7	1	0	0	4	.412	—	—	—	—	0.0
1961	PIT	NL	62	11	0	3	0	1	0	2	.273	—	—	—	—	0.0
1962	PIT	NL	63	12	1	1	0	0	0	2	.083	—	—	—	—	0.0
1963	PIT	NL	56	8	0	2	0	1	0	4	.250	—	—	—	—	0.0
1964	PIT	NL	55	4	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1965	PIT	NL	16	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1966	PIT	NL	54	11	0	0	0	0	0	6	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1967	PIT	NL	61	6	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1968	PIT	NL	43	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1968	DET	AL	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1969	MON	NL	44	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	.500	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 17 seasons			853	194	9	31	3	7	2	47	.160	—	—	—	—	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

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

Playoff Batting by Year

Roy Face — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1960	WS	PIT	4	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Roy Face — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	0	4	0	3	10.1	9	6	2	4	5.23

Playoff Pitching by Year

Roy Face — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1960	WS	PIT	0	0	4	0	3	10.1	9	6	2	4	5.23

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1701 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Roy Face — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	428	86	4	18	0	3	.209
Away	425	108	6	13	0	4	.120

Pitching — Home / Away

Roy Face — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	425	690.0	639	245	159	466	3.20
Away	423	684.2	708	285	203	412	3.75

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Roy Face — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1969-08-15	WSN	LAD	—	2.0	2	2	2	0	1	2
1969-08-13	WSN	CIN	—	0.1	1	1	1	0	0	1
1969-08-12	WSN	CIN	SV	1.1	0	0	0	0	0	0
1969-08-08	WSN	HOU	—	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0
1969-08-06	WSN	ATL	—	1.0	1	1	0	1	1	0
1969-08-03	WSN	HOU	—	2.0	4	2	2	0	1	2
1969-08-02	WSN	HOU	—	2.1	1	1	1	1	1	0
1969-07-27	WSN	ATL	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0
1969-07-20	WSN	NYN	L	1.2	2	1	0	0	1	0
1969-07-16	WSN	PIT	—	0.1	1	0	0	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Roy Face — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	848	14	104	212	14	15

Season-by-Season Fielding

Roy Face — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1953	PIT	P	41	0	11	12	0	1
1955	PIT	P	42	10	14	13	1	1
1956	PIT	P	68	3	10	25	1	2
1957	PIT	P	59	1	4	9	0	0
1958	PIT	P	57	0	6	18	0	0
1959	PIT	P	57	0	7	12	1	0
1960	PIT	P	68	0	12	21	0	1
1961	PIT	P	62	0	13	22	3	2
1962	PIT	P	63	0	4	12	2	3
1963	PIT	P	56	0	6	17	3	1
1964	PIT	P	55	0	8	11	0	1
1965	PIT	P	16	0	0	1	0	0
1966	PIT	P	54	0	2	15	2	1
1967	PIT	P	61	0	2	10	0	1
1968	PIT	P	43	0	2	7	1	1
1968	DET	P	2	0	0	0	0	0
1969	MON	P	44	0	3	7	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Roy Face Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	848

Awards & Honors

Roy Face — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1962	TSN Fireman of the Year

Award Voting History

Roy Face — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max
1960	Most Valuable Player	NL	12th	47.0	336
1959	Most Valuable Player	NL	7th	67.0	336
1958	Most Valuable Player	NL	17th	8.0	336

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Roy Face (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Compare Roy Face

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Roy Face: the record in brief

Roy Face played a first major league game on April 16, 1953 and a last one on August 15, 1969. Club by club, the record runs the Pittsburgh Pirates (1953 through 1968), the Detroit Tigers (1968), and the Montreal Expos (1969). Face played primarily as a pitcher and threw and hit right-handed. The bio adds a birth date on February 20, 1928, in Stephentown, NY, USA and a listed size of 5 feet, 8 inches and 155 pounds. Face's full given name, per the bio, is Elroy Leon Face.

Face went 104-95 with a 3.48 ERA in 848 games, 27 of them starts. Also on Face's record: 877 strikeouts and 193 saves. That 3.48 ERA compares with a 3.69 league average across the same seasons, 5.7% better. Face won 18 games in 1959, the most of any season listed. Face struck out 96 batters in 1956, a career high. The most saves in one season was 28, in 1962.

Frequently Asked Questions about Roy Face

What years did Roy Face play?: Roy Face played in Major League Baseball from 1953 to 1969.
Was Roy Face a pitcher?: Yes. Roy Face pitched in the major leagues, recording 104 wins and 877 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Roy Face hit?: Roy Face hit 0 career home runs with 31 hits.
What was Roy Face's career batting average?: Roy Face batted .160 over his career, with 31 hits in 194 at bats.
How many RBI did Roy Face have?: Roy Face drove in 7 runs in his career.
What was Roy Face's career ERA?: Roy Face finished with a 3.48 career ERA, going 104-95 with 877 strikeouts.