Bob Ferguson

Third Baseman · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1871-1884)

Bob Ferguson was a third baseman who played in Major League Baseball from 1871 to 1884 for 8 teams, including the New York Mutuals, a span of 14 seasons. In 824 career games, he hit .265 with 920 hits, 1 home runs, and 357 RBI. He also pitched in 11 games, going 1-3 with a 5.65 ERA. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 327.

AVG (Batting Average):
Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):
Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):
Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated

AVG .265
HR 1
RBI 357
H 920
OPS .604
PIV 327
Position
Third Baseman
Bats / Throws
B / R
Height / Weight
5'9" / 149 lb
Born
1/31/1845 in Brooklyn, NY, USA
Died
5/3/1894 in Brooklyn, NY, USA
MLB Debut
1871-05-18
Last Game
1884-07-01

Full name: Robert Vavasour Ferguson

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Career Batting Statistics

Bob Ferguson — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
824 3,467 544 920 102 30 1 357 16 128 136 .265 .292 .313 .604 327

Career AVG .265 vs. league average .257 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .292 vs. league average .281 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .313 vs. league average .333 across their career seasons — 5.9% below league average.

Career OPS .604 vs. league average .614 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bob Ferguson (b. 1845) 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
1871 NY2 33 158 30 38 6 1 0 25 4 3 2 .241 .286 (-16%) .311 (-18%) .383 (-24%) .695 (-22%) -505.2
1872 BR2 37 164 33 46 3 0 0 19 4 3 0 .280 .285 (-2%) .296 (-1%) .347 (-14%) .644 (-8%) -159.0
1873 BR2 51 228 36 59 3 5 0 25 1 4 8 .259 .290 (-11%) .304 (-11%) .357 (-12%) .661 (-11%) -376.4
1874 BR2 56 245 34 64 4 0 0 19 5 2 7 .261 .273 (-4%) .282 (-5%) .333 (-17%) .615 (-12%) -343.8
1875 HR1 85 366 65 88 10 4 0 43 2 3 5 .240 .253 (-5%) .260 (-5%) .309 (-7%) .570 (-6%) -274.4
1876 HAR NL 69 310 48 82 8 5 0 32 0 2 11 .265 .265 (avg) .277 (-3%) .320 (+1%) .598 (-1%) -72.2
1877 HAR NL 58 254 40 65 7 2 0 35 0 3 10 .256 .271 (-6%) .289 (-8%) .337 (-11%) .626 (-10%) -346.8
1878 CHN NL 61 259 44 91 10 2 0 39 0 10 12 .351 .259 (+35%) .278 (+35%) .319 (+27%) .597 (+31%) 1228.7
1879 TRN NL 30 123 18 31 5 2 0 4 0 4 3 .252 .255 (-1%) .270 (+2%) .328 (-1%) .599 (avg) 9.9
1880 TRN NL 82 332 55 87 9 0 0 22 0 24 24 .262 .244 (+7%) .267 (+17%) .319 (-10%) .586 (+2%) 321.4
1881 TRN NL 85 339 56 96 13 5 1 35 0 29 12 .283 .260 (+9%) .290 (+17%) .338 (+6%) .628 (+11%) 755.2
1882 TRN NL 81 319 44 82 15 2 0 32 0 23 21 .257 .248 (+4%) .275 (+11%) .329 (-4%) .605 (+3%) 263.2
1883 PHI NL 86 329 39 85 9 2 0 27 0 18 21 .258 .257 (avg) .285 (+4%) .345 (-14%) .631 (-6%) -174.1
1884 PT1 AA 10 41 2 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .146 — — — — 0.0
Career · 14 seasons 824 3,467 544 920 102 30 1 357 16 128 136 .265 — — — — 327

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 Pitching Statistics

Bob Ferguson — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
1 3 11 4 4 0 0 57.1 110 36 3 7 1 5.65 -776.8

Career ERA 5.65 vs. league average 2.95 across their career seasons — 91.5% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bob Ferguson — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1871 NY2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.0 8 3 0 0 27.00 — 0.0
1873 BR2 0 1 4 1 1 0 0 19.1 41 12 2 0 5.59 3.40 (-64%) -657.1
1874 BR2 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 9.0 12 4 3 0 4.00 2.19 (-83%) 0.0
1875 HR1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2.0 9 5 0 0 22.50 — 0.0
1877 HAR NL 1 1 3 2 2 0 0 25.0 38 11 2 1 3.96 2.81 (-41%) -119.7
1883 PHI NL 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.0 2 1 0 0 9.00 — 0.0
Career · 6 seasons 1 3 11 4 4 0 0 57.1 110 36 7 1 5.65 — -777

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.

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Bob Ferguson — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 3 0 34 0 4 0
2B 353 10 1131 1075 267 169
3B 397 111 742 1105 466 45
C 9 3 34 3 10 0
OF 6 0 5 0 2 0
P 11 1 4 12 3 1
SS 59 0 72 232 46 17

Season-by-Season Fielding

Bob Ferguson — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1871 NY2 2B 11 10 29 22 13 4
1871 NY2 3B 20 20 31 58 26 3
1871 NY2 C 5 3 19 0 4 0
1871 NY2 P 1 0 0 0 0 0
1872 BR2 3B 37 36 86 178 63 8
1872 BR2 C 1 0 0 0 0 0
1873 BR2 3B 50 0 109 211 109 10
1873 BR2 P 4 0 0 4 1 0
1874 BR2 3B 55 55 79 158 75 1
1874 BR2 C 2 0 8 1 4 0
1874 BR2 P 1 1 0 3 1 1
1875 HR1 3B 85 0 173 157 69 7
1875 HR1 P 1 0 0 0 0 0
1876 HAR 3B 69 0 124 133 54 5
1877 HAR 3B 56 0 109 155 50 6
1877 HAR P 3 0 4 4 1 0
1878 CHN 2B 4 0 13 10 4 0
1878 CHN C 1 0 7 2 2 0
1878 CHN SS 57 0 71 226 40 17
1879 TRN 2B 6 0 24 26 5 4
1879 TRN 3B 24 0 29 55 20 5
1880 TRN 2B 82 0 294 255 58 38
1881 TRN 2B 85 0 263 254 55 47
1882 TRN 2B 79 0 247 221 44 38
1882 TRN SS 2 0 1 6 6 0
1883 PHI 2B 86 0 261 287 88 38
1883 PHI P 1 0 0 1 0 0
1884 PT1 1B 3 0 34 0 4 0
1884 PT1 3B 1 0 2 0 0 0
1884 PT1 OF 6 0 5 0 2 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Bob Ferguson (b. 1845) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 11
Catcher 9
First Base 3
Second Base 353
Third Base 396
Shortstop 59
Center Field 1
Right Field 5

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Bob Ferguson (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Charlie Deal
    .257 avg, 11 HR
  2. 97
    Emil Verban
    .272 avg, 1 HR
  3. 92
    Burgess Whitehead
    .266 avg, 17 HR
  4. 92
    Dude Esterbrook
    .261 avg, 6 HR
  5. 91
    Jose Lind
    .254 avg, 9 HR
  6. 89
    Felix Fermin
    .259 avg, 4 HR

Bob Ferguson: the record in brief

Between the debut on May 18, 1871 and the final game on July 1, 1884, Bob Ferguson built the record summarized on this page. Ferguson played for the New York Mutuals (1871), the Brooklyn Atlantics (1872 through 1874), the Hartford Dark Blues (1875 to 1877), the Chicago White Stockings (1878), the Troy Trojans (1879 through 1882), the Philadelphia Quakers (1883), and the Pittsburg Alleghenys (1884). Ferguson is listed as a third baseman at 149 pounds on a 5-foot-9 frame. Ferguson switch-hit and threw right-handed, per the bio block. The recorded birth is January 31, 1845, in Brooklyn, NY, USA. The bio records the death on May 3, 1894, in Brooklyn, NY, USA. Bob Ferguson was the playing name; the full given name is Robert Vavasour.

The batting record for Ferguson: 824 games, 920 hits in 3,467 at bats, and a .265 average, along with 1 home run and 357 RBI. Ferguson got on base at a .292 rate and slugged .313 (.604 OPS).

Frequently Asked Questions about Bob Ferguson

What years did Bob Ferguson play?
Bob Ferguson played in Major League Baseball from 1871 to 1884.
Was Bob Ferguson a pitcher?
Both. Bob Ferguson pitched in 11 games, going 1-3 with a 5.65 ERA, but spent most of his career as a Third Baseman.
How many home runs did Bob Ferguson hit?
Bob Ferguson hit 1 career home run with 920 hits.
What teams did Bob Ferguson play for?
Bob Ferguson played for 8 teams: the New York Mutuals (1871), the Brooklyn Atlantics (1872–1874), the Hartford Dark Blues (1875), the Hartford Dark Blues (1876–1877), the Chicago White Stockings (1878), the Troy Trojans (1879–1882), the Philadelphia Quakers (1883), and the Pittsburg Alleghenys (1884).
What were Bob Ferguson's career stats?
In 824 games, Bob Ferguson had 920 hits, 1 home runs, 357 RBI, 544 runs, and 16 stolen bases, with a .265 batting average. As a pitcher, in 11 games, he went 1-3 with a 5.65 ERA, 1 strikeouts, and 57.1 innings pitched.
What position did Bob Ferguson play?
Bob Ferguson played primarily as a third baseman, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Bob Ferguson and how much did he weigh?
Bob Ferguson was listed at 5 feet 9 inches and 149 pounds.
How many home runs did Bob Ferguson hit each season?
Bob Ferguson's home runs by season: 0 in 1871, 0 in 1872, 0 in 1873, 0 in 1874, 0 in 1875, 0 in 1876, 0 in 1877, 0 in 1878, 0 in 1879, 0 in 1880, 1 in 1881, 0 in 1882, 0 in 1883, and 0 in 1884. His most in one season was 1, in 1881.
What was Bob Ferguson's career batting average?
Bob Ferguson batted .265 over his career, with 920 hits in 3,467 at bats.
How many RBI did Bob Ferguson have?
Bob Ferguson drove in 357 runs in his career.
What was Bob Ferguson's career ERA?
Bob Ferguson finished with a 5.65 career ERA, going 1-3 with 1 strikeouts.
Is Bob Ferguson in the Hall of Fame?
No. Bob Ferguson has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.