What years did Terry Forster play?

Terry Forster played in Major League Baseball from 1971 to 1986.

Was Terry Forster a pitcher?

Yes. Terry Forster pitched in the major leagues, recording 54 wins and 791 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Terry Forster hit?

Terry Forster hit 0 career home runs with 31 hits.

What were Terry Forster's career stats?

In 614 games, Terry Forster went 54-65 with a 3.23 ERA, 791 strikeouts, 1,105.2 innings pitched, and 127 saves.

What was Terry Forster's salary?

Terry Forster's last recorded salary was $170,000, in 1986. His highest recorded salary was $483,333, in 1985, and his lowest was $170,000, in 1986. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1986.

What position did Terry Forster play?

Terry Forster played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Terry Forster and how much did he weigh?

Terry Forster was listed at 6 feet 3 inches and 200 pounds.

What was Terry Forster's career ERA?

Terry Forster finished with a 3.23 career ERA, going 54-65 with 791 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Terry Forster have?

Terry Forster recorded 791 career strikeouts.

Is Terry Forster in the Hall of Fame?

No. Terry Forster has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Terry Forster

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1971-1986)

Terry Forster was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1971 to 1986 for 5 teams, including the Chicago White Sox, a span of 16 seasons. Across 614 career appearances, he went 54-65 with a 3.23 ERA, 791 strikeouts, and 127 saves. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 17265.7.

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 15, 2026

W–L 54–65

ERA 3.23

WHIP 1.35

SO 791

Pitcher PIV 17265.7

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 6'3" / 200 lb
Born: 1/14/1952 in Sioux Falls, SD, USA
MLB Debut: 1971-04-11
Last Game: 1986-10-02

Full name: Terry Jay Forster

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Career Pitching Statistics

Terry Forster — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
54	65	614	39	5	0	127	1105.2	1,034	397	51	457	791	3.23	17265.7

Career ERA 3.23 vs. league average 3.75 across their career seasons — 13.9% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Terry Forster Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1971	CHA	AL	2	3	45	3	0	1	49.2	46	22	23	48	3.99	3.47 (-15%)	240.9
1972	CHA	AL	6	5	62	0	0	29	100.0	75	25	44	104	2.25	3.26 (+31%)	3916.4
1973	CHA	AL	6	11	51	12	4	16	172.2	174	62	78	120	3.23	3.75 (+14%)	3075.7
1974	CHA	AL	7	8	59	1	0	24	134.1	120	54	48	105	3.62	3.63 (avg)	2695.7
1975	CHA	AL	3	3	17	1	0	4	37.0	30	9	24	32	2.19	3.71 (+41%)	845.7
1976	CHA	AL	2	12	29	16	1	1	111.1	126	54	41	70	4.37	3.51 (-24%)	540.9
1977	PIT	NL	6	4	33	6	0	1	87.1	90	43	32	58	4.43	4.00 (-11%)	841.9
1978	LAN	NL	5	4	47	0	0	22	65.1	56	14	23	46	1.93	3.69 (+48%)	1748.3
1979	LAN	NL	1	2	17	0	0	2	16.1	18	10	11	8	5.51	4.00 (-38%)	93.8
1980	LAN	NL	0	0	9	0	0	0	11.2	10	4	4	2	3.09	3.84 (+20%)	118.0
1981	LAN	NL	0	1	21	0	0	0	30.2	37	14	15	17	4.11	3.58 (-15%)	154.8
1982	LAN	NL	5	6	56	0	0	3	83.0	66	28	31	52	3.04	3.86 (+21%)	1402.2
1983	ATL	NL	3	2	56	0	0	13	79.1	60	19	31	54	2.16	3.87 (+44%)	1490.0
1984	ATL	NL	2	0	25	0	0	5	26.2	30	8	7	10	2.70	3.81 (+29%)	347.1
1985	ATL	NL	2	3	46	0	0	1	59.1	49	15	28	37	2.28	3.89 (+42%)	-731.4
1986	CAL	AL	4	1	41	0	0	5	41.0	47	16	17	28	3.51	3.97 (+12%)	485.6
Career · 16 seasons			54	65	614	39	5	127	1,105.2	1,034	397	457	791	3.23	—	17,266

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

Terry Forster — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
620	78	7	31	4	1	0	7	1	2	9	.397	.412	.474	.887	0

Career AVG .397 vs. league average .258 across their career seasons — +54.0% above league average.

Career OBP .412 vs. league average .324 across their career seasons — +27.5% above league average.

Career SLG .474 vs. league average .381 across their career seasons — +24.5% above league average.

Career OPS .887 vs. league average .705 across their career seasons — +25.9% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Terry Forster 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
1971	CHA	AL	45	5	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	.400	—	—	—	—	0.0
1972	CHA	AL	63	19	1	10	0	0	3	1	1	2	.526	—	—	—	—	0.0
1973	CHA	AL	53	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1974	CHA	AL	59	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1975	CHA	AL	17	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1976	CHA	AL	29	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1977	PIT	NL	36	26	2	9	1	1	1	0	0	4	.346	—	—	—	—	0.0
1978	LAN	NL	47	8	1	4	1	0	2	0	0	0	.500	—	—	—	—	0.0
1979	LAN	NL	17	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1980	LAN	NL	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1981	LAN	NL	21	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1982	LAN	NL	56	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1983	ATL	NL	56	8	1	4	1	0	0	0	0	1	.500	—	—	—	—	0.0
1984	ATL	NL	25	3	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	1	.667	—	—	—	—	0.0
1985	ATL	NL	46	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1986	CAL	AL	41	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 16 seasons			620	78	7	31	4	1	7	1	2	9	.397	—	—	—	—	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

Terry Forster — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Terry Forster — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AVG
1981	NLCS	LAN	1	.000
1981	NWDIV	LAN	1	.000
1981	WS	LAN	2	.000
1978	NLCS	LAN	1	.000
1978	WS	LAN	3	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Terry Forster — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1	0	8	0	0	7.2	7	0	4	9	0.00

Playoff Pitching by Year

Terry Forster — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	G	IP	H	BB	SO
1981	NLCS	LAN	0	1	0.1	0	0	1
1981	NWDIV	LAN	0	1	0.1	0	0	0
1981	WS	LAN	0	2	2.0	1	3	0
1978	NLCS	LAN	1	1	1.0	1	0	2
1978	WS	LAN	0	3	4.0	5	1	6

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1234 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Terry Forster — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	314	38	3	15	0	4	.395
Away	306	40	4	16	0	3	.400

Pitching — Home / Away

Terry Forster — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	311	539.2	477	181	208	415	3.02
Away	303	566.0	557	216	249	376	3.43

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Terry Forster — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
1986-10-02	LAA	TEX	—	2.0	4	2	2	1	2
1986-09-22	LAA	CLE	—	0.2	0	0	0	0	0
1986-09-19	LAA	CHW	—	0.2	2	1	0	0	1
1986-09-18	LAA	KCR	—	2.0	2	1	1	1	1
1986-09-14	LAA	CHW	—	1.2	1	0	0	1	0
1986-09-13	LAA	CHW	SV	1.0	0	0	0	0	1
1986-09-10	LAA	CLE	—	1.2	0	0	0	1	0
1986-09-01	LAA	BAL	—	0.1	2	1	1	0	0
1986-07-07	LAA	MIL	W	3.0	3	0	0	1	2
1986-07-05	LAA	TOR	—	0.1	1	0	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Terry Forster — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
OF	1	0	0	0	0	0
P	614	39	48	243	15	18

Season-by-Season Fielding

Terry Forster — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1971	CHA	P	45	3	4	6	0	0
1972	CHA	P	62	0	1	21	2	0
1973	CHA	P	51	12	8	45	2	8
1974	CHA	P	59	1	6	33	1	4
1975	CHA	P	17	1	2	14	1	1
1976	CHA	P	29	16	5	26	2	0
1977	PIT	OF	1	0	0	0	0	0
1977	PIT	P	33	6	4	13	1	1
1978	LAN	P	47	0	2	10	2	0
1979	LAN	P	17	0	1	5	0	0
1980	LAN	P	9	0	2	4	1	0
1981	LAN	P	21	0	0	11	0	0
1982	LAN	P	56	0	4	18	1	0
1983	ATL	P	56	0	3	15	1	1
1984	ATL	P	25	0	2	4	0	1
1985	ATL	P	46	0	2	7	1	0
1986	CAL	P	41	0	2	11	0	2

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Terry Forster Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	614
Right Field	1

Awards & Honors

Terry Forster — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1984	Player of the Week	Week of 1984-06-01
1974	TSN Fireman of the Year

Salary History

Terry Forster's recorded salaries total $653,333 over 2 seasons, 1985 to 1986. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Forster's career ran from 1971 to 1986. His seasons before 1985 are not included.

Terry Forster — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1986	CAL	AL	$170,000
1985	ATL	NL	$483,333
Total recorded salary (partial)			$653,333

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Terry Forster (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Compare Terry Forster

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Terry Forster: the record in brief

Terry Forster's major league career runs from a debut on April 11, 1971 to a final game on October 2, 1986. The season rows list, in order, the Chicago White Sox (1971 through 1976), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1977), the Los Angeles Dodgers (1978 to 1982), the Atlanta Braves (1983 through 1985), and the California Angels (1986). Born on January 14, 1952, in Sioux Falls, SD, USA, Forster is listed as a pitcher and threw and hit left-handed. Size on record: 200 pounds on a 6-foot-3 frame. Forster's full given name, per the bio, is Terry Jay Forster.

The pitching table credits Forster with a 54-65 record and a 3.23 ERA in 614 games. Forster had 791 strikeouts and 127 saves. Against a 3.75 league ERA for the same years, Forster was 13.9% better. The best win total was 7, in 1974. 1973 produced Forster's most strikeouts, 120. The most saves in one season was 29, in 1972.

Frequently Asked Questions about Terry Forster

What years did Terry Forster play?: Terry Forster played in Major League Baseball from 1971 to 1986.
Was Terry Forster a pitcher?: Yes. Terry Forster pitched in the major leagues, recording 54 wins and 791 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Terry Forster hit?: Terry Forster hit 0 career home runs with 31 hits.
What teams did Terry Forster play for?: Terry Forster played for 5 teams: the Chicago White Sox (1971–1976), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1977), the Los Angeles Dodgers (1978–1982), the Atlanta Braves (1983–1985), and the California Angels (1986).
What were Terry Forster's career stats?: In 614 games, Terry Forster went 54-65 with a 3.23 ERA, 791 strikeouts, 1,105.2 innings pitched, and 127 saves.
How much did Terry Forster earn in his career?: Terry Forster's recorded salaries total $653,333 over 2 seasons, 1985 to 1986. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Forster's career ran from 1971 to 1986. His seasons before 1985 are not included.
What was Terry Forster's salary?: Terry Forster's last recorded salary was $170,000, in 1986. His highest recorded salary was $483,333, in 1985, and his lowest was $170,000, in 1986. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1986.
What position did Terry Forster play?: Terry Forster played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Terry Forster and how much did he weigh?: Terry Forster was listed at 6 feet 3 inches and 200 pounds.
What was Terry Forster's career ERA?: Terry Forster finished with a 3.23 career ERA, going 54-65 with 791 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Terry Forster have?: Terry Forster recorded 791 career strikeouts.
Is Terry Forster in the Hall of Fame?: No. Terry Forster has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.