Tito Francona
Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1956-1970)
Tito Francona was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1956 to 1970 for 9 teams, including the Baltimore Orioles, a span of 15 seasons. In 1,719 career games, he hit .272 with 1,395 hits, 125 home runs, and 656 RBI. Tito Francona was an All-Star. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 7,190.
- 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
- Position
- Outfielder
- Bats / Throws
- L / L
- Height / Weight
- 5'11" / 190 lb
- Died
- 2/13/2018 in New Brighton, PA, USA
- MLB Debut
- 1956-04-17
- Last Game
- 1970-09-29
- Awards
- All-Star
Full name: John Patsy Francona
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,719 | 5,121 | 650 | 1,395 | 224 | 34 | 125 | 656 | 46 | 544 | 694 | .272 | .343 | .403 | .746 | 7,190 |
Career AVG .272 vs. league average .251 across their career seasons — +8.5% above league average.
Career OBP .343 vs. league average .318 across their career seasons — +8.1% above league average.
Career SLG .403 vs. league average .379 across their career seasons — +6.2% above league average.
Career OPS .746 vs. league average .697 across their career seasons — +7.0% above 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | BAL | AL | 139 | 445 | 62 | 115 | 16 | 4 | 9 | 57 | 11 | 51 | 60 | .258 | .258 (avg) | .331 (+1%) | .397 (-6%) | .728 (-3%) | -176.2 |
| 1957 | BAL | AL | 97 | 279 | 35 | 65 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 38 | 7 | 29 | 48 | .233 | .257 (-10%) | .323 (-5%) | .391 (-8%) | .715 (-7%) | -320.9 |
| 1958 | CHA | AL | 41 | 128 | 10 | 33 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 14 | 24 | .258 | .257 (avg) | .324 (+2%) | .394 (-15%) | .719 (-7%) | -121.2 |
| 1958 | DET | AL | 45 | 69 | 11 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 15 | 16 | .246 | .257 (-4%) | .324 (+17%) | .394 (-19%) | .719 (-3%) | -121.2 |
| 1959 | CLE | AL | 122 | 399 | 68 | 145 | 17 | 2 | 20 | 79 | 2 | 35 | 42 | .363 | .256 (+42%) | .323 (+28%) | .392 (+44%) | .715 (+37%) | 2880.8 |
| 1960 | CLE | AL | 147 | 544 | 84 | 159 | 36 | 2 | 17 | 79 | 4 | 67 | 67 | .292 | .255 (+15%) | .323 (+15%) | .387 (+19%) | .711 (+17%) | 1957.8 |
| 1961 | CLE | AL | 155 | 592 | 87 | 178 | 30 | 8 | 16 | 85 | 2 | 56 | 52 | .301 | .258 (+16%) | .328 (+11%) | .399 (+15%) | .727 (+13%) | 1593.1 |
| 1962 | CLE | AL | 158 | 621 | 82 | 169 | 28 | 5 | 14 | 70 | 3 | 47 | 74 | .272 | .257 (+6%) | .326 (avg) | .393 (+2%) | .719 (+1%) | 74.7 |
| 1963 | CLE | AL | 142 | 500 | 57 | 114 | 29 | 0 | 10 | 41 | 9 | 47 | 77 | .228 | .246 (-7%) | .308 (-4%) | .371 (-7%) | .680 (-6%) | -415.6 |
| 1964 | CLE | AL | 111 | 270 | 35 | 67 | 13 | 2 | 8 | 24 | 1 | 44 | 46 | .248 | .250 (-1%) | .312 (+15%) | .377 (+6%) | .690 (+10%) | 668.5 |
| 1965 | SLN | NL | 81 | 174 | 15 | 45 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 19 | 0 | 17 | 30 | .259 | .245 (+5%) | .310 (+4%) | .371 (+8%) | .682 (+6%) | 181.9 |
| 1966 | SLN | NL | 83 | 156 | 14 | 33 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 27 | .212 | .248 (-15%) | .309 (-19%) | .376 (-13%) | .685 (-16%) | -393.9 |
| 1967 | PHI | NL | 27 | 73 | 7 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 | .205 | .242 (-15%) | .306 (-11%) | .357 (-39%) | .663 (-26%) | -267.1 |
| 1967 | ATL | NL | 82 | 254 | 28 | 63 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 25 | 1 | 20 | 34 | .248 | .242 (+2%) | .306 (-1%) | .357 (-3%) | .663 (-2%) | -267.1 |
| 1968 | ATL | NL | 122 | 346 | 32 | 99 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 47 | 3 | 51 | 45 | .286 | .236 (+21%) | .298 (+26%) | .340 (+2%) | .638 (+13%) | 1051.6 |
| 1969 | ATL | NL | 51 | 88 | 5 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 0 | 13 | 10 | .295 | .248 (+19%) | .320 (+16%) | .369 (+2%) | .689 (+8%) | 143.5 |
| 1969 | OAK | AL | 32 | 85 | 12 | 29 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 0 | 12 | 11 | .341 | .248 (+37%) | .320 (+31%) | .369 (+47%) | .689 (+39%) | 143.5 |
| 1970 | OAK | AL | 32 | 33 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 6 | .242 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1970 | ML4 | AL | 52 | 65 | 4 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 15 | .231 | .253 (-9%) | .325 (-9%) | .385 (-28%) | .711 (-19%) | 0.0 |
| Career · 19 seasons | 1,719 | 5,121 | 650 | 1,395 | 224 | 34 | 125 | 656 | 46 | 544 | 694 | .272 | — | — | — | — | 6,612 | ||
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 (1719 games) →Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).
Batting — Home / Away
| Split | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 860 | 2448 | 311 | 679 | 64 | 312 | .277 |
| Away | 859 | 2673 | 339 | 716 | 61 | 344 | .268 |
Last 10 Games — Batting
| Date | Tm | Opp | Res | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970-09-29 | MIL | OAK | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1970-09-27 | MIL | CHW | W | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1970-09-26 | MIL | CHW | W | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1970-09-21 | MIL | LAA | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1970-09-19 | MIL | KCR | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1970-09-17 | MIL | KCR | W | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1970-09-16 | MIL | OAK | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1970-09-15 | MIL | OAK | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1970-09-13 | MIL | LAA | L | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1970-09-12 | MIL | LAA | W | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | 475 | 394 | 3715 | 271 | 44 | 339 |
| OF | 911 | 844 | 1581 | 34 | 26 | 4 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | BAL | 1B | 21 | 8 | 86 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| 1956 | BAL | OF | 122 | 103 | 240 | 10 | 6 | 1 |
| 1957 | BAL | 1B | 4 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 1957 | BAL | OF | 73 | 61 | 119 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1958 | CHA | OF | 35 | 33 | 50 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 1958 | DET | 1B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1958 | DET | OF | 18 | 13 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1959 | CLE | 1B | 35 | 33 | 296 | 19 | 1 | 21 |
| 1959 | CLE | OF | 64 | 62 | 136 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 1960 | CLE | 1B | 13 | 7 | 68 | 8 | 1 | 6 |
| 1960 | CLE | OF | 138 | 135 | 278 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| 1961 | CLE | 1B | 14 | 13 | 106 | 6 | 4 | 9 |
| 1961 | CLE | OF | 138 | 134 | 289 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| 1962 | CLE | 1B | 158 | 156 | 1402 | 127 | 22 | 157 |
| 1963 | CLE | 1B | 11 | 8 | 77 | 6 | 0 | 3 |
| 1963 | CLE | OF | 122 | 118 | 215 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 1964 | CLE | 1B | 17 | 7 | 92 | 5 | 1 | 10 |
| 1964 | CLE | OF | 69 | 59 | 65 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 1965 | SLN | 1B | 13 | 11 | 102 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| 1965 | SLN | OF | 34 | 31 | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1966 | SLN | 1B | 30 | 21 | 210 | 18 | 3 | 20 |
| 1966 | SLN | OF | 9 | 9 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1967 | PHI | 1B | 24 | 17 | 167 | 14 | 0 | 15 |
| 1967 | PHI | OF | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1967 | ATL | 1B | 56 | 51 | 503 | 32 | 5 | 36 |
| 1967 | ATL | OF | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1968 | ATL | 1B | 33 | 30 | 293 | 10 | 2 | 17 |
| 1968 | ATL | OF | 65 | 64 | 89 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 1969 | ATL | 1B | 7 | 5 | 43 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 1969 | ATL | OF | 15 | 15 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1969 | OAK | 1B | 19 | 17 | 158 | 6 | 2 | 11 |
| 1969 | OAK | OF | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1970 | OAK | 1B | 6 | 3 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 1970 | OAK | OF | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1970 | ML4 | 1B | 13 | 6 | 76 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
Career Games by Position
Circle size = games played at each position.
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| First Base | 475 |
| Left Field | 543 |
| Center Field | 105 |
| Right Field | 301 |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 5th | 102.0 | 336 | 0 |
| 1956 | Rookie of the Year | AL | 2nd | 1.0 | 24 | 1 |
Most Similar Players
Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.
Tito Francona (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.
Tito Francona: the record in brief
April 17, 1956 and September 29, 1970 bracket Tito Francona's time in the majors: the debut and the last game on record. By club, Francona's seasons break down as the Baltimore Orioles (1956 through 1957), the Chicago White Sox (1958), the Detroit Tigers (1958), the Cleveland Indians (1959 to 1964), the St. Louis Cardinals (1965 through 1966), the Philadelphia Phillies (1967), the Atlanta Braves (1967 through 1969), and the Oakland Athletics (1969 through 1970), with further stops in the season rows. Francona played primarily as an outfielder and threw and hit left-handed. The bio adds a birth date on November 4, 1933, in Aliquippa, PA, USA and a listed size of 5'11" and 190 pounds. Francona died on February 13, 2018, in New Brighton, PA, USA.
Francona's career batting table shows 1,719 games, 5,121 at bats and 1,395 hits, a .272 average, along with 125 homers, 656 runs batted in, and 46 stolen bases. On-base and slugging figures of .343 and .403 give Francona a career OPS of .746.
Frequently Asked Questions about Tito Francona
- What years did Tito Francona play?
- Tito Francona played in Major League Baseball from 1956 to 1970.
- Was Tito Francona a pitcher?
- No. Tito Francona was a position player (Outfielder).
- How many home runs did Tito Francona hit?
- Tito Francona hit 125 career home runs with 1,395 hits.
- What teams did Tito Francona play for?
- Tito Francona played for 9 teams: the Baltimore Orioles (1956–1957), the Chicago White Sox (1958), the Detroit Tigers (1958), the Cleveland Indians (1959–1964), the St. Louis Cardinals (1965–1966), the Philadelphia Phillies (1967), the Atlanta Braves (1967–1969), the Oakland Athletics (1969–1970), and the Milwaukee Brewers (1970).
- Did Tito Francona win an MVP award?
- No. Tito Francona did not win the MVP award.
- What awards did Tito Francona win?
- Tito Francona was selected to 1 All-Star Game.
- What were Tito Francona's career stats?
- In 1,719 games, Tito Francona had 1,395 hits, 125 home runs, 656 RBI, 650 runs, and 46 stolen bases, with a .272 batting average.
- What position did Tito Francona play?
- Tito Francona played primarily as an outfielder, the position where he appeared in the most games.
- How tall was Tito Francona and how much did he weigh?
- Tito Francona was listed at 5 feet 11 inches and 190 pounds.
- How many home runs did Tito Francona hit each season?
- Tito Francona's home runs by season: 9 in 1956, 7 in 1957, 1 in 1958, 20 in 1959, 17 in 1960, 16 in 1961, 14 in 1962, 10 in 1963, 8 in 1964, 5 in 1965, 4 in 1966, 6 in 1967, 2 in 1968, 5 in 1969, and 1 in 1970. His most in one season was 20, in 1959.
- What was Tito Francona's career batting average?
- Tito Francona batted .272 over his career, with 1,395 hits in 5,121 at bats.
- How many RBI did Tito Francona have?
- Tito Francona drove in 656 runs in his career.
- Is Tito Francona in the Hall of Fame?
- No. Tito Francona has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
- How many All-Star Games did Tito Francona make?
- Tito Francona was selected to 1 All-Star Game.