Jim Gentile

First Baseman · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1957-1966)

Jim Gentile was a first baseman who played in Major League Baseball from 1957 to 1966 for 6 teams, including the Brooklyn Dodgers, a span of 10 seasons. In 936 career games, he hit .260 with 759 hits, 179 home runs, and 549 RBI. Jim Gentile was a 3-time All-Star. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 13,778.

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 .260
HR 179
RBI 549
H 759
OPS .854
PIV 13,778
Position
First Baseman
Bats / Throws
L / L
Height / Weight
6'3" / 210 lb
Born
6/3/1934 in San Francisco, CA, USA
MLB Debut
1957-09-10
Last Game
1966-09-30
Awards
3× All-Star

Full name: James Edward Gentile

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Career Batting Statistics

Jim Gentile — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
936 2,922 434 759 113 6 179 549 3 475 663 .260 .368 .486 .854 13,778

Career AVG .260 vs. league average .253 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .368 vs. league average .318 across their career seasons — +15.7% above league average.

Career SLG .486 vs. league average .384 across their career seasons — +26.6% above league average.

Career OPS .854 vs. league average .702 across their career seasons — +21.7% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Jim Gentile 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
1957 BRO NL 4 6 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 .167 — — — — 0.0
1958 LAN NL 12 30 0 4 1 0 0 4 0 4 6 .133 — — — — 0.0
1960 BAL AL 138 384 67 112 17 0 21 98 0 68 72 .292 .255 (+14%) .323 (+24%) .387 (+29%) .711 (+27%) 2338.7
1961 BAL AL 148 486 96 147 25 2 46 141 1 96 106 .302 .258 (+17%) .328 (+29%) .399 (+62%) .727 (+47%) 4934.1
1962 BAL AL 152 545 80 137 21 1 33 87 1 77 100 .251 .257 (-2%) .326 (+6%) .393 (+21%) .719 (+14%) 1591.1
1963 BAL AL 145 496 65 123 16 1 24 72 1 76 101 .248 .246 (+1%) .308 (+14%) .371 (+15%) .680 (+15%) 1669.3
1964 KC1 AL 136 439 71 110 10 0 28 71 0 84 122 .251 .250 (avg) .312 (+19%) .377 (+23%) .690 (+21%) 2096.2
1965 KC1 AL 38 118 14 29 5 0 10 22 0 9 26 .246 .245 (avg) .310 (-2%) .371 (+46%) .682 (+24%) 417.0
1965 HOU NL 81 227 22 55 11 1 7 31 0 34 72 .242 .245 (-1%) .310 (+13%) .371 (+5%) .682 (+9%) 417.0
1966 HOU NL 49 144 16 35 6 1 7 18 0 21 39 .243 .248 (-2%) .309 (+15%) .376 (+18%) .685 (+17%) 464.5
1966 CLE AL 33 47 2 6 1 0 2 4 0 5 18 .128 — — — — 464.5
Career · 11 seasons 936 2,922 434 759 113 6 179 549 3 475 663 .260 — — — — 14,392

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 (936 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Jim Gentile — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home470139521235776230.256
Away4661527220402103319.263

Last 10 Games — Batting

Jim Gentile — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1966-09-30 CLELAAL 100000000
1966-09-25 CLEKC1W 100000001
1966-09-24 CLEKC1W 100000000
1966-09-23 CLEKC1L 100000000
1966-09-15 CLEKC1L 100000001
1966-09-14 CLEKC1L 000000010
1966-09-13 CLEKC1L 100000000
1966-09-09 CLELAAW 100000000
1966-09-07 CLEBOSL 111001100
1966-09-05 CLEBOSL 100000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Jim Gentile — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 854 792 6725 564 73 671

Season-by-Season Fielding

Jim Gentile — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1957 BRO 1B 2 2 14 0 0 3
1958 LAN 1B 8 8 50 2 1 9
1960 BAL 1B 124 95 885 52 7 98
1961 BAL 1B 144 137 1209 100 14 129
1962 BAL 1B 150 149 1214 121 16 121
1963 BAL 1B 143 138 1185 110 6 122
1964 KC1 1B 128 128 1018 84 13 92
1965 KC1 1B 35 29 239 17 5 24
1965 HOU 1B 68 62 544 43 4 41
1966 HOU 1B 43 38 321 30 4 28
1966 CLE 1B 9 6 46 5 3 4

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Jim Gentile Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
First Base 852

Award Voting History

Jim Gentile — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1961 Most Valuable Player AL 3rd 157.0 280 5
1960 Most Valuable Player AL 15th 21.0 336 0
1960 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%.

Career Spans

Jim Gentile (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    John Jaha
    .263 avg, 141 HR
  2. 74
    Morgan Ensberg
    .263 avg, 110 HR
  3. 73
    Kris Bryant
    .273 avg, 184 HR
  4. 66
    Corey Koskie
    .275 avg, 124 HR
  5. 64
    Paul Sorrento
    .257 avg, 166 HR
  6. 63
    Willie Aikens
    .271 avg, 110 HR

Frequently Asked Questions about Jim Gentile

What years did Jim Gentile play?
Jim Gentile played in Major League Baseball from 1957 to 1966.
Was Jim Gentile a pitcher?
No. Jim Gentile was a position player (First Baseman).
How many home runs did Jim Gentile hit?
Jim Gentile hit 179 career home runs with 759 hits.
What was Jim Gentile's career batting average?
Jim Gentile batted .260 over his career, with 759 hits in 2,922 at bats.
How many RBI did Jim Gentile have?
Jim Gentile drove in 549 runs in his career.
Is Jim Gentile in the Hall of Fame?
No. Jim Gentile has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.