What years did Tom Gordon play?

Tom Gordon played in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 2009.

Was Tom Gordon a pitcher?

Yes. Tom Gordon pitched in the major leagues, recording 138 wins and 1928 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Tom Gordon hit?

Tom Gordon hit 0 career home runs.

What teams did Tom Gordon play for?

Tom Gordon played for 8 teams: the Kansas City Royals (1988–1995), the Boston Red Sox (1996–1999), the Chicago Cubs (2001–2002), the Houston Astros (2002), the Chicago White Sox (2003), the New York Yankees (2004–2005), the Philadelphia Phillies (2006–2008), and the Arizona Diamondbacks (2009).

Did Tom Gordon win a Cy Young Award?

No. Tom Gordon did not win the Cy Young Award.

What awards did Tom Gordon win?

Tom Gordon was selected to 3 All-Star Games.

What were Tom Gordon's career stats?

In 890 games, Tom Gordon went 138-126 with a 3.96 ERA, 1,928 strikeouts, 2,108.0 innings pitched, and 158 saves.

What was Tom Gordon's salary?

Tom Gordon's last recorded salary was $500,000, in 2009. His highest recorded salary was $7,000,000, in 2007, and his lowest was $68,000, in 1989. The Salary History table lists each season from 1989 to 2009.

What position did Tom Gordon play?

Tom Gordon played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Tom Gordon and how much did he weigh?

Tom Gordon was listed at 5 feet 9 inches and 160 pounds.

What was Tom Gordon's career ERA?

Tom Gordon finished with a 3.96 career ERA, going 138-126 with 1,928 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Tom Gordon have?

Tom Gordon recorded 1,928 career strikeouts.

Is Tom Gordon in the Hall of Fame?

No. Tom Gordon has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Tom Gordon

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1988-2009)

Tom Gordon was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 2009 for 8 teams, including the Kansas City Royals, a span of 22 seasons. Across 890 career appearances, he went 138-126 with a 3.96 ERA, 1,928 strikeouts, and 158 saves. Tom Gordon was a 3-time All-Star and a Reliever of the Year. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 29013.9.

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 17, 2026

W–L 138–126

ERA 3.96

WHIP 1.36

SO 1,928

Pitcher PIV 29013.9

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 5'9" / 160 lb
Born: 11/18/1967 in Sebring, FL, USA
MLB Debut: 1988-09-08
Last Game: 2009-05-03
Awards: 3× All-Star · Reliever of the Year

Full name: Thomas Gordon

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Career Pitching Statistics

Tom Gordon — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
138	126	890	203	18	4	158	2108.0	1,889	927	176	977	1,928	3.96	29013.9

Career ERA 3.96 vs. league average 4.28 across their career seasons — 7.6% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Tom Gordon Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1988	KCA	AL	0	2	5	2	0	0	0	15.2	16	9	7	18	5.17	3.73 (-38%)	429.2
1989	KCA	AL	17	9	49	16	1	1	1	163.0	122	66	86	153	3.64	3.71 (+2%)	1794.2
1990	KCA	AL	12	11	32	32	6	1	0	195.1	192	81	99	175	3.73	3.86 (+3%)	745.9
1991	KCA	AL	9	14	45	14	1	0	1	158.0	129	68	87	167	3.87	3.91 (+1%)	510.3
1992	KCA	AL	6	10	40	11	0	0	0	117.2	116	60	55	98	4.59	3.75 (-23%)	390.0
1993	KCA	AL	12	6	48	14	2	0	1	155.2	125	62	77	143	3.58	4.19 (+14%)	2480.8
1994	KCA	AL	11	7	24	24	0	0	0	155.1	136	75	87	126	4.35	4.51 (+4%)	37.6
1995	KCA	AL	12	12	31	31	2	0	0	189.0	204	93	89	119	4.43	4.45 (+1%)	1499.5
1996	BOS	AL	12	9	34	34	4	1	0	215.2	249	134	105	171	5.59	4.61 (-21%)	-964.5
1997	BOS	AL	6	10	42	25	2	1	11	182.2	155	76	78	159	3.74	4.39 (+15%)	4639.5
1998	BOS	AL	7	4	73	0	0	0	46	79.1	55	24	25	78	2.72	4.43 (+39%)	4002.7
1999	BOS	AL	0	2	21	0	0	0	11	17.2	17	11	12	24	5.60	4.71 (-19%)	271.4
2001	CHN	NL	1	2	47	0	0	0	27	45.1	32	17	16	67	3.38	4.42 (+24%)	2347.5
2002	CHN	NL	1	1	19	0	0	0	0	23.2	27	9	10	31	3.42	4.28 (+20%)	1184.4
2002	HOU	NL	0	2	15	0	0	0	0	19.0	15	7	6	17	3.32	4.28 (+23%)	376.6
2003	CHA	AL	7	6	66	0	0	0	12	74.0	57	26	31	91	3.16	4.40 (+28%)	3204.2
2004	NYA	AL	9	4	80	0	0	0	4	89.2	56	22	23	96	2.21	4.46 (+51%)	4631.8
2005	NYA	AL	5	4	79	0	0	0	2	80.2	59	23	29	69	2.57	4.29 (+40%)	1258.6
2006	PHI	NL	3	4	59	0	0	0	34	59.1	53	22	22	68	3.34	4.53 (+26%)	806.9
2007	PHI	NL	3	2	44	0	0	0	6	40.0	40	21	13	32	4.72	4.47 (-6%)	-566.5
2008	PHI	NL	5	4	34	0	0	0	2	29.2	31	17	17	26	5.16	4.32 (-19%)	-66.1
2009	ARI	NL	0	1	3	0	0	0	0	1.2	3	4	3	0	21.60	—	0.0
Career · 22 seasons			138	126	890	203	18	4	158	2,108.0	1,889	927	977	1,928	3.96	—	29,014

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

Tom Gordon — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
893	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	0

Career AVG .000 vs. league average .264 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Career OBP .000 vs. league average .332 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Career SLG .000 vs. league average .413 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Career OPS .000 vs. league average .745 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Tom Gordon Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1988	KCA	AL	5	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1989	KCA	AL	49	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1990	KCA	AL	33	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1991	KCA	AL	46	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1992	KCA	AL	40	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1993	KCA	AL	48	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1994	KCA	AL	24	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1995	KCA	AL	32	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1996	BOS	AL	34	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1997	BOS	AL	42	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1998	BOS	AL	73	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1999	BOS	AL	21	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2001	CHN	NL	47	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2002	CHN	NL	19	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2002	HOU	NL	15	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2003	CHA	AL	66	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2004	NYA	AL	80	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2005	NYA	AL	79	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2006	PHI	NL	59	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2007	PHI	NL	44	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2008	PHI	NL	34	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2009	ARI	NL	3	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 22 seasons			893	2	.000	—	—	—	—	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

Tom Gordon — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
21	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Tom Gordon — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AVG
2007	NLDS2	PHI	2	.000
2005	ALDS2	NYA	3	.000
2004	ALCS	NYA	6	.000
2004	ALDS2	NYA	3	.000
1999	ALCS	BOS	3	.000
1999	ALDS1	BOS	2	.000
1998	ALDS1	BOS	2	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Tom Gordon — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	1	21	0	0	21.2	24	17	9	19	7.06

Playoff Pitching by Year

Tom Gordon — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	L	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
2007	NLDS2	PHI	0	2	2.0	2	1	1	4	4.50
2005	ALDS2	NYA	0	3	2.1	2	1	0	2	3.86
2004	ALCS	NYA	0	6	6.2	10	6	2	3	8.10
2004	ALDS2	NYA	0	3	3.2	2	2	0	3	4.91
1999	ALCS	BOS	0	3	2.0	3	3	1	3	13.50
1999	ALDS1	BOS	0	2	2.0	1	1	1	3	4.50
1998	ALDS1	BOS	1	2	3.0	4	3	4	1	9.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1783 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Tom Gordon — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	460	1	0	0	0	0	.000
Away	433	1	0	0	0	0	.000

Pitching — Home / Away

Tom Gordon — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	459	1120.0	982	456	492	1014	3.66
Away	431	988.0	907	471	485	914	4.29

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Tom Gordon — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
2009-05-03	AZ	MIL	—	0.1	1	0	0	1	0	0
2009-04-30	AZ	MIL	L	0.1	2	4	4	2	0	0
2009-04-28	AZ	CHC	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2008-07-05	PHI	NYN	—	0.2	1	1	1	1	0	0
2008-07-03	PHI	ATL	SV	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0
2008-07-01	PHI	ATL	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2008-06-26	PHI	OAK	—	1.0	2	2	1	1	1	0
2008-06-15	PHI	STL	L	0.2	1	1	0	0	0	0
2008-06-11	PHI	MIA	L	0.1	2	4	4	2	0	1
2008-06-07	PHI	ATL	—	1.0	1	0	0	1	3	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Tom Gordon — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	890	203	185	268	20	23

Season-by-Season Fielding

Tom Gordon — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1988	KCA	P	5	2	2	2	0	0
1989	KCA	P	49	16	15	26	0	7
1990	KCA	P	32	32	17	24	1	1
1991	KCA	P	45	14	12	17	2	1
1992	KCA	P	40	11	11	14	1	1
1993	KCA	P	48	14	18	21	2	0
1994	KCA	P	24	24	12	25	2	3
1995	KCA	P	31	31	25	26	2	3
1996	BOS	P	34	34	14	30	3	3
1997	BOS	P	42	25	18	20	2	1
1998	BOS	P	73	0	7	1	0	0
1999	BOS	P	21	0	0	1	0	0
2001	CHN	P	47	0	1	1	0	0
2002	CHN	P	19	0	1	4	0	1
2002	HOU	P	15	0	0	2	1	0
2003	CHA	P	66	0	6	10	0	1
2004	NYA	P	80	0	6	13	1	1
2005	NYA	P	79	0	7	13	1	0
2006	PHI	P	59	0	5	8	0	0
2007	PHI	P	44	0	6	7	0	0
2008	PHI	P	34	0	1	3	2	0
2009	ARI	P	3	0	1	0	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Tom Gordon Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	890
Designated Hitter	1

Awards & Honors

Tom Gordon — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1998	Reliever of the Year Award
1998	TSN Fireman of the Year
1989	TSN Rookie Pitcher of the Year

Salary History

Tom Gordon's recorded salaries total $55,918,000 over 21 seasons, 1989 to 2009. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Gordon's career ran from 1988 to 2009. No salary is recorded for 1988.

Tom Gordon — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
2009	ARI	NL	$500,000
2008	PHI	NL	$5,500,000
2007	PHI	NL	$7,000,000
2006	PHI	NL	$4,500,000
2005	NYA	AL	$3,750,000
2004	NYA	AL	$3,500,000
2003	CHA	AL	$1,400,000
2002	CHN	NL	$2,800,000
2001	CHN	NL	$2,000,000
2000	BOS	AL	$3,750,000
1999	BOS	AL	$3,750,000
1998	BOS	AL	$3,300,000
1997	BOS	AL	$2,900,000
1996	BOS	AL	$3,050,000
1995	KCA	AL	$3,300,000
1994	KCA	AL	$2,635,000
1993	KCA	AL	$890,000
1992	KCA	AL	$815,000
1991	KCA	AL	$325,000
1990	KCA	AL	$185,000
1989	KCA	AL	$68,000
Total recorded salary (partial)			$55,918,000

Award Voting History

Tom Gordon — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1998	Most Valuable Player	AL	13th	27.0	392	0
1989	Rookie of the Year	AL	2nd	67.0	140	1

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Tom Gordon (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Compare Tom Gordon

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Tom Gordon: the record in brief

The profile opens with Tom Gordon's first major league game on September 8, 1988; the last one listed came on May 3, 2009. The season rows list, in order, the Kansas City Royals (1988 through 1995), the Boston Red Sox (1996 through 1999), the Chicago Cubs (2001 to 2002), the Houston Astros (2002), the Chicago White Sox (2003), the New York Yankees (2004 through 2005), the Philadelphia Phillies (2006 to 2008), and the Arizona Diamondbacks (2009). Gordon, born on November 18, 1967, in Sebring, FL, USA, is listed as a pitcher and both batted and threw right-handed. The bio gives 5-foot-9 and 160 pounds. Tom Gordon was the playing name; the full given name is Thomas.

The pitching table credits Gordon with a 138-126 record and a 3.96 ERA in 890 games. Gordon had 1,928 strikeouts, 18 complete games, and 158 saves. The leagues Gordon pitched in allowed 4.28 earned runs per nine over those seasons, so the career ERA was 7.6% better than average.

Frequently Asked Questions about Tom Gordon

What years did Tom Gordon play?: Tom Gordon played in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 2009.
Was Tom Gordon a pitcher?: Yes. Tom Gordon pitched in the major leagues, recording 138 wins and 1928 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Tom Gordon hit?: Tom Gordon hit 0 career home runs.
What teams did Tom Gordon play for?: Tom Gordon played for 8 teams: the Kansas City Royals (1988–1995), the Boston Red Sox (1996–1999), the Chicago Cubs (2001–2002), the Houston Astros (2002), the Chicago White Sox (2003), the New York Yankees (2004–2005), the Philadelphia Phillies (2006–2008), and the Arizona Diamondbacks (2009).
Did Tom Gordon win a Cy Young Award?: No. Tom Gordon did not win the Cy Young Award.
What awards did Tom Gordon win?: Tom Gordon was selected to 3 All-Star Games.
What were Tom Gordon's career stats?: In 890 games, Tom Gordon went 138-126 with a 3.96 ERA, 1,928 strikeouts, 2,108.0 innings pitched, and 158 saves.
How much did Tom Gordon earn in his career?: Tom Gordon's recorded salaries total $55,918,000 over 21 seasons, 1989 to 2009. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Gordon's career ran from 1988 to 2009. No salary is recorded for 1988.
What was Tom Gordon's salary?: Tom Gordon's last recorded salary was $500,000, in 2009. His highest recorded salary was $7,000,000, in 2007, and his lowest was $68,000, in 1989. The Salary History table lists each season from 1989 to 2009.
What position did Tom Gordon play?: Tom Gordon played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Tom Gordon and how much did he weigh?: Tom Gordon was listed at 5 feet 9 inches and 160 pounds.
What was Tom Gordon's career ERA?: Tom Gordon finished with a 3.96 career ERA, going 138-126 with 1,928 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Tom Gordon have?: Tom Gordon recorded 1,928 career strikeouts.
Is Tom Gordon in the Hall of Fame?: No. Tom Gordon has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.