What years did Johnny Gorsica play?

Johnny Gorsica played in Major League Baseball from 1940 to 1947.

Was Johnny Gorsica a pitcher?

Yes. Johnny Gorsica pitched in the major leagues, recording 31 wins and 272 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Johnny Gorsica hit?

Johnny Gorsica hit 1 career home run with 45 hits.

What teams did Johnny Gorsica play for?

Johnny Gorsica played for one team, the Detroit Tigers (1940–1944, 1946–1947).

What were Johnny Gorsica's career stats?

In 204 games, Johnny Gorsica went 31-39 with a 4.18 ERA, 272 strikeouts, 723.2 innings pitched, and 17 saves. At the plate he had 45 hits and 1 home runs.

What position did Johnny Gorsica play?

Johnny Gorsica played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Johnny Gorsica and how much did he weigh?

Johnny Gorsica was listed at 6 feet 2 inches and 180 pounds.

What was Johnny Gorsica's career ERA?

Johnny Gorsica finished with a 4.18 career ERA, going 31-39 with 272 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Johnny Gorsica have?

Johnny Gorsica recorded 272 career strikeouts.

Is Johnny Gorsica in the Hall of Fame?

No. Johnny Gorsica has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Johnny Gorsica

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1940-1947)

Johnny Gorsica was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1940 to 1947 for the Detroit Tigers, a span of 8 seasons. Across 204 career appearances, he went 31-39 with a 4.18 ERA and 272 strikeouts. He also batted .207 with 1 home runs.

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 31–39

ERA 4.18

WHIP 1.42

SO 272

Pitcher PIV -1319.2

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'2" / 180 lb
Born: 3/29/1915 in Bayonne, NJ, USA
Died: 12/16/1998 in Charlottesville, VA, USA
MLB Debut: 1940-04-22
Last Game: 1947-09-17

Full name: John Joseph Perry Gorsica

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Career Pitching Statistics

Johnny Gorsica — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
31	39	204	64	22	4	17	723.2	778	336	44	247	272	4.18	-1319.2

Career ERA 4.18 vs. league average 3.76 across their career seasons — 11.0% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Johnny Gorsica Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1940	DET	AL	7	7	29	20	5	2	0	160.0	170	77	57	68	4.33	4.21 (-3%)	429.0
1941	DET	AL	9	11	33	21	8	1	2	171.0	193	85	55	59	4.47	3.94 (-14%)	-1038.0
1942	DET	AL	3	2	28	0	0	0	4	53.0	63	28	26	19	4.75	3.57 (-33%)	-561.3
1943	DET	AL	4	5	35	4	1	0	5	96.1	88	36	40	45	3.36	3.50 (+4%)	179.2
1944	DET	AL	6	14	34	19	8	1	4	162.0	192	74	32	47	4.11	3.57 (-15%)	1713.5
1946	DET	AL	0	0	14	0	0	0	1	23.2	28	12	11	14	4.56	3.59 (-27%)	-1155.7
1947	DET	AL	2	0	31	0	0	0	1	57.2	44	24	26	20	3.75	3.97 (+6%)	-886.0
Career · 7 seasons			31	39	204	64	22	4	17	723.2	778	336	247	272	4.18	—	-1,319

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

Johnny Gorsica — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
214	217	23	45	5	5	1	14	0	13	42	.207	.252	.290	.542	-655

Career AVG .207 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — 20.2% below league average.

Career OBP .252 vs. league average .330 across their career seasons — 23.5% below league average.

Career SLG .290 vs. league average .364 across their career seasons — 20.3% below league average.

Career OPS .542 vs. league average .694 across their career seasons — 21.8% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Johnny Gorsica — Season-by-Season Batting
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1940	DET	AL	29	62	6	12	0	2	1	7	3	15	.194	.267 (-28%)	.335 (-31%)	.387 (-21%)	.722 (-26%)	-275.1
1941	DET	AL	33	57	5	17	1	0	0	3	6	7	.298	.262 (+14%)	.332 (+10%)	.373 (-15%)	.705 (-4%)	-9.8
1942	DET	AL	31	10	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	.100	—	—	—	—	0.0
1943	DET	AL	36	23	2	4	0	1	0	0	1	6	.174	—	—	—	—	0.0
1944	DET	AL	40	52	7	7	2	1	0	4	2	6	.135	.261 (-49%)	.325 (-49%)	.357 (-41%)	.683 (-45%)	-370.5
1946	DET	AL	14	3	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	.667	—	—	—	—	0.0
1947	DET	AL	31	10	0	2	1	0	0	0	1	7	.200	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 7 seasons			214	217	23	45	5	5	1	14	13	42	.207	—	—	—	—	-655

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

Johnny Gorsica — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
2	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Johnny Gorsica — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1940	WS	DET	2	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Johnny Gorsica — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	0	2	0	0	11.1	6	1	4	4	0.79

Playoff Pitching by Year

Johnny Gorsica — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1940	WS	DET	0	0	2	0	0	11.1	6	1	4	4	0.79

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (418 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Johnny Gorsica — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	112	115	12	22	1	7	.191
Away	102	101	11	23	0	7	.228

Pitching — Home / Away

Johnny Gorsica — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	106	394.0	417	175	132	148	4.00
Away	98	329.2	361	159	116	124	4.34

Last 10 Games — Batting

Johnny Gorsica — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	SO
1947-09-17	DET	PHA	L	0	0
1947-09-13	DET	NYY	L	0	0
1947-09-07	DET	SLA	L	0	0
1947-09-01	DET	CHW	W	0	0
1947-08-28	DET	BOS	L	0	0
1947-08-27	DET	BOS	L	0	0
1947-08-26	DET	BOS	L	1	1
1947-08-25	DET	PHA	L	0	0
1947-08-22	DET	MIN	W	1	1
1947-08-12	DET	CLE	L	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Johnny Gorsica — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1947-09-17	DET	PHA	—	1.1	0	0	0	2	1	0
1947-09-13	DET	NYY	—	2.0	3	2	2	1	0	1
1947-09-07	DET	SLA	—	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0
1947-09-01	DET	CHW	W	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1947-08-28	DET	BOS	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0
1947-08-27	DET	BOS	—	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0
1947-08-26	DET	BOS	—	2.2	1	2	2	2	1	1
1947-08-25	DET	PHA	—	0.2	1	0	0	0	0	0
1947-08-22	DET	MIN	—	5.0	8	5	5	2	4	1
1947-08-12	DET	CLE	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Johnny Gorsica — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	204	0	68	220	10	14

Season-by-Season Fielding

Johnny Gorsica — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	PO	A	E	DP
1940	DET	P	29	15	53	4	2
1941	DET	P	33	10	52	2	3
1942	DET	P	28	5	29	1	0
1943	DET	P	35	10	30	0	3
1944	DET	P	34	17	42	2	5
1946	DET	P	14	2	2	1	0
1947	DET	P	31	9	12	0	1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Johnny Gorsica — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Pitcher	204

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Johnny Gorsica (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Johnny Gorsica: the record in brief

Johnny Gorsica's major league career runs from a debut on April 22, 1940 to a final game on September 17, 1947. Gorsica spent the whole of the career shown here with one club, the Detroit Tigers. Gorsica played primarily as a pitcher and both batted and threw right-handed. The bio adds a birth date on March 29, 1915, in Bayonne, NJ, USA and a listed size of 6'2" and 180 pounds. Gorsica died on December 16, 1998, in Charlottesville, VA, USA. The given name on file is John Joseph Perry Gorsica.

Gorsica went 31-39 with a 4.18 ERA in 204 games, 64 of them starts. The totals include 272 strikeouts, 22 complete games, and 17 saves. Against a 3.76 league ERA for the same seasons, the 4.18 mark was 11.0% worse. No season topped the 9 wins of 1941. Gorsica struck out 68 batters in 1940, a career high. Among the heaviest workloads, the lowest ERA was 4.11 in 1944, when the league's was 3.57.

Frequently Asked Questions about Johnny Gorsica

What years did Johnny Gorsica play?: Johnny Gorsica played in Major League Baseball from 1940 to 1947.
Was Johnny Gorsica a pitcher?: Yes. Johnny Gorsica pitched in the major leagues, recording 31 wins and 272 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Johnny Gorsica hit?: Johnny Gorsica hit 1 career home run with 45 hits.
What teams did Johnny Gorsica play for?: Johnny Gorsica played for one team, the Detroit Tigers (1940–1944, 1946–1947).
What were Johnny Gorsica's career stats?: In 204 games, Johnny Gorsica went 31-39 with a 4.18 ERA, 272 strikeouts, 723.2 innings pitched, and 17 saves. At the plate he had 45 hits and 1 home runs.
What position did Johnny Gorsica play?: Johnny Gorsica played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Johnny Gorsica and how much did he weigh?: Johnny Gorsica was listed at 6 feet 2 inches and 180 pounds.
What was Johnny Gorsica's career ERA?: Johnny Gorsica finished with a 4.18 career ERA, going 31-39 with 272 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Johnny Gorsica have?: Johnny Gorsica recorded 272 career strikeouts.
Is Johnny Gorsica in the Hall of Fame?: No. Johnny Gorsica has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.