What years did Ross Grimsley play?

Ross Grimsley played in Major League Baseball from 1971 to 1982.

Was Ross Grimsley a pitcher?

Yes. Ross Grimsley pitched in the major leagues, recording 124 wins and 750 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Ross Grimsley hit?

Ross Grimsley hit 0 career home runs with 45 hits.

What was Ross Grimsley's career batting average?

Ross Grimsley batted .127 over his career, with 45 hits in 353 at bats.

How many RBI did Ross Grimsley have?

Ross Grimsley drove in 15 runs in his career.

What was Ross Grimsley's career ERA?

Ross Grimsley finished with a 3.81 career ERA, going 124-99 with 750 strikeouts.

Ross Grimsley

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1971-1982)

Ross Grimsley was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1971 to 1982 for 4 teams, including the Cincinnati Reds, a span of 12 seasons. Across 345 career appearances, he went 124-99 with a 3.81 ERA and 750 strikeouts. He also batted .127 with 0 home runs. Ross Grimsley was an All-Star.

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 12, 2026

W–L 124–99

ERA 3.81

WHIP 1.31

SO 750

Pitcher PIV -15441.9

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 6'3" / 195 lb
Born: 1/7/1950 in Topeka, KS, USA
MLB Debut: 1971-05-16
Last Game: 1982-09-24
Awards: All-Star

Full name: Ross Albert Grimsley

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Career Pitching Statistics

Ross Grimsley — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
124	99	345	295	79	15	3	2039.1	2,105	863	202	559	750	3.81	-15441.9

Career ERA 3.81 vs. league average 3.71 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Ross Grimsley (b. 1950) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1971	CIN	NL	10	7	26	26	6	3	0	161.1	151	64	43	67	3.57	3.47 (-3%)	-795.8
1972	CIN	NL	14	8	30	28	4	1	1	197.2	194	67	50	79	3.05	3.26 (+7%)	-1375.5
1973	CIN	NL	13	10	38	36	8	1	1	242.1	245	87	68	90	3.23	3.75 (+14%)	-1249.0
1974	BAL	AL	18	13	40	39	17	4	1	295.2	267	101	76	158	3.07	3.63 (+15%)	1357.4
1975	BAL	AL	10	13	35	32	8	1	0	197.0	210	89	47	89	4.07	3.71 (-10%)	-3041.2
1976	BAL	AL	8	7	28	19	2	0	0	136.2	143	60	35	41	3.95	3.51 (-12%)	-237.9
1977	BAL	AL	14	10	34	34	11	2	0	218.1	230	96	74	53	3.96	4.00 (+1%)	-3894.9
1978	MON	NL	20	11	36	36	19	3	0	263.0	237	89	67	84	3.05	3.69 (+17%)	786.9
1979	MON	NL	10	9	32	27	2	0	0	151.1	199	90	41	42	5.35	4.00 (-34%)	-2245.7
1980	MON	NL	2	4	11	7	0	0	0	41.1	61	29	12	11	6.31	3.84 (-64%)	-924.2
1980	CLE	AL	4	5	14	11	2	0	0	74.2	103	56	24	18	6.75	3.84 (-76%)	-2516.4
1982	BAL	AL	1	2	21	0	0	0	0	60.0	65	35	22	18	5.25	3.86 (-36%)	-1305.5
Career · 12 seasons			124	99	345	295	79	15	3	2,039.1	2,105	863	559	750	3.81	—	-15,442

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

Ross Grimsley — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
346	353	21	45	4	0	0	15	0	6	116	.127	.144	.139	.283	-3,207

Career AVG .127 vs. league average .258 across their career seasons — 50.6% below league average.

Career OBP .144 vs. league average .324 across their career seasons — 55.5% below league average.

Career SLG .139 vs. league average .378 across their career seasons — 63.3% below league average.

Career OPS .283 vs. league average .702 across their career seasons — 59.7% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Ross Grimsley (b. 1950) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1971	CIN	NL	26	51	3	6	0	1	3	16	.118	.249 (-53%)	.316 (-47%)	.365 (-68%)	.682 (-58%)	-445.8
1972	CIN	NL	30	66	5	8	0	1	1	29	.121	.243 (-50%)	.310 (-57%)	.353 (-66%)	.664 (-62%)	-598.6
1973	CIN	NL	39	82	3	5	0	1	0	37	.061	.256 (-76%)	.325 (-81%)	.378 (-84%)	.703 (-83%)	-1051.3
1974	BAL	AL	40	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1975	BAL	AL	35	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1976	BAL	AL	28	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1977	BAL	AL	34	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1978	MON	NL	36	90	5	13	1	4	2	20	.144	.257 (-44%)	.323 (-47%)	.378 (-59%)	.702 (-54%)	-755.6
1979	MON	NL	32	55	4	11	2	8	0	10	.200	.265 (-25%)	.329 (-39%)	.397 (-41%)	.727 (-40%)	-355.4
1980	MON	NL	11	9	1	2	1	0	0	4	.222	—	—	—	—	0.0
1980	CLE	AL	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1982	BAL	AL	21	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 12 seasons			346	353	21	45	4	15	6	116	.127	—	—	—	—	-3,207

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

Ross Grimsley — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
9	6	0	2	1	0	0	1	0	3	.333

Playoff Batting by Year

Ross Grimsley — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	H	2B	RBI	SO	AVG
1974	ALCS	BAL	2	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1973	NLCS	CIN	2	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1972	NLCS	CIN	1	4	2	1	1	1	.500
1972	WS	CIN	4	2	0	0	0	2	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Ross Grimsley — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
3	2	9	3	0	25.0	17	9	7	12	3.24

Playoff Pitching by Year

Ross Grimsley — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1974	ALCS	BAL	0	0	2	0	5.1	1	1	2	2	1.69
1973	NLCS	CIN	0	1	2	1	3.2	7	5	2	3	12.27
1972	NLCS	CIN	1	0	1	1	9.0	2	1	0	5	1.00
1972	WS	CIN	2	1	4	1	7.0	7	2	3	2	2.57

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (691 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Ross Grimsley — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	182	194	10	23	0	7	.119
Away	164	159	11	22	0	8	.138

Pitching — Home / Away

Ross Grimsley — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	181	1156.1	1107	433	305	414	3.37
Away	164	883.0	998	430	254	336	4.38

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Ross Grimsley — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1982-09-24	BAL	MIL	—	2.1	3	0	0	0	1	0
1982-09-08	BAL	NYY	—	2.1	4	5	5	4	1	1
1982-08-07	BAL	KCR	—	2.0	2	0	0	0	1	0
1982-08-03	BAL	BOS	L	2.0	3	3	3	0	1	2
1982-07-27	BAL	CHW	—	3.2	0	0	0	1	0	0
1982-07-20	BAL	LAA	—	1.0	2	2	2	3	0	0
1982-07-16	BAL	SEA	—	4.2	6	2	2	1	0	1
1982-07-11	BAL	OAK	—	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0
1982-07-07	BAL	SEA	—	3.2	4	3	3	1	2	0
1982-07-03	BAL	DET	—	0.0	1	0	0	1	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Ross Grimsley — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	345	295	60	357	13	14

Season-by-Season Fielding

Ross Grimsley — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1971	CIN	P	26	26	5	25	0	0
1972	CIN	P	30	28	3	34	0	0
1973	CIN	P	38	36	11	33	0	3
1974	BAL	P	40	39	3	51	2	1
1975	BAL	P	35	32	6	33	0	2
1976	BAL	P	28	19	8	19	1	0
1977	BAL	P	34	34	8	52	3	4
1978	MON	P	36	36	9	53	2	3
1979	MON	P	32	27	3	27	3	0
1980	MON	P	11	7	1	8	0	0
1980	CLE	P	14	11	1	11	1	0
1982	BAL	P	21	0	2	11	1	1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Ross Grimsley (b. 1950) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	345

Awards & Honors

Ross Grimsley — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1978	Pitcher of the Month	April

College History

Ross Grimsley — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
Jackson State Community College	Jackson	TN	1969

Award Voting History

Ross Grimsley — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1978	Cy Young Award	NL	7th	7.0	120	0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Ross Grimsley (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Ross Grimsley: the record in brief

The profile opens with Ross Grimsley's first major league game on May 16, 1971; the last one listed came on September 24, 1982. Grimsley played for the Cincinnati Reds (1971 through 1973), the Baltimore Orioles (1974 through 1982), the Montreal Expos (1978 to 1980), and the Cleveland Indians (1980). Born on January 7, 1950, in Topeka, KS, USA, Grimsley is listed as a pitcher and both batted and threw left-handed. The bio gives 6'3" and 195 pounds. Ross Grimsley was the playing name; the full given name is Ross Albert.

Across 345 games (295 starts), Grimsley recorded 124 wins against 99 losses with a 3.81 ERA. The same table counts 750 strikeouts, 79 complete games, and 15 shutouts. Grimsley's 3.81 ERA was close to the 3.71 league figure for those seasons. 1978 brought Grimsley a season-high 20 wins. The strikeout high was 158 in 1974. 1978 was Grimsley's sharpest full season, a 3.05 ERA against the league's 3.69.

Frequently Asked Questions about Ross Grimsley

What years did Ross Grimsley play?: Ross Grimsley played in Major League Baseball from 1971 to 1982.
Was Ross Grimsley a pitcher?: Yes. Ross Grimsley pitched in the major leagues, recording 124 wins and 750 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Ross Grimsley hit?: Ross Grimsley hit 0 career home runs with 45 hits.
What was Ross Grimsley's career batting average?: Ross Grimsley batted .127 over his career, with 45 hits in 353 at bats.
How many RBI did Ross Grimsley have?: Ross Grimsley drove in 15 runs in his career.
What was Ross Grimsley's career ERA?: Ross Grimsley finished with a 3.81 career ERA, going 124-99 with 750 strikeouts.