What years did Joe Grzenda play?

Joe Grzenda played in Major League Baseball from 1961 to 1972.

Was Joe Grzenda a pitcher?

Yes. Joe Grzenda pitched in the major leagues, recording 14 wins and 173 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Joe Grzenda hit?

Joe Grzenda hit 0 career home runs with 2 hits.

What was Joe Grzenda's career batting average?

Joe Grzenda batted .067 over his career, with 2 hits in 30 at bats.

How many RBI did Joe Grzenda have?

Joe Grzenda drove in 1 runs in his career.

What was Joe Grzenda's career ERA?

Joe Grzenda finished with a 4.00 career ERA, going 14-13 with 173 strikeouts.

Joe Grzenda

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1961-1972)

Joe Grzenda was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1961 to 1972 for 6 teams, including the Detroit Tigers, a span of 12 seasons. Across 219 career appearances, he went 14-13 with a 4.00 ERA and 173 strikeouts. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 1227.4.

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 September 8, 2026

W–L 14–13

ERA 4.00

WHIP 1.44

SO 173

Pitcher PIV 1227.4

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / L
Height / Weight: 6'2" / 180 lb
Born: 6/8/1937 in Scranton, PA, USA
Died: 7/12/2019 in Covington Township, PA, USA
MLB Debut: 1961-04-26
Last Game: 1972-09-23

Full name: Joseph Charles Grzenda

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Career Pitching Statistics

Joe Grzenda — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
14	13	219	3	0	0	14	308.0	323	137	20	120	173	4.00	1227.4

Career ERA 4.00 vs. league average 3.58 across their career seasons — 11.9% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Joe Grzenda Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1961	DET	AL	1	0	4	0	0	5.7	9	5	2	0	7.94	—	0.0
1964	KC1	AL	0	2	20	0	0	25.0	34	15	13	17	5.40	3.58 (-51%)	-240.3
1966	KC1	AL	0	2	21	0	0	22.0	28	8	12	14	3.27	3.52 (+7%)	6.3
1967	NYN	NL	0	0	11	0	0	16.7	14	4	8	9	2.16	3.30 (+35%)	93.8
1969	MIN	AL	4	1	38	0	3	48.7	52	21	17	24	3.88	3.61 (-7%)	-106.5
1970	WS2	AL	3	6	49	3	6	84.7	86	47	34	38	5.00	3.89 (-29%)	-834.5
1971	WS2	AL	5	2	46	0	5	70.3	54	15	17	56	1.92	3.47 (+45%)	2626.7
1972	SLN	NL	1	0	30	0	0	35.0	46	22	17	15	5.66	3.26 (-73%)	-318.1
Career · 8 seasons			14	13	219	3	14	308.0	323	137	120	173	4.00	—	1,227

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

Joe Grzenda — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
219	30	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	2	19	.067	.125	.067	.192	0

Career AVG .067 vs. league average .249 across their career seasons — 73.3% below league average.

Career OBP .125 vs. league average .316 across their career seasons — 60.5% below league average.

Career SLG .067 vs. league average .372 across their career seasons — 82.1% below league average.

Career OPS .192 vs. league average .689 across their career seasons — 72.2% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Joe Grzenda — Season-by-Season Batting
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1961	DET	AL	4	1	0	1	0	0	0	1.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1964	KC1	AL	20	2	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1966	KC1	AL	21	1	0	0	0	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1967	NYN	NL	11	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1969	MIN	AL	38	5	1	0	0	2	3	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1970	WS2	AL	49	12	0	0	0	0	11	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1971	WS2	AL	46	7	0	1	1	0	4	.143	—	—	—	—	0.0
1972	SLN	NL	30	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 8 seasons			219	30	1	2	1	2	19	.067	—	—	—	—	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

Joe Grzenda — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Joe Grzenda — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1969	ALCS	MIN	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Joe Grzenda — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	0	1	0	0	0.7	0	0	0	0	0.00

Playoff Pitching by Year

Joe Grzenda — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1969	ALCS	MIN	0	0	1	0	0	0.7	0	0	0	0	0.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (438 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Joe Grzenda — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	115	14	0	1	0	0	.071
Away	104	16	1	1	0	1	.062

Pitching — Home / Away

Joe Grzenda — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	115	166.1	169	74	66	94	4.00
Away	104	141.2	154	63	54	79	4.00

Last 10 Games — Batting

Joe Grzenda — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB
1972-09-23	STL	CHC	L	0
1972-09-10	STL	NYN	L	0
1972-09-08	STL	NYN	W	0
1972-09-03	STL	LAD	L	0
1972-08-11	STL	PIT	L	0
1972-08-09	STL	NYN	L	0
1972-08-08	STL	NYN	W	1
1972-08-04	STL	PHI	L	0
1972-07-31	STL	CHC	L	0
1972-07-30	STL	CHC	L	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Joe Grzenda — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1972-09-23	STL	CHC	—	1.0	4	5	5	1	1	1
1972-09-10	STL	NYN	—	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0
1972-09-08	STL	NYN	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0
1972-09-03	STL	LAD	—	2.0	4	1	1	0	1	0
1972-08-11	STL	PIT	—	1.0	2	2	2	2	0	0
1972-08-09	STL	NYN	—	1.0	1	1	1	1	1	0
1972-08-08	STL	NYN	—	1.0	2	0	0	0	1	0
1972-08-04	STL	PHI	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0
1972-07-31	STL	CHC	—	1.2	2	0	0	0	0	0
1972-07-30	STL	CHC	—	0.1	0	0	0	1	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Joe Grzenda — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	219	3	6	66	0	3

Season-by-Season Fielding

Joe Grzenda — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	DP
1961	DET	P	4	0	1	2	0
1964	KC1	P	20	0	0	10	0
1966	KC1	P	21	0	0	6	1
1967	NYN	P	11	0	0	1	0
1969	MIN	P	38	0	0	14	1
1970	WS2	P	49	3	3	16	1
1971	WS2	P	46	0	0	11	0
1972	SLN	P	30	0	2	6	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Joe Grzenda — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Pitcher	219

Frequently Asked Questions about Joe Grzenda

What years did Joe Grzenda play?: Joe Grzenda played in Major League Baseball from 1961 to 1972.
Was Joe Grzenda a pitcher?: Yes. Joe Grzenda pitched in the major leagues, recording 14 wins and 173 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Joe Grzenda hit?: Joe Grzenda hit 0 career home runs with 2 hits.
What was Joe Grzenda's career batting average?: Joe Grzenda batted .067 over his career, with 2 hits in 30 at bats.
How many RBI did Joe Grzenda have?: Joe Grzenda drove in 1 runs in his career.
What was Joe Grzenda's career ERA?: Joe Grzenda finished with a 4.00 career ERA, going 14-13 with 173 strikeouts.