Solly Hemus
Shortstop · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1949-1959)
Solly Hemus was a shortstop who played in Major League Baseball from 1949 to 1959 for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Philadelphia Phillies, a span of 11 seasons. In 961 career games, he hit .273 with 736 hits, 51 home runs, and 263 RBI. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 7,774.
- 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
- Position
- Shortstop
- Bats / Throws
- L / R
- Height / Weight
- 5'9" / 165 lb
- Died
- 10/2/2017 in Houston, TX, USA
- MLB Debut
- 1949-04-27
- Last Game
- 1959-06-14
Full name: Solomon Joseph Hemus
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 961 | 2,694 | 459 | 736 | 137 | 41 | 51 | 263 | 21 | 456 | 248 | .273 | .390 | .411 | .801 | 7,774 |
Career AVG .273 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — +5.2% above league average.
Career OBP .390 vs. league average .333 across their career seasons — +17.1% above league average.
Career SLG .411 vs. league average .391 across their career seasons — +5.3% above league average.
Career OPS .801 vs. league average .723 across their career seasons — +10.7% above league average.
Season-by-Season Batting
Click a stat to plot it across every season.
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | Lg AVG | Lg OBP | Lg SLG | Lg OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | SLN | NL | 20 | 33 | 8 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 3 | .333 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1950 | SLN | NL | 11 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .133 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1951 | SLN | NL | 120 | 420 | 68 | 118 | 18 | 9 | 2 | 32 | 7 | 75 | 31 | .281 | .260 (+8%) | .336 (+17%) | .385 (-1%) | .721 (+7%) | 876.9 |
| 1952 | SLN | NL | 151 | 570 | 105 | 153 | 28 | 8 | 15 | 52 | 1 | 96 | 55 | .268 | .252 (+6%) | .326 (+20%) | .369 (+15%) | .696 (+17%) | 2398.8 |
| 1953 | SLN | NL | 154 | 585 | 110 | 163 | 32 | 11 | 14 | 61 | 2 | 86 | 40 | .279 | .264 (+5%) | .335 (+14%) | .397 (+11%) | .733 (+13%) | 1738.8 |
| 1954 | SLN | NL | 124 | 214 | 43 | 65 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 27 | 5 | 55 | 27 | .304 | .261 (+16%) | .333 (+36%) | .390 (+10%) | .723 (+22%) | 1296.9 |
| 1955 | SLN | NL | 96 | 206 | 36 | 50 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 21 | 1 | 27 | 22 | .243 | .258 (-6%) | .332 (+1%) | .393 (-3%) | .726 (-1%) | -13.0 |
| 1956 | SLN | NL | 8 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .200 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1956 | PHI | NL | 78 | 187 | 24 | 54 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 24 | 1 | 28 | 21 | .289 | .258 (+12%) | .331 (+20%) | .397 (+17%) | .728 (+18%) | 0.0 |
| 1957 | PHI | NL | 70 | 108 | 8 | 20 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 20 | 8 | .185 | .257 (-28%) | .323 (avg) | .391 (-34%) | .715 (-19%) | -254.6 |
| 1958 | PHI | NL | 105 | 334 | 53 | 95 | 14 | 3 | 8 | 36 | 3 | 51 | 34 | .284 | .257 (+10%) | .324 (+20%) | .394 (+6%) | .719 (+12%) | 1006.4 |
| 1959 | SLN | NL | 24 | 17 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | .235 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| Career · 12 seasons | 961 | 2,694 | 459 | 736 | 137 | 41 | 51 | 263 | 21 | 456 | 248 | .273 | — | — | — | — | 7,050 | ||
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 (961 games) →Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).
Batting — Home / Away
| Split | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 494 | 1357 | 242 | 383 | 24 | 139 | .282 |
| Away | 467 | 1337 | 217 | 353 | 27 | 123 | .264 |
Last 10 Games — Batting
| Date | Tm | Opp | Res | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959-06-14 | STL | CIN | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1959-06-12 | STL | CIN | W | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1959-06-11 | STL | ATL | L | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1959-06-10 | STL | ATL | W | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1959-06-07 | STL | PHI | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1959-06-06 | STL | PHI | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1959-06-04 | STL | PIT | L | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1959-06-03 | STL | PIT | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1959-05-27 | STL | SFG | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1959-05-14 | STL | ATL | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2B | 212 | 159 | 447 | 463 | 23 | 109 |
| 3B | 80 | 46 | 53 | 113 | 7 | 11 |
| SS | 471 | 25 | 740 | 1375 | 84 | 284 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | SLN | 2B | 16 | 0 | 29 | 24 | 1 | 4 |
| 1950 | SLN | 3B | 5 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 1 |
| 1951 | SLN | 2B | 12 | 0 | 40 | 32 | 2 | 14 |
| 1951 | SLN | SS | 105 | 0 | 181 | 344 | 19 | 72 |
| 1952 | SLN | 3B | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| 1952 | SLN | SS | 148 | 0 | 253 | 452 | 29 | 104 |
| 1953 | SLN | 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1953 | SLN | SS | 150 | 0 | 257 | 476 | 27 | 90 |
| 1954 | SLN | 2B | 12 | 9 | 27 | 25 | 0 | 8 |
| 1954 | SLN | 3B | 27 | 4 | 9 | 24 | 1 | 3 |
| 1954 | SLN | SS | 66 | 25 | 49 | 102 | 9 | 18 |
| 1955 | SLN | 2B | 10 | 7 | 18 | 20 | 0 | 3 |
| 1955 | SLN | 3B | 43 | 40 | 38 | 70 | 5 | 7 |
| 1955 | SLN | SS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1956 | PHI | 2B | 49 | 43 | 94 | 93 | 5 | 18 |
| 1956 | PHI | 3B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1957 | PHI | 2B | 24 | 21 | 51 | 45 | 2 | 10 |
| 1958 | PHI | 2B | 85 | 78 | 188 | 220 | 13 | 52 |
| 1958 | PHI | 3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1959 | SLN | 2B | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 1959 | SLN | 3B | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Career Games by Position
Circle size = games played at each position.
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Second Base | 211 |
| Third Base | 80 |
| Shortstop | 472 |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 31th | 5.0 | 336 | 0 |
Most Similar Players
Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.
Solly Hemus (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.
Solly Hemus: the record in brief
April 27, 1949 and June 14, 1959 bracket Solly Hemus's time in the majors: the debut and the last game on record. Club by club, the record runs the St. Louis Cardinals (1949 to 1959) and the Philadelphia Phillies (1956 to 1958). Hemus played primarily as a shortstop and threw right-handed and batted left-handed. The bio adds a birth date on April 17, 1923, in Phoenix, AZ, USA and a listed size of 165 pounds on a 5-foot-9 frame. The bio records the death on October 2, 2017, in Houston, TX, USA. Solly Hemus was the playing name; the full given name is Solomon Joseph.
Hemus's career batting table shows 961 games, 2,694 at bats and 736 hits, a .273 average; the totals also include 51 homers, 263 runs batted in, and 21 stolen bases. Reaching base at a .390 clip and slugging .411, Hemus finished with a .801 OPS. Hemus's .273 average ran 5.2% above the .260 that the league posted over the same seasons.
Frequently Asked Questions about Solly Hemus
- What years did Solly Hemus play?
- Solly Hemus played in Major League Baseball from 1949 to 1959.
- Was Solly Hemus a pitcher?
- No. Solly Hemus was a position player (Shortstop).
- How many home runs did Solly Hemus hit?
- Solly Hemus hit 51 career home runs with 736 hits.
- What was Solly Hemus's career batting average?
- Solly Hemus batted .273 over his career, with 736 hits in 2,694 at bats.
- How many RBI did Solly Hemus have?
- Solly Hemus drove in 263 runs in his career.
- Is Solly Hemus in the Hall of Fame?
- No. Solly Hemus has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.