Johnny Hetki

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1945-1954)

Johnny Hetki was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1945 to 1954 for the Cincinnati Reds, the St. Louis Browns, and the Pittsburgh Pirates, a span of 10 seasons. Across 214 career appearances, he went 18-26 with a 4.39 ERA and 175 strikeouts.

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

W–L 18–26
ERA 4.39
WHIP 1.41
SO 175
Pitcher PIV -1428.5
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'1" / 202 lb
Born
5/12/1922 in Leavenworth, KS, USA
Died
1/10/2019 in Parma, OH, USA
MLB Debut
1945-09-14
Last Game
1954-09-22

Full name: John Edward Hetki

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Career Pitching Statistics

Johnny Hetki — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
18 26 214 23 8 0 13 525.1 557 256 42 185 175 4.39 -1428.5

Career ERA 4.39 vs. league average 3.92 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.

Johnny Hetki Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1945 CIN NL 1 2 5 2 2 0 0 32.2 28 13 11 9 3.58 3.67 (+2%) 76.2
1946 CIN NL 6 6 32 11 4 0 1 126.1 121 42 31 41 2.99 3.59 (+17%) 1898.2
1947 CIN NL 3 4 37 5 2 0 0 96.0 110 62 48 33 5.81 3.97 (-46%) -1238.6
1948 CIN NL 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 6.2 8 7 3 3 9.45 — 0.0
1950 CIN NL 1 2 22 1 0 0 0 53.0 53 30 27 21 5.09 4.36 (-17%) -1773.5
1952 SLA AL 0 1 3 1 0 0 0 9.1 15 4 2 4 3.86 3.70 (-4%) 0.0
1953 PIT NL 3 6 54 2 0 0 3 118.1 120 52 33 37 3.95 4.14 (+4%) 973.4
1954 PIT NL 4 4 58 1 0 0 9 83.0 102 46 30 27 4.99 3.90 (-28%) -1364.1
Career · 8 seasons 18 26 214 23 8 0 13 525.1 557 256 185 175 4.39 — -1,428

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 Hetki — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
214 115 8 27 2 2 0 6 0 7 7 .235 .279 .287 .566 0

Career AVG .235 vs. league average .261 across their career seasons — 10.0% below league average.

Career OBP .279 vs. league average .334 across their career seasons — 16.7% below league average.

Career SLG .287 vs. league average .378 across their career seasons — 24.0% below league average.

Career OPS .566 vs. league average .712 across their career seasons — 20.6% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Johnny Hetki — Season-by-Season Batting
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1945 CIN NL 5 11 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .091 — — — — 0.0
1946 CIN NL 32 33 4 11 1 0 0 3 0 1 3 .333 — — — — 0.0
1947 CIN NL 37 27 1 6 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 .222 — — — — 0.0
1948 CIN NL 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1950 CIN NL 22 9 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .222 — — — — 0.0
1952 SLA AL 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1953 PIT NL 54 24 2 5 1 2 0 2 0 1 1 .208 — — — — 0.0
1954 PIT NL 58 9 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .222 — — — — 0.0
Career · 8 seasons 214 115 8 27 2 2 0 6 0 7 7 .235 — — — — 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.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (428 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Johnny Hetki — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home1155711303.228
Away995871403.241

Pitching — Home / Away

Johnny Hetki — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home115290.1299129103974.00
Away99233.025411985774.60

Last 10 Games — Batting

Johnny Hetki — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1954-09-22 PITPHIL 000000000
1954-09-12 PITCINL 201000000
1954-09-10 PITSTLW 000000000
1954-09-05 PITPHIL 000000000
1954-09-03 PITPHIL 000000000
1954-09-01 PITATLL 000000000
1954-08-31 PITCHCL 000000000
1954-08-29 PITCHCL 200000000
1954-08-22 PITNY1L 000000000
1954-08-20 PITNY1L 000000000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Johnny Hetki — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1954-09-22 PITPHI — 1.0000010
1954-09-12 PITCIN — 5.0300010
1954-09-10 PITSTL W 1.0000000
1954-09-05 PITPHI — 2.0543201
1954-09-03 PITPHI — 1.0220000
1954-09-01 PITATL — 1.0100000
1954-08-31 PITCHC — 1.0000000
1954-08-29 PITCHC L 6.0844031
1954-08-22 PITNY1 — 0.0000200
1954-08-20 PITNY1 — 1.0100000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Johnny Hetki — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
P 214 1 25 93 1 2

Season-by-Season Fielding

Johnny Hetki — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1945 CIN P 5 0 2 9 0 0
1946 CIN P 32 0 6 24 1 0
1947 CIN P 37 0 3 19 0 0
1948 CIN P 3 0 0 0 0 0
1950 CIN P 22 0 1 8 0 1
1952 SLA P 3 0 1 2 0 0
1953 PIT P 54 0 9 20 0 1
1954 PIT P 58 1 3 11 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Johnny Hetki — Career Games by Position
Position Games
Pitcher 214

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

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

  1. 98
    Jackie Collum
    32-28, 4.15 ERA
  2. 96
    Andy Hansen
    23-30, 4.22 ERA
  3. 95
    Clyde King
    32-25, 4.14 ERA
  4. 94
    Rube Ehrhardt
    22-34, 4.15 ERA
  5. 93
    Xavier Rescigno
    19-22, 4.13 ERA
  6. 90
    Glenn Spencer
    23-31, 4.53 ERA

Johnny Hetki: the record in brief

Johnny Hetki played a first major league game on September 14, 1945 and a last one on September 22, 1954. The season rows list, in order, the Cincinnati Reds (1945 through 1950), the St. Louis Browns (1952), and the Pittsburgh Pirates (1953 to 1954). Listed as a pitcher, Hetki batted and threw right-handed. Height and weight on file: 6 feet, 1 inch and 202 pounds. Hetki was born on May 12, 1922, in Leavenworth, KS, USA. The bio records the death on January 10, 2019, in Parma, OH, USA. On the record, Johnny Hetki was born John Edward Hetki.

Hetki went 18-26 with a 4.39 ERA in 214 games, 23 of them starts. The totals include 175 strikeouts and 13 saves. The league ERA over Hetki's seasons was 3.92, so the 4.39 figure ran 11.9% worse than average. The best win total was 6, in 1946. Among the heaviest workloads, the lowest ERA was 2.99 in 1946, when the league's was 3.59.

Frequently Asked Questions about Johnny Hetki

What years did Johnny Hetki play?
Johnny Hetki played in Major League Baseball from 1945 to 1954.
Was Johnny Hetki a pitcher?
Yes. Johnny Hetki pitched in the major leagues, recording 18 wins and 175 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Johnny Hetki hit?
Johnny Hetki hit 0 career home runs with 27 hits.
What teams did Johnny Hetki play for?
Johnny Hetki played for 3 teams: the Cincinnati Reds (1945–1948, 1950), the St. Louis Browns (1952), and the Pittsburgh Pirates (1953–1954).
What were Johnny Hetki's career stats?
In 214 games, Johnny Hetki went 18-26 with a 4.39 ERA, 175 strikeouts, 525.1 innings pitched, and 13 saves.
What position did Johnny Hetki play?
Johnny Hetki played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Johnny Hetki and how much did he weigh?
Johnny Hetki was listed at 6 feet 1 inch and 202 pounds.
What was Johnny Hetki's career ERA?
Johnny Hetki finished with a 4.39 career ERA, going 18-26 with 175 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Johnny Hetki have?
Johnny Hetki recorded 175 career strikeouts.
Is Johnny Hetki in the Hall of Fame?
No. Johnny Hetki has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.