What years did Jay Hook play?

Jay Hook played in Major League Baseball from 1957 to 1964.

Was Jay Hook a pitcher?

Yes. Jay Hook pitched in the major leagues, recording 29 wins and 394 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Jay Hook hit?

Jay Hook hit 0 career home runs with 34 hits.

What was Jay Hook's career batting average?

Jay Hook batted .151 over his career, with 34 hits in 225 at bats.

How many RBI did Jay Hook have?

Jay Hook drove in 10 runs in his career.

What was Jay Hook's career ERA?

Jay Hook finished with a 5.23 career ERA, going 29-62 with 394 strikeouts.

Jay Hook

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1957-1964)

Jay Hook was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1957 to 1964 for the Cincinnati Reds and the New York Mets, a span of 8 seasons. Across 160 career appearances, he went 29-62 with a 5.23 ERA and 394 strikeouts. He also batted .151 with 0 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 12, 2026

W–L 29–62

ERA 5.23

WHIP 1.44

SO 394

Pitcher PIV -14744.4

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: L / R
Height / Weight: 6'2" / 182 lb
Born: 11/18/1936 in Waukegan, IL, USA
MLB Debut: 1957-09-03
Last Game: 1964-05-03

Full name: James Wesley Hook

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Career Pitching Statistics

Jay Hook — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
29	62	160	112	30	2	1	752.2	808	437	112	275	394	5.23	-14744.4

Career ERA 5.23 vs. league average 3.79 across their career seasons — 37.7% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Jay Hook Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1957	CIN	NL	0	1	3	2	0	0	0	10.0	6	5	8	6	4.50	3.83 (-17%)	44.2
1958	CIN	NL	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	3.0	3	4	2	5	12.00	—	0.0
1959	CIN	NL	5	5	17	15	4	0	0	79.0	79	45	39	37	5.13	3.90 (-31%)	-2187.1
1960	CIN	NL	11	18	36	33	10	2	0	222.0	222	111	73	103	4.50	3.82 (-18%)	-3614.6
1961	CIN	NL	1	3	22	5	0	0	0	62.2	83	54	22	36	7.76	4.03 (-93%)	-2499.6
1962	NYN	NL	8	19	37	34	13	0	0	213.2	230	115	71	113	4.84	3.96 (-22%)	-3202.4
1963	NYN	NL	4	14	41	20	3	0	1	152.2	168	93	53	89	5.48	3.46 (-59%)	-3285.0
1964	NYN	NL	0	1	3	2	0	0	0	9.2	17	10	7	5	9.31	3.58 (-160%)	0.0
Career · 8 seasons			29	62	160	112	30	2	1	752.2	808	437	275	394	5.23	—	-14,744

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

Jay Hook — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
166	225	16	34	1	0	0	10	0	18	77	.151	.213	.156	.369	-1,052

Career AVG .151 vs. league average .255 across their career seasons — 40.7% below league average.

Career OBP .213 vs. league average .321 across their career seasons — 33.6% below league average.

Career SLG .156 vs. league average .388 across their career seasons — 59.9% below league average.

Career OPS .369 vs. league average .709 across their career seasons — 48.0% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Jay Hook — Season-by-Season Batting
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1957	CIN	NL	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1958	CIN	NL	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1959	CIN	NL	19	24	2	3	0	1	1	9	.125	—	—	—	—	0.0
1960	CIN	NL	36	72	3	6	0	3	7	24	.083	.255 (-67%)	.323 (-49%)	.387 (-79%)	.711 (-65%)	-728.7
1961	CIN	NL	22	15	1	2	0	0	0	5	.133	—	—	—	—	0.0
1962	NYN	NL	41	69	6	14	0	5	8	24	.203	.257 (-21%)	.326 (-12%)	.393 (-48%)	.719 (-32%)	-323.5
1963	NYN	NL	41	38	4	9	1	1	2	13	.237	—	—	—	—	0.0
1964	NYN	NL	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 8 seasons			166	225	16	34	1	10	18	77	.151	—	—	—	—	-1,052

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 (326 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Jay Hook — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	80	110	7	18	0	3	.164
Away	86	115	9	16	0	7	.139

Pitching — Home / Away

Jay Hook — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	78	404.2	426	224	144	203	4.98
Away	82	348.0	382	213	131	192	5.51

Last 10 Games — Batting

Jay Hook — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	SO
1964-05-03	NYN	CIN	L	2	0	0	0
1964-04-28	NYN	STL	L	0	0	0	0
1964-04-26	NYN	PIT	L	1	0	0	1
1963-09-22	NYN	SFG	L	0	0	0	0
1963-09-15	NYN	HOU	L	1	0	1	0
1963-09-08	NYN	CIN	W	2	1	0	1
1963-09-05	NYN	STL	L	0	0	0	0
1963-09-02	NYN	CIN	L	3	0	1	2
1963-08-28	NYN	PIT	L	0	0	0	0
1963-08-25	NYN	CHC	L	2	1	1	1

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Jay Hook — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1964-05-03	NYN	CIN	L	5.2	6	3	3	2	5	0
1964-04-28	NYN	STL	—	0.2	4	4	4	2	0	0
1964-04-26	NYN	PIT	—	3.1	7	3	3	3	0	2
1963-09-22	NYN	SFG	L	1.2	6	5	5	0	1	2
1963-09-15	NYN	HOU	L	7.0	8	4	4	1	2	2
1963-09-08	NYN	CIN	W	7.0	6	2	2	2	2	2
1963-09-05	NYN	STL	—	0.1	1	0	0	0	0	0
1963-09-02	NYN	CIN	L	9.0	4	1	1	1	5	1
1963-08-28	NYN	PIT	—	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0
1963-08-25	NYN	CHC	L	7.0	6	3	2	0	5	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Jay Hook — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	160	112	72	97	8	10

Season-by-Season Fielding

Jay Hook — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1957	CIN	P	3	2	2	1	0	0
1958	CIN	P	1	1	0	0	0	0
1959	CIN	P	17	15	7	8	1	2
1960	CIN	P	36	33	19	30	1	5
1961	CIN	P	22	5	10	4	0	0
1962	NYN	P	37	34	22	31	3	2
1963	NYN	P	41	20	11	20	3	1
1964	NYN	P	3	2	1	3	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Jay Hook — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Pitcher	160

College History

Jay Hook — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
Northwestern University	Evanston	IL	1956, 1957

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Jay Hook (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Jay Hook: the record in brief

Jay Hook played a first major league game on September 3, 1957 and a last one on May 3, 1964. The team column moves through the Cincinnati Redlegs (1957 through 1959), the Cincinnati Reds (1960 to 1961), and the New York Mets (1962 through 1964). Hook, born on November 18, 1936, in Waukegan, IL, USA, is listed as a pitcher and hit left-handed while throwing right-handed. Hook's listed size is 6-foot-2 and 182 pounds. Hook's full given name, per the bio, is James Wesley Hook.

The pitching table credits Hook with a 29-62 record and a 5.23 ERA in 160 games. The same table counts 394 strikeouts and 30 complete games. The league ERA over Hook's seasons was 3.79, so the 5.23 figure ran 37.7% worse than average. 1960 brought Hook a season-high 11 wins. 1962 produced Hook's most strikeouts, 113. 1960 was Hook's sharpest full season, a 4.50 ERA against the league's 3.82.

Frequently Asked Questions about Jay Hook

What years did Jay Hook play?: Jay Hook played in Major League Baseball from 1957 to 1964.
Was Jay Hook a pitcher?: Yes. Jay Hook pitched in the major leagues, recording 29 wins and 394 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Jay Hook hit?: Jay Hook hit 0 career home runs with 34 hits.
What was Jay Hook's career batting average?: Jay Hook batted .151 over his career, with 34 hits in 225 at bats.
How many RBI did Jay Hook have?: Jay Hook drove in 10 runs in his career.
What was Jay Hook's career ERA?: Jay Hook finished with a 5.23 career ERA, going 29-62 with 394 strikeouts.