Monte Irvin

Outfielder · Career Stats, Hall of Fame Bio & Records (1949-1956)

Monte Irvin was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1949 to 1956 for the Newark Eagles, the New York Giants, and the Chicago Cubs, a span of 8 seasons. In 1,055 career games, he hit .306 with 1,091 hits, 140 home runs, and 693 RBI. Monte Irvin was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973 and was a 5-time All-Star. His totals include Negro Leagues seasons, which MLB recognized as major league in 2020. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 15,659.

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

⭐ Hall of Fame 1973
AVG .306
HR 140
RBI 693
H 1,091
OPS .886
PIV 15,659
Position
Outfielder
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'1" / 195 lb
Born
2/25/1919 in Haleburg, AL, USA
Died
1/11/2016 in Houston, TX, USA
MLB Debut
1949-07-08
Last Game
1956-09-30
Hall of Fame
Inducted 1973 (Negro League)
Awards
5× All-Star

Full name: Monford Merrill Irvin

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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

Monte Irvin — Batting
PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1358.0 1191.0 253.0 429.0 63.0 17.0 54.0 215.0 146.0 9.0 31.0 .360 .431 .578 1.009

Career Batting Statistics

Monte Irvin — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,055 3,570 593 1,091 159 46 140 693 54 484 231 .306 .392 .494 .886 15,659

Career AVG .306 vs. league average .262 across their career seasons — +16.7% above league average.

Career OBP .392 vs. league average .334 across their career seasons — +17.3% above league average.

Career SLG .494 vs. league average .379 across their career seasons — +30.3% above league average.

Career OPS .886 vs. league average .713 across their career seasons — +24.2% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Monte Irvin Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1938 NE NN2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1939 NE NN2 32 115 22 33 6 3 3 22 2 14 4 .287 .274 (+5%) .342 (+9%) .393 (+19%) .735 (+15%) 295.2
1940 NE NN2 40 146 32 54 11 4 4 36 3 16 3 .370 .267 (+38%) .335 (+31%) .387 (+50%) .722 (+41%) 1038.7
1941 NE NN2 53 200 47 77 15 2 11 54 7 22 2 .385 .262 (+47%) .332 (+35%) .373 (+73%) .705 (+55%) 1878.1
1942 NE NN2 5 22 7 11 3 1 1 10 1 1 0 .500 — — — — 0.0
1943 NE NN2 1 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 — — — — 0.0
1945 NE NN2 2 9 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .111 — — — — 0.0
1946 NE NN2 57 217 52 80 17 2 6 54 2 28 1 .369 .256 (+44%) .328 (+35%) .358 (+53%) .687 (+44%) 1667.2
1947 NE NN2 57 206 41 62 6 1 11 47 6 32 1 .301 .262 (+15%) .336 (+18%) .376 (+33%) .712 (+26%) 998.5
1948 NE NN2 43 151 25 41 4 2 5 27 5 20 0 .272 .263 (+3%) .340 (+6%) .379 (+12%) .719 (+9%) 251.0
1949 NY1 NL 36 76 7 17 3 2 0 7 0 17 11 .224 .262 (-15%) .343 (+6%) .384 (-18%) .727 (-6%) -42.5
1950 NY1 NL 110 374 61 112 19 5 15 66 3 52 41 .299 .265 (+13%) .346 (+13%) .401 (+24%) .747 (+19%) 1466.2
1951 NY1 NL 151 558 94 174 19 11 24 121 12 89 44 .312 .260 (+20%) .336 (+23%) .385 (+33%) .721 (+29%) 3544.0
1952 NY1 NL 46 126 10 39 2 1 4 21 0 10 11 .310 .252 (+23%) .326 (+12%) .369 (+18%) .696 (+15%) 319.1
1953 NY1 NL 124 444 72 146 21 5 21 97 2 55 34 .329 .264 (+24%) .335 (+21%) .397 (+36%) .733 (+29%) 2651.1
1954 NY1 NL 135 432 62 113 13 3 19 64 7 70 23 .262 .261 (avg) .333 (+9%) .390 (+12%) .723 (+11%) 1071.3
1955 NY1 NL 51 150 16 38 7 1 1 17 3 17 15 .253 .258 (-2%) .332 (+2%) .393 (-15%) .726 (-8%) -157.1
1956 CHN NL 111 339 44 92 13 3 15 50 1 41 41 .271 .258 (+5%) .331 (+5%) .397 (+16%) .728 (+11%) 678.4
Career · 18 seasons 1,055 3,570 593 1,091 159 46 140 693 54 484 231 .306 — — — — 15,659

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

Monte Irvin — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
21 71 14 28 3 1 3 13 9 5 .394

Playoff Batting by Year

Monte Irvin — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1954 WS NY1 4 9 1 2 1 0 0 2 0 3 .222
1951 WS NY1 6 24 3 11 0 1 0 2 2 1 .458
1946 NWS NE 7 26 10 12 2 0 3 8 4 1 .462
1939 NLP1 NE 4 12 0 3 0 0 0 1 3 0 .250

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1043 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Monte Irvin — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home554180829957871307.320
Away489167727450471318.301

Last 10 Games — Batting

Monte Irvin — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1956-09-30 CHCCINL 000000010
1956-09-29 CHCCINL 400000000
1956-09-26 CHCSTLW 100000000
1956-09-25 CHCSTLL 100000000
1956-09-23 CHCATLL 100000000
1956-09-21 CHCATLL 412001200
1956-09-19 CHCNY1L 310000010
1956-09-19 CHCNY1L 301000010
1956-09-18 CHCNY1L 100000000
1956-09-18 CHCNY1W 100000001

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Monte Irvin — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 108 2 872 102 20 115
2B 20 19 47 60 8 8
3B 41 30 20 54 10 2
OF 730 384 1490 56 30 7
SS 106 96 192 259 33 43

Season-by-Season Fielding

Monte Irvin — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1938 NE SS 1 0 0 2 0 0
1939 NE 1B 2 0 5 0 0 0
1939 NE 3B 23 22 9 26 6 1
1939 NE OF 9 9 17 2 0 0
1940 NE 2B 3 3 9 15 2 0
1940 NE 3B 5 4 3 8 0 0
1940 NE OF 23 23 53 0 2 0
1940 NE SS 10 10 15 23 4 3
1941 NE 3B 3 2 2 5 1 0
1941 NE OF 13 13 24 1 0 0
1941 NE SS 38 38 84 99 13 17
1942 NE OF 5 5 18 1 0 1
1943 NE OF 1 1 2 0 0 0
1945 NE 2B 1 1 4 3 0 1
1945 NE OF 1 1 0 2 0 0
1946 NE OF 27 23 34 1 3 0
1946 NE SS 36 33 61 86 13 16
1947 NE 2B 16 15 34 42 6 7
1947 NE OF 27 26 49 1 1 0
1947 NE SS 21 15 32 49 3 7
1948 NE 1B 2 2 18 1 1 1
1948 NE 3B 3 2 4 3 1 0
1948 NE OF 39 38 60 3 2 0
1949 NY1 1B 5 0 40 3 0 5
1949 NY1 3B 5 0 1 11 1 1
1949 NY1 OF 10 0 15 3 0 0
1950 NY1 1B 59 0 459 48 11 62
1950 NY1 3B 1 0 1 1 0 0
1950 NY1 OF 49 0 109 2 1 0
1951 NY1 1B 39 0 348 50 8 47
1951 NY1 OF 112 0 237 10 1 1
1952 NY1 OF 32 0 44 3 0 1
1953 NY1 OF 113 0 244 10 7 4
1954 NY1 1B 1 0 2 0 0 0
1954 NY1 3B 1 0 0 0 1 0
1954 NY1 OF 128 118 274 7 7 0
1955 NY1 OF 45 39 94 4 4 0
1956 CHN OF 96 88 216 6 2 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Monte Irvin Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
First Base 108
Second Base 20
Third Base 42
Shortstop 106
Left Field 546
Center Field 68
Right Field 127

Award Voting History

Monte Irvin — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1953 Most Valuable Player NL 15th 11.0 336 0
1952 Most Valuable Player NL 31th 5.0 336 0
1951 Most Valuable Player NL 3rd 166.0 336 5

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Monte Irvin (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Rusty Greer
    .305 avg, 119 HR
  2. 96
    George Selkirk
    .290 avg, 108 HR
  3. 87
    Bob Nieman
    .295 avg, 125 HR
  4. 85
    George Harper
    .303 avg, 91 HR
  5. 82
    Branch Russell
    .309 avg, 57 HR
  6. 81
    Gavvy Cravath
    .287 avg, 119 HR

Compare Monte Irvin

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Irvin's closest peers by position and era.

vs Ted Williams
vs Stan Musial
vs Willie Mays
vs Mickey Mantle
vs Frank Robinson
vs Harmon Killebrew

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

Monte Irvin: the record in brief

Monte Irvin's season table begins in 1938 with Negro Leagues seasons, which MLB now counts as major league; the bio gives the date of the MLB debut as July 8, 1949, and the final game as September 30, 1956. Irvin played for the Newark Eagles (1938 through 1948), the New York Giants (1949 to 1955), and the Chicago Cubs (1956). Irvin, born on February 25, 1919, in Haleburg, AL, USA, is listed as an outfielder and both batted and threw right-handed. Irvin's listed size is 195 pounds on a 6-foot-1 frame. Irvin's death is recorded on January 11, 2016, in Houston, TX, USA. The given name on file is Monford Merrill Irvin.

In 1,055 games and 3,570 at bats, Irvin batted .306 with 1,091 hits; the totals also include 140 homers, 693 RBI, and 54 stolen bases. The on-base percentage is .392 and the slugging percentage .494, for an OPS of .886. Set against a .262 league average for the same years, Irvin's .306 average sits 16.7% above it.

Frequently Asked Questions about Monte Irvin

What years did Monte Irvin play?
Monte Irvin played in Major League Baseball from 1949 to 1956.
Was Monte Irvin a pitcher?
No. Monte Irvin was a position player (Outfielder).
How many home runs did Monte Irvin hit?
Monte Irvin hit 140 career home runs with 1091 hits.
Is Monte Irvin in the Hall of Fame?
Yes. Monte Irvin was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973.
What was Monte Irvin's career batting average?
Monte Irvin batted .306 over his career, with 1,091 hits in 3,570 at bats.
How many RBI did Monte Irvin have?
Monte Irvin drove in 693 runs in his career.