Frank Isbell

First Baseman · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1898-1909)

AVG .250
HR 13
RBI 455
H 1,056
OPS .616
PIV -2,813
Position
First Baseman
Bats / Throws
L / R
Height / Weight
5'11" / 190 lb
Born
8/21/1875 in Delevan, NY, USA
Died
7/15/1941 in Wichita, KS, USA
MLB Debut
1898-05-01
Last Game
1909-10-03

Full name: William Frank Isbell

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Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,119 4,219 501 1,056 158 62 13 455 253 190 352 .250 .289 .326 .616 -2,813

Career AVG .250 vs. league average .254 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .289 vs. league average .312 across their career seasons — 7.2% below league average.

Career SLG .326 vs. league average .327 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OPS .616 vs. league average .639 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

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
1898 CHN NL 45 159 17 37 4 0 0 8 3 3 13 .233 .270 (-14%) .333 (-25%) .347 (-26%) .680 (-25%) -628.2
1901 CHA AL 137 556 93 143 15 8 3 70 52 36 37 .257 .271 (-5%) .326 (-5%) .359 (-8%) .686 (-7%) -561.3
1902 CHA AL 137 515 62 130 14 4 4 59 38 14 28 .252 .266 (-5%) .321 (-14%) .343 (-7%) .665 (-11%) -900.9
1903 CHA AL 138 546 52 132 25 9 2 59 26 12 65 .242 .261 (-8%) .316 (-16%) .345 (-4%) .662 (-10%) -942.7
1904 CHA AL 96 314 27 66 10 3 1 34 19 16 37 .210 .246 (-15%) .300 (-15%) .321 (-16%) .622 (-15%) -693.1
1905 CHA AL 94 341 55 101 21 11 2 45 15 15 28 .296 .248 (+19%) .307 (+9%) .322 (+36%) .629 (+23%) 1144.7
1906 CHA AL 143 549 71 153 18 11 0 57 37 30 34 .279 .247 (+13%) .307 (+5%) .315 (+12%) .622 (+9%) 745.1
1907 CHA AL 125 486 60 118 19 7 0 41 22 22 36 .243 .245 (-1%) .304 (-8%) .308 (+1%) .613 (-3%) -345.8
1908 CHA AL 84 320 31 79 15 3 1 49 18 19 40 .247 .240 (+3%) .298 (avg) .306 (+5%) .605 (+2%) 86.0
1909 CHA AL 120 433 33 97 17 6 0 33 23 23 34 .224 .244 (-8%) .306 (-14%) .312 (-7%) .618 (-10%) -716.2
Career · 10 seasons 1,119 4,219 501 1,056 158 62 13 455 253 190 352 .250 — — — — -2,813

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 Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
4 7 17 9 7 0 1 88.3 92 34 0 43 19 3.46 -1186.3

Career ERA 3.46 vs. league average 3.04 across their career seasons — 14.0% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1898 CHN NL 4 7 13 9 7 0 0 81.0 86 32 42 16 3.56 3.59 (+1%) -1186.3
1901 CHA AL 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.0 2 1 0 0 9.00 — 0.0
1902 CHA AL 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4.0 3 1 1 1 2.25 — 0.0
1906 CHA AL 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2.0 1 0 0 2 0.00 — 0.0
1907 CHA AL 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0.3 0 0 0 0 0.00 — 0.0
Career · 5 seasons 4 7 17 9 7 0 1 88.1 92 34 43 19 3.46 — -1,186

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

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
6 26 4 8 4 0 0 4 0 6 .308

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1906 WS CHA 6 26 4 8 4 0 0 4 0 6 .308

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1139 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home56220482394996241.244
Away56021762655607205.257

Pitching — Home / Away

SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home1054.1481928153.15
Away731.044181545.23

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1909-10-03 CHWDETL 401000001
1909-09-11 CHWSLAL 300000011
1909-09-09 CHWSLAL 300000001
1909-09-08 CHWSLAW 301100100
1909-09-06 CHWCLEW 200000010
1909-09-06 CHWCLEL 200000000
1909-09-05 CHWCLEL 100000000
1909-09-04 CHWSLAL 400000000
1909-09-03 CHWSLAW 312100100
1909-09-02 CHWSLAW 400000001

Last 10 Games — Pitching

DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1907-10-06 CHWCLE SV 0.1000000
1906-10-07 CHWDET — 2.0100020
1902-09-28 CHWSLA — 1.0321110
1901-06-12 CHWBLA — 1.0211000
1898-08-18 CHCBSN L 2.01199110
1898-08-05 CHCBLN L 9.01064740
1898-07-23 CHCCL4 L 8.01042800
1898-07-04 CHCCL4 W 9.01033400
1898-06-30 CHCNY1 W 9.0854510
1898-06-23 CHCBSN L 3.0110100

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 619 225 6663 455 99 337
2B 351 343 758 1023 99 104
3B 23 0 27 58 19 2
C 2 1 4 2 0 0
OF 103 66 146 10 9 1
P 17 0 7 24 6 3
SS 15 3 24 36 10 8

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1898 CHN 2B 3 0 2 8 5 0
1898 CHN 3B 3 0 2 7 3 1
1898 CHN OF 28 0 40 3 2 0
1898 CHN P 13 0 7 19 6 2
1898 CHN SS 2 0 3 6 3 2
1901 CHA 1B 137 0 1387 101 31 79
1901 CHA 2B 2 0 1 2 0 0
1901 CHA 3B 1 0 0 2 1 0
1901 CHA P 1 0 0 1 0 0
1901 CHA SS 1 0 1 1 0 0
1902 CHA 1B 133 0 1401 93 21 97
1902 CHA C 1 0 0 2 0 0
1902 CHA P 1 0 0 3 0 0
1902 CHA SS 4 0 4 7 1 3
1903 CHA 1B 117 0 1180 87 20 57
1903 CHA 2B 2 0 3 3 0 0
1903 CHA 3B 19 0 25 49 15 1
1903 CHA OF 1 0 3 0 0 0
1903 CHA SS 1 0 0 0 0 0
1904 CHA 1B 57 56 599 48 9 22
1904 CHA 2B 27 27 53 80 11 6
1904 CHA OF 5 3 5 0 0 0
1904 CHA SS 4 2 6 17 5 1
1905 CHA 1B 9 7 68 14 1 4
1905 CHA 2B 43 42 76 112 7 18
1905 CHA OF 41 38 65 5 4 1
1905 CHA SS 2 1 10 5 1 2
1906 CHA 2B 132 132 292 363 35 36
1906 CHA C 1 1 4 0 0 0
1906 CHA OF 14 10 17 0 1 0
1906 CHA P 1 0 0 0 0 0
1907 CHA 2B 119 118 276 384 30 41
1907 CHA OF 5 5 9 1 0 0
1907 CHA P 1 0 0 1 0 1
1907 CHA SS 1 0 0 0 0 0
1908 CHA 1B 65 62 824 46 9 30
1908 CHA 2B 18 19 40 58 9 0
1909 CHA 1B 101 100 1204 66 8 48
1909 CHA 2B 5 5 15 13 2 3
1909 CHA OF 9 10 7 1 2 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Pitcher 17
Catcher 2
First Base 618
Second Base 354
Third Base 23
Shortstop 15
Left Field 16
Center Field 32
Right Field 55

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Frank Isbell (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Danny Richardson
    .254 avg, 32 HR
  2. 90
    George Moriarty
    .251 avg, 5 HR
  3. 89
    Wid Conroy
    .248 avg, 22 HR
  4. 87
    Bill Coughlin
    .252 avg, 15 HR
  5. 85
    Frank Taveras
    .255 avg, 2 HR
  6. 83
    Hick Carpenter
    .259 avg, 18 HR

Frequently Asked Questions about Frank Isbell

What years did Frank Isbell play?
Frank Isbell played in Major League Baseball from 1898 to 1909.
Was Frank Isbell a pitcher?
Both. Frank Isbell pitched in 17 games, going 4-7 with a 3.46 ERA, but spent most of his career as a First Baseman.
How many home runs did Frank Isbell hit?
Frank Isbell hit 13 career home runs with 1056 hits.