Jesse Jefferson

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1973-1981)

Jesse Jefferson was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1973 to 1981 for 5 teams, including the Baltimore Orioles, a span of 9 seasons. Across 237 career appearances, he went 39-81 with a 4.81 ERA and 522 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 39–81
ERA 4.81
WHIP 1.54
SO 522
Pitcher PIV -21518.3
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'3" / 188 lb
Born
3/3/1949 in Midlothian, VA, USA
Died
9/8/2011 in Midlothian, VA, USA
MLB Debut
1973-06-23
Last Game
1981-09-30

Full name: Jesse Harrison Jefferson

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Career Pitching Statistics

Jesse Jefferson — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
39 81 237 144 25 4 1 1085.2 1,151 580 118 520 522 4.81 -21518.3

Career ERA 4.81 vs. league average 3.76 across their career seasons — 28.0% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Jesse Jefferson Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1973 BAL AL 6 5 18 15 3 0 0 100.2 104 46 46 52 4.11 3.75 (-10%) -2754.4
1974 BAL AL 1 0 20 2 0 0 0 57.1 55 28 38 31 4.40 3.63 (-21%) -446.3
1975 BAL AL 0 2 4 0 0 0 0 7.2 5 2 8 4 2.35 — 0.0
1975 CHA AL 5 9 22 21 1 0 0 107.2 100 61 94 67 5.10 3.71 (-37%) -4400.6
1976 CHA AL 2 5 19 9 0 0 0 62.1 86 59 42 30 8.52 3.51 (-142%) -1726.2
1977 TOR AL 9 17 33 33 8 0 0 217.0 224 104 83 114 4.31 4.00 (-8%) -1236.9
1978 TOR AL 7 16 31 30 9 2 0 211.2 214 103 86 97 4.38 3.69 (-19%) -5092.9
1979 TOR AL 2 10 34 10 2 0 1 116.0 150 71 45 43 5.51 4.00 (-38%) -3867.4
1980 TOR AL 4 13 29 18 2 2 0 121.2 130 74 52 53 5.47 3.84 (-42%) -1986.3
1980 PIT NL 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 6.2 3 1 2 4 1.35 — 0.0
1981 CAL AL 2 4 26 5 0 0 0 77.0 80 31 24 27 3.62 3.58 (-1%) -7.2
Career · 11 seasons 39 81 237 144 25 4 1 1,085.2 1,151 580 520 522 4.81 — -21,518

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

Jesse Jefferson — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
237 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0

Career AVG .000 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Career OBP .000 vs. league average .325 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Career SLG .000 vs. league average .380 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Career OPS .000 vs. league average .706 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Jesse Jefferson 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
1973 BAL AL 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1974 BAL AL 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1975 BAL AL 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1975 CHA AL 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1976 CHA AL 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1977 TOR AL 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1978 TOR AL 31 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1979 TOR AL 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1980 TOR AL 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1980 PIT NL 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 — — — — 0.0
1981 CAL AL 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 11 seasons 237 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 — — — — 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 (474 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Jesse Jefferson — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home12510000.000
Away11200000—

Pitching — Home / Away

Jesse Jefferson — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home125604.25842972712934.42
Away112481.05672832492295.30

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Jesse Jefferson — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1981-09-30 LAACHW — 4.2852131
1981-09-27 LAATOR — 1.0100010
1981-09-24 LAACHW — 1.2200010
1981-09-20 LAATOR — 2.0222200
1981-09-18 LAATOR — 1.0000110
1981-09-15 LAAKCR — 0.2100200
1981-09-13 LAATEX — 0.2000200
1981-09-07 LAAKCR — 5.0732100
1981-09-05 LAACLE — 1.2100120
1981-08-29 LAABAL — 0.1000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Jesse Jefferson — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
P 237 144 70 186 25 14

Season-by-Season Fielding

Jesse Jefferson — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1973 BAL P 18 15 5 20 0 0
1974 BAL P 20 2 3 9 1 1
1975 BAL P 4 0 0 3 0 1
1975 CHA P 22 21 5 18 4 1
1976 CHA P 19 9 3 14 0 2
1977 TOR P 33 33 12 38 8 2
1978 TOR P 31 30 15 31 3 3
1979 TOR P 34 10 10 22 4 1
1980 TOR P 29 18 5 24 2 1
1980 PIT P 1 1 1 1 0 0
1981 CAL P 26 5 11 6 3 2

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Jesse Jefferson Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 237

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Jesse Jefferson (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Rich Gale
    55-56, 4.54 ERA
  2. 97
    Pete Broberg
    41-71, 4.56 ERA
  3. 95
    Bill Champion
    34-50, 4.69 ERA
  4. 93
    Gordon Rhodes
    43-74, 4.85 ERA
  5. 92
    Scott Kamieniecki
    53-59, 4.52 ERA
  6. 92
    Mike Kekich
    39-51, 4.59 ERA

Jesse Jefferson: the record in brief

June 23, 1973 and September 30, 1981 bracket Jesse Jefferson's time in the majors: the debut and the last game on record. The season rows list, in order, the Baltimore Orioles (1973 to 1975), the Chicago White Sox (1975 through 1976), the Toronto Blue Jays (1977 through 1980), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1980), and the California Angels (1981). Jefferson played primarily as a pitcher and both batted and threw right-handed. Born on March 3, 1949, in Midlothian, VA, USA, Jefferson was listed at 6-foot-3 and 188 pounds. The bio records the death on September 8, 2011, in Midlothian, VA, USA. Jesse Jefferson was the playing name; the full given name is Jesse Harrison.

Jefferson went 39-81 with a 4.81 ERA in 237 games, 144 of them starts. Also on Jefferson's record: 522 strikeouts and 25 complete games. The league ERA over Jefferson's seasons was 3.76, so the 4.81 figure ran 28.0% worse than average. The best win total was 9, in 1977. Among the heaviest workloads, the lowest ERA was 4.31 in 1977, when the league's was 4.00.

Frequently Asked Questions about Jesse Jefferson

What years did Jesse Jefferson play?
Jesse Jefferson played in Major League Baseball from 1973 to 1981.
Was Jesse Jefferson a pitcher?
Yes. Jesse Jefferson pitched in the major leagues, recording 39 wins and 522 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Jesse Jefferson hit?
Jesse Jefferson hit 0 career home runs.
What was Jesse Jefferson's career batting average?
Jesse Jefferson batted .000 over his career, with 0 hits in 1 at bats.
What was Jesse Jefferson's career ERA?
Jesse Jefferson finished with a 4.81 career ERA, going 39-81 with 522 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Jesse Jefferson have?
Jesse Jefferson recorded 522 career strikeouts.