What years did Ken Johnson play?

Ken Johnson played in Major League Baseball from 1947 to 1952.

Was Ken Johnson a pitcher?

Yes. Ken Johnson pitched in the major leagues, recording 12 wins and 147 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Ken Johnson hit?

Ken Johnson hit 0 career home runs with 19 hits.

What was Ken Johnson's career batting average?

Ken Johnson batted .213 over his career, with 19 hits in 89 at bats.

How many RBI did Ken Johnson have?

Ken Johnson drove in 8 runs in his career.

What was Ken Johnson's career ERA?

Ken Johnson finished with a 4.58 career ERA, going 12-14 with 147 strikeouts.

Ken Johnson

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1947-1952)

Ken Johnson was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1947 to 1952 for the St. Louis Cardinals, the Philadelphia Phillies, and the Detroit Tigers, a span of 6 seasons. Across 74 career appearances, he went 12-14 with a 4.58 ERA and 147 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 October 12, 2026

W–L 12–14

ERA 4.58

WHIP 1.66

SO 147

Pitcher PIV -1933.9

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 6'1" / 185 lb
Born: 1/14/1923 in Topeka, KS, USA
Died: 4/6/2004 in Wichita, KS, USA
MLB Debut: 1947-09-18
Last Game: 1952-07-15

Full name: Kenneth Wandersee Johnson

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Career Pitching Statistics

Ken Johnson — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
12	14	74	34	8	4	0	269.1	251	137	14	195	147	4.58	-1933.9

Career ERA 4.58 vs. league average 4.05 across their career seasons — 13.1% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Ken Johnson — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1947	SLN	NL	1	0	2	1	1	0	10.0	2	0	5	8	0.00	3.97 (+100%)	269.5
1948	SLN	NL	2	4	13	4	0	0	45.1	43	24	30	20	4.76	4.10 (-16%)	-143.0
1949	SLN	NL	0	1	14	2	0	0	33.2	29	24	35	18	6.42	4.12 (-56%)	-922.5
1950	SLN	NL	0	0	2	0	0	0	2.0	1	0	3	1	0.00	—	0.0
1950	PHI	NL	4	1	14	8	3	1	60.2	61	27	43	32	4.01	4.36 (+8%)	16.9
1951	PHI	NL	5	8	20	18	4	3	106.1	103	54	68	58	4.57	4.04 (-13%)	-876.4
1952	DET	AL	0	0	9	1	0	0	11.1	12	8	11	10	6.35	3.70 (-72%)	-278.3
Career · 7 seasons			12	14	74	34	8	4	269.1	251	137	195	147	4.58	—	-1,934

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

Ken Johnson — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
111	89	17	19	3	0	0	8	1	2	23	.213	.231	.247	.478	0

Career AVG .213 vs. league average .261 across their career seasons — 18.3% below league average.

Career OBP .231 vs. league average .338 across their career seasons — 31.8% below league average.

Career SLG .247 vs. league average .382 across their career seasons — 35.4% below league average.

Career OPS .478 vs. league average .721 across their career seasons — 33.7% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Ken Johnson — Season-by-Season Batting
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1947	SLN	NL	2	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	.500	—	—	—	—	0.0
1948	SLN	NL	20	20	2	6	2	1	0	0	7	.300	—	—	—	—	0.0
1949	SLN	NL	21	8	3	2	1	2	0	0	1	.250	—	—	—	—	0.0
1950	SLN	NL	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1950	PHI	NL	21	19	4	3	0	0	0	1	3	.158	—	—	—	—	0.0
1951	PHI	NL	36	35	7	5	0	3	1	1	11	.143	—	—	—	—	0.0
1952	DET	AL	9	3	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	.333	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 7 seasons			111	89	17	19	3	8	1	2	23	.213	—	—	—	—	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.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Ken Johnson — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Ken Johnson — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1950	WS	PHI	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (185 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Ken Johnson — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	63	38	9	7	0	2	.184
Away	48	51	8	12	0	6	.235

Pitching — Home / Away

Ken Johnson — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	40	138.1	127	58	84	75	3.77
Away	34	129.2	123	78	111	73	5.41

Last 10 Games — Batting

Ken Johnson — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	H	RBI
1952-07-15	DET	MIN	L	2	1	2
1952-07-04	DET	CLE	L	0	0	0
1952-06-23	DET	BOS	L	0	0	0
1952-06-22	DET	PHA	L	0	0	0
1952-06-19	DET	NYY	L	1	0	0
1952-06-18	DET	NYY	L	0	0	0
1952-06-08	DET	BOS	L	0	0	0
1952-06-02	DET	MIN	L	0	0	0
1952-05-29	DET	CLE	L	0	0	0
1951-09-26	PHI	NY1	L	0	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Ken Johnson — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1952-07-15	DET	MIN	—	2.0	2	5	4	5	3	0
1952-07-04	DET	CLE	—	1.0	3	3	2	0	2	0
1952-06-23	DET	BOS	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0
1952-06-22	DET	PHA	—	0.1	1	0	0	2	0	0
1952-06-19	DET	NYY	—	3.0	1	1	0	2	3	0
1952-06-18	DET	NYY	—	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0
1952-06-08	DET	BOS	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1952-06-02	DET	MIN	—	1.0	2	1	1	1	0	0
1952-05-29	DET	CLE	—	1.2	3	1	1	1	1	1
1951-09-26	PHI	NY1	L	0.0	1	3	3	2	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Ken Johnson — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	74	0	7	54	3	5

Season-by-Season Fielding

Ken Johnson — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	PO	A	E	DP
1947	SLN	P	2	0	2	0	0
1948	SLN	P	13	0	8	1	0
1949	SLN	P	14	1	13	2	1
1950	SLN	P	2	0	1	0	0
1950	PHI	P	14	1	13	0	0
1951	PHI	P	20	4	15	0	4
1952	DET	P	9	1	2	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Ken Johnson — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Pitcher	74

Ken Johnson: the record in brief

Ken Johnson's major league career runs from a debut on September 18, 1947 to a final game on July 15, 1952. The team column moves through the St. Louis Cardinals (1947 through 1950), the Philadelphia Phillies (1950 to 1951), and the Detroit Tigers (1952). Johnson played primarily as a pitcher and batted and threw left-handed. Born on January 14, 1923, in Topeka, KS, USA, Johnson was listed at 6'1" and 185 pounds. The bio records the death on April 6, 2004, in Wichita, KS, USA. The bio lists the given name Kenneth Wandersee.

Johnson went 12-14 with a 4.58 ERA in 74 games, 34 of them starts. Johnson had 147 strikeouts. Against a 4.05 league ERA for the same seasons, the 4.58 mark was 13.1% worse. Johnson won 5 games in 1951, the most of any season listed. Among the heaviest workloads, the lowest ERA was 4.57 in 1951, when the league's was 4.04.

Frequently Asked Questions about Ken Johnson

What years did Ken Johnson play?: Ken Johnson played in Major League Baseball from 1947 to 1952.
Was Ken Johnson a pitcher?: Yes. Ken Johnson pitched in the major leagues, recording 12 wins and 147 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Ken Johnson hit?: Ken Johnson hit 0 career home runs with 19 hits.
What was Ken Johnson's career batting average?: Ken Johnson batted .213 over his career, with 19 hits in 89 at bats.
How many RBI did Ken Johnson have?: Ken Johnson drove in 8 runs in his career.
What was Ken Johnson's career ERA?: Ken Johnson finished with a 4.58 career ERA, going 12-14 with 147 strikeouts.