Sam Jones

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1951-1964)

W–L 103–104
ERA 3.63
WHIP 1.36
SO 1,393
Pitcher PIV 12443.5
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'4" / 192 lb
Born
12/14/1925 in Stewartsville, OH, USA
Died
11/5/1971 in Morgantown, WV, USA
MLB Debut
1951-09-22
Last Game
1964-10-03
Awards
2× All-Star

Full name: Samuel Jones

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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
17.0 17.0 3.0 3.0 0 0 0 3.0 0 0 0 .176 .176 .176 .352

Pitching

W L GS CG GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA WHIP
13 16 33 13 10 0 189.0 152 133 31 9 37 42 1.48 1.00

Negro Leagues (season totals). Additive Retrosheet-digitized totals for seasons not already in the logs above; they are not summed into the career line. No team/league breakdown is available, and coverage may be partial.

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Season PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1946 2.0 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
1949 4.0 4.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
Listed seasons · 2 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — —

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching

Season W L GS CG GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA WHIP
1946 1 1 4 1 2 0 26.1 17 11 4 0 8 8 1.37 0.95
1949 0 6 8 1 1 0 37.0 21 36 14 2 9 3 3.40 0.81
Listed seasons · 2 1 7 12 2 3 0 63.1 38 47 18 2 17 11 2.56 0.87

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
103 104 327 225 77 17 9 1669.3 1,437 674 152 840 1,393 3.63 12443.5

Career ERA 3.63 vs. league average 3.86 across their career seasons — 6.0% better 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
1947 CBE NAL 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 8.0 11 3 2 5 3.38 — 0.0
1948 CBE NAL 1 2 4 2 0 0 0 18.0 23 16 16 12 8.00 4.10 (-95%) -326.6
1951 CLE AL 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 8.7 4 2 5 4 2.08 — 0.0
1952 CLE AL 2 3 14 4 0 0 1 36.0 38 29 37 28 7.25 3.70 (-96%) -2444.2
1955 CHN NL 14 20 36 34 12 4 0 241.7 175 110 185 198 4.10 4.00 (-2%) -2324.6
1956 CHN NL 9 14 33 28 8 2 0 188.7 155 82 115 176 3.91 3.96 (+1%) 285.0
1957 SLN NL 12 9 28 27 10 2 0 182.7 164 73 71 154 3.60 3.83 (+6%) 2792.0
1958 SLN NL 14 13 35 35 14 2 0 250.0 204 80 107 225 2.88 3.86 (+25%) 4171.3
1959 SFN NL 21 15 50 35 16 4 4 270.7 232 85 109 209 2.83 3.90 (+28%) 5329.2
1960 SFN NL 18 14 39 35 13 3 0 234.0 200 83 91 190 3.19 3.82 (+16%) 4278.7
1961 SFN NL 8 8 37 17 2 0 1 128.3 134 64 57 105 4.49 4.03 (-11%) 1164.7
1962 DET AL 2 4 30 6 1 0 1 81.3 77 33 35 73 3.65 3.96 (+8%) -629.2
1963 SLN NL 2 0 11 0 0 0 2 11.0 15 11 5 8 9.00 3.46 (-160%) 295.1
1964 BAL AL 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 10.3 5 3 5 6 2.61 3.58 (+27%) -148.0
Career · 14 seasons 103 104 327 225 77 17 9 1,669.1 1,437 674 840 1,393 3.63 — 12,443

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

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
327 533 19 81 7 0 1 30 0 17 167 .152 .178 .171 .349 -3,742

Career AVG .152 vs. league average .257 across their career seasons — 40.8% below league average.

Career OBP .178 vs. league average .327 across their career seasons — 45.4% below league average.

Career SLG .171 vs. league average .386 across their career seasons — 55.8% below league average.

Career OPS .349 vs. league average .712 across their career seasons — 51.0% below 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
1947 CBE NAL 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1948 CBE NAL 4 8 2 3 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 .375 — — — — 0.0
1951 CLE AL 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1952 CLE AL 14 10 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 .100 — — — — 0.0
1955 CHN NL 36 77 2 14 1 0 0 5 0 3 27 .182 .258 (-30%) .332 (-36%) .393 (-51%) .726 (-44%) -538.6
1956 CHN NL 33 57 3 10 0 0 0 1 0 4 19 .175 .258 (-32%) .331 (-31%) .397 (-56%) .728 (-44%) -397.5
1957 SLN NL 28 63 2 10 1 0 0 3 0 1 25 .159 .257 (-38%) .323 (-44%) .391 (-55%) .715 (-50%) -506.5
1958 SLN NL 35 90 2 9 0 0 0 4 0 2 26 .100 .257 (-61%) .324 (-64%) .394 (-75%) .719 (-70%) -1000.9
1959 SFN NL 50 85 3 11 1 0 0 8 0 3 30 .129 .256 (-50%) .323 (-51%) .392 (-64%) .715 (-58%) -792.3
1960 SFN NL 39 80 3 16 2 0 0 5 0 1 20 .200 .255 (-22%) .323 (-36%) .387 (-42%) .711 (-39%) -506.5
1961 SFN NL 37 36 0 5 2 0 0 0 0 1 7 .139 — — — — 0.0
1962 DET AL 30 21 1 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 9 .095 — — — — 0.0
1963 SLN NL 11 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1964 BAL AL 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 14 seasons 327 533 19 81 7 0 1 30 0 17 167 .152 — — — — -3,742

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
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1947 NWS CBE 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
0 1 1 0 0 0.7 4 5 2 1 67.50

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1947 NWS CBE 0 1 1 0 0 0.7 4 5 2 1 67.50

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (728 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home180244747116.193
Away1842921034014.116

Pitching — Home / Away

SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home180952.27793274147583.09
Away184868.07543554386563.68

Last 10 Games — Pitching

DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1964-10-03 BALDET — 1.1000010
1964-09-30 BALTEX — 1.0000100
1964-09-23 BALDET — 1.0000000
1964-09-13 BALKC1 — 1.0111100
1964-09-11 BALKC1 — 3.0200240
1964-09-07 BALKC1 — 1.0000010
1964-09-04 BALLAA — 2.0222101
1963-09-07 STLPIT — 1.2322020
1963-09-04 STLNYN W 0.1000000
1963-09-03 STLPIT — 0.1110000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 327 221 84 219 21 12

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1947 CBE P 1 1 0 3 0 0
1948 CBE P 4 3 0 7 0 0
1951 CLE P 2 0 1 1 0 0
1952 CLE P 14 0 0 4 0 0
1955 CHN P 36 34 14 36 5 0
1956 CHN P 33 28 7 21 4 3
1957 SLN P 28 27 13 27 1 1
1958 SLN P 35 35 14 31 1 3
1959 SFN P 50 35 10 34 3 2
1960 SFN P 39 35 6 34 5 1
1961 SFN P 37 17 7 11 1 1
1962 DET P 30 6 11 8 1 0
1963 SLN P 11 0 1 1 0 0
1964 BAL P 7 0 0 1 0 1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Pitcher 327

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1959 TSN All-Star P
1959 TSN Pitcher of the Year

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1959 Cy Young Award ML 2nd 2.0 16 2
1959 Most Valuable Player NL 5th 130.0 336 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Sam Jones (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Wilson Alvarez
    102-92, 3.96 ERA
  2. 89
    Fred Norman
    104-103, 3.64 ERA
  3. 88
    Carlos Zambrano
    132-91, 3.66 ERA
  4. 85
    Jose DeLeon
    86-119, 3.76 ERA
  5. 84
    Steve Barber
    121-106, 3.36 ERA
  6. 83
    Tony Cloninger
    113-97, 4.07 ERA

Frequently Asked Questions about Sam Jones

What years did Sam Jones play?
Sam Jones played in Major League Baseball from 1951 to 1964.
Was Sam Jones a pitcher?
Yes. Sam Jones pitched in the major leagues, recording 103 wins and 1393 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Sam Jones hit?
Sam Jones hit 1 career home runs with 81 hits.