Tim Keefe

Pitcher · Career Stats, Hall of Fame Bio & Records (1880-1893)

Tim Keefe was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1880 to 1893 for 5 teams, including the Troy Trojans, a span of 14 seasons. Across 600 career appearances, he went 342-225 with a 2.63 ERA and 2,564 strikeouts. He also batted .187 with 12 home runs. Tim Keefe was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964 and was a Pitching Triple Crown. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 58199.6.

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

⭐ Hall of Fame 1964
W–L 342–225
ERA 2.63
WHIP 1.12
SO 2,564
Pitcher PIV 58199.6
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
5'10" / 185 lb
Born
1/1/1857 in Cambridge, MA, USA
Died
4/23/1933 in Cambridge, MA, USA
MLB Debut
1880-08-06
Last Game
1893-08-15
Hall of Fame
Inducted 1964 (Veterans)
Awards
Pitching Triple Crown

Full name: Timothy John Keefe

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Pitching Statistics

Tim Keefe — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
342 225 600 594 554 39 2 5049.2 4,438 1,474 75 1,233 2,564 2.63 58199.6

Career ERA 2.63 vs. league average 3.46 across their career seasons — 24.1% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Tim Keefe Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1880 TRN NL 6 6 12 12 12 0 0 105.0 68 10 16 39 0.86 2.37 (+64%) 342.7
1881 TRN NL 18 27 45 45 45 4 0 403.0 434 145 83 103 3.24 2.77 (-17%) -1486.7
1882 TRN NL 17 26 43 42 41 1 0 376.0 367 104 78 111 2.49 2.80 (+11%) -1230.5
1883 NY4 AA 41 27 68 68 68 5 0 619.0 488 166 108 359 2.41 3.22 (+25%) 8415.5
1884 NY4 AA 37 17 58 58 56 4 0 483.0 380 121 71 334 2.25 3.11 (+27%) 7388.3
1885 NY1 NL 32 13 46 46 45 7 0 400.0 300 70 102 227 1.57 3.03 (+48%) 3572.7
1886 NY1 NL 42 20 64 64 62 2 0 535.0 479 152 102 297 2.56 3.37 (+24%) 8874.2
1887 NY1 NL 35 19 56 56 54 2 0 476.2 428 165 108 189 3.12 4.17 (+25%) 8489.0
1888 NY1 NL 35 12 51 51 48 8 0 434.1 317 84 90 335 1.74 2.95 (+41%) 12585.4
1889 NY1 NL 28 13 47 45 39 3 1 364.0 319 136 151 225 3.36 3.93 (+14%) 4439.4
1890 NYP PL 17 11 30 30 23 1 0 229.0 225 86 89 89 3.38 3.88 (+13%) 804.4
1891 NY1 NL 2 5 8 7 4 0 0 55.0 70 32 27 30 5.24 3.52 (-49%) 224.7
1891 PHI NL 3 6 11 10 9 0 1 78.1 82 34 30 34 3.91 3.52 (-11%) 462.2
1892 PHI NL 19 16 39 38 31 2 0 313.1 279 82 98 136 2.36 3.28 (+28%) 4114.8
1893 PHI NL 10 7 22 22 17 0 0 178.0 202 87 80 56 4.40 4.66 (+6%) 1203.4
Career · 15 seasons 342 225 600 594 554 39 2 5,049.2 4,438 1,474 1,233 2,564 2.63 — 58,200

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

Tim Keefe — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
618 2,083 248 390 60 38 12 134 13 175 411 .187 .252 .270 .521 -5,183

Career AVG .187 vs. league average .254 across their career seasons — 26.3% below league average.

Career OBP .252 vs. league average .311 across their career seasons — 19.1% below league average.

Career SLG .270 vs. league average .342 across their career seasons — 21.1% below league average.

Career OPS .521 vs. league average .653 across their career seasons — 20.1% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Tim Keefe 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
1880 TRN NL 12 43 4 10 3 0 0 3 0 1 12 .233 — — — — 0.0
1881 TRN NL 46 152 18 35 7 1 0 19 0 21 26 .230 .260 (-11%) .290 (+12%) .338 (-14%) .628 (-2%) 55.6
1882 TRN NL 53 189 24 43 8 7 1 19 0 17 46 .228 .248 (-8%) .275 (+6%) .329 (+9%) .605 (+7%) 223.6
1883 NY4 AA 70 259 39 57 6 9 0 0 0 14 0 .220 .257 (-14%) .285 (-9%) .345 (-9%) .631 (-9%) -343.9
1884 NY4 AA 62 210 27 50 3 6 3 0 0 18 0 .238 .243 (-2%) .278 (+8%) .327 (+8%) .606 (+8%) 287.6
1885 NY1 NL 47 166 20 27 1 5 0 12 0 13 22 .163 .244 (-33%) .287 (-22%) .325 (-30%) .613 (-26%) -591.8
1886 NY1 NL 64 205 26 35 10 1 1 20 3 17 42 .171 .246 (-31%) .302 (-23%) .331 (-27%) .634 (-25%) -715.4
1887 NY1 NL 56 191 27 42 7 6 2 23 2 20 41 .220 .270 (-19%) .331 (-11%) .373 (-6%) .705 (-9%) -286.9
1888 NY1 NL 51 181 10 23 3 0 2 8 3 4 56 .127 .238 (-47%) .290 (-50%) .319 (-45%) .610 (-47%) -1179.4
1889 NY1 NL 47 149 17 23 5 2 0 8 2 8 40 .154 .263 (-41%) .334 (-41%) .357 (-40%) .691 (-40%) -964.8
1890 NYP PL 30 92 18 10 1 0 2 11 0 13 26 .109 .260 (-58%) .336 (-31%) .351 (-47%) .687 (-39%) -541.2
1891 NY1 NL 8 21 2 2 0 0 0 1 1 3 13 .095 — — — — 0.0
1891 PHI NL 11 29 0 5 0 1 0 1 0 4 16 .172 — — — — 0.0
1892 PHI NL 39 117 6 10 2 0 1 3 1 13 47 .085 .244 (-65%) .316 (-42%) .327 (-61%) .644 (-52%) -866.4
1893 PHI NL 22 79 10 18 4 0 0 6 1 9 24 .228 .279 (-19%) .356 (-14%) .379 (-27%) .735 (-20%) -259.7
Career · 15 seasons 618 2,083 248 390 60 38 12 134 13 175 411 .187 — — — — -5,183

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

Tim Keefe — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
8 20 3 4 1 0 0 0 3 7 .200

Playoff Batting by Year

Tim Keefe — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1889 WS NY1 2 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 1 .500
1888 WS NY1 4 11 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 .091
1884 WS NY4 2 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 .200

Playoff Career Pitching

Tim Keefe — Playoff Career Pitching
W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
4 3 8 7 1 61.0 45 18 14 46 2.66

Playoff Pitching by Year

Tim Keefe — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1889 WS NY1 0 1 2 1 1 11.0 17 10 2 4 8.18
1888 WS NY1 4 0 4 4 0 35.0 18 2 9 30 0.51
1884 WS NY4 0 2 2 2 0 15.0 10 6 3 12 3.60

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Tim Keefe — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
2B 1 0 3 4 2 0
3B 3 0 1 11 1 1
OF 21 0 33 4 5 2
P 600 0 260 1060 166 28

Season-by-Season Fielding

Tim Keefe — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1880 TRN P 12 0 7 22 0 0
1881 TRN OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
1881 TRN P 45 0 23 79 17 5
1882 TRN 3B 3 0 1 11 1 1
1882 TRN OF 8 0 19 2 2 1
1882 TRN P 43 0 32 89 11 4
1883 NY4 2B 1 0 3 4 2 0
1883 NY4 OF 1 0 4 0 0 0
1883 NY4 P 68 0 31 142 23 3
1884 NY4 OF 5 0 8 2 2 1
1884 NY4 P 58 0 18 93 29 2
1885 NY1 OF 2 0 0 0 0 0
1885 NY1 P 46 0 30 80 13 0
1886 NY1 OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
1886 NY1 P 64 0 29 107 15 3
1887 NY1 OF 2 0 1 0 0 0
1887 NY1 P 56 0 17 102 15 1
1888 NY1 OF 1 0 1 0 1 0
1888 NY1 P 51 0 29 79 10 1
1889 NY1 P 47 0 10 78 8 3
1890 NYP P 30 0 15 61 4 2
1891 NY1 P 8 0 3 12 1 1
1891 PHI P 11 0 3 16 1 0
1892 PHI P 39 0 8 68 13 2
1893 PHI P 22 0 5 32 6 1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Tim Keefe Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 600
Second Base 1
Third Base 3
Left Field 2
Center Field 16
Right Field 3

Awards & Honors

Tim Keefe — Awards & Honors
Year Award Notes
1888 Pitching Triple Crown

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Tim Keefe (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Kid Nichols HOF
    362-208, 2.96 ERA
  2. 97
    John Clarkson HOF
    328-178, 2.81 ERA
  3. 96
    Mickey Welch HOF
    307-210, 2.71 ERA
  4. 88
    Old Hoss Radbourn HOF
    310-194, 2.68 ERA
  5. 85
    Tony Mullane
    284-220, 3.05 ERA
  6. 74
    Jim McCormick
    265-214, 2.43 ERA

Compare Tim Keefe

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

vs Cy Young
vs Walter Johnson
vs Pete Alexander
vs Rube Waddell
vs Kid Nichols
vs Ed Walsh

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

Tim Keefe: the record in brief

According to the bio, Tim Keefe debuted on August 6, 1880 and played a final game on August 15, 1893. Club by club, the record runs the Troy Trojans (1880 through 1882), the New York Metropolitans (1883 through 1884), the New York Giants (1885 through 1891), and the Philadelphia Phillies (1891 to 1893). Born on January 1, 1857, in Cambridge, MA, USA, Keefe is listed as a pitcher and threw and hit right-handed. Size on record: 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds. Keefe died on April 23, 1933, in Cambridge, MA, USA. Tim Keefe was the playing name; the full given name is Timothy John.

Keefe went 342-225 with a 2.63 ERA in 600 games, 594 of them starts. Also on Keefe's record: 2,564 strikeouts, 554 complete games, and 39 shutouts. That 2.63 ERA compares with a 3.46 league average across the same seasons, 24.1% better. The best win total was 42, in 1886. The strikeout high was 359 in 1883.

Frequently Asked Questions about Tim Keefe

What years did Tim Keefe play?
Tim Keefe played in Major League Baseball from 1880 to 1893.
Was Tim Keefe a pitcher?
Yes. Tim Keefe pitched in the major leagues, recording 342 wins and 2564 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Tim Keefe hit?
Tim Keefe hit 12 career home runs with 390 hits.
Is Tim Keefe in the Hall of Fame?
Yes. Tim Keefe was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964.
What teams did Tim Keefe play for?
Tim Keefe played for 5 teams: the Troy Trojans (1880–1882), the New York Metropolitans (1883–1884), the New York Giants (1885–1889, 1891), the New York Giants (1890), and the Philadelphia Phillies (1891–1893).
What awards did Tim Keefe win?
Tim Keefe won the pitching Triple Crown (1888).
What were Tim Keefe's career stats?
In 600 games, Tim Keefe went 342-225 with a 2.63 ERA, 2,564 strikeouts, 5,049.2 innings pitched, and 2 saves. At the plate he had 390 hits and 12 home runs.
What position did Tim Keefe play?
Tim Keefe played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Tim Keefe and how much did he weigh?
Tim Keefe was listed at 5 feet 10 inches and 185 pounds.
What was Tim Keefe's career ERA?
Tim Keefe finished with a 2.63 career ERA, going 342-225 with 2,564 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Tim Keefe have?
Tim Keefe recorded 2,564 career strikeouts.