Steve Kemp

Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1977-1988)

AVG .278
HR 130
RBI 634
H 1,128
OPS .797
PIV 11,015
Position
Outfielder
Bats / Throws
L / L
Height / Weight
6'0" / 195 lb
Born
8/7/1954 in San Angelo, TX, USA
MLB Debut
1977-04-07
Last Game
1988-05-24
Awards
All-Star

Full name: Steven F. Kemp

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Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,168 4,058 581 1,128 179 25 130 634 39 576 605 .278 .367 .431 .797 11,015

Career AVG .278 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — +6.9% above league average.

Career OBP .367 vs. league average .324 across their career seasons — +13.0% above league average.

Career SLG .431 vs. league average .388 across their career seasons — +11.0% above league average.

Career OPS .797 vs. league average .712 across their career seasons — +11.9% above 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
1977 DET AL 151 552 75 142 29 4 18 88 3 71 93 .257 .264 (-3%) .329 (+4%) .401 (+5%) .730 (+5%) 608.2
1978 DET AL 159 582 75 161 18 4 15 79 2 97 87 .277 .257 (+7%) .323 (+17%) .378 (+5%) .702 (+11%) 1665.4
1979 DET AL 134 490 88 156 26 3 26 105 5 68 70 .318 .265 (+20%) .329 (+21%) .397 (+37%) .727 (+29%) 2959.8
1980 DET AL 135 508 88 149 23 3 21 101 5 69 64 .293 .264 (+11%) .326 (+15%) .387 (+22%) .714 (+19%) 2028.9
1981 DET AL 105 372 52 103 18 4 9 49 9 70 48 .277 .255 (+8%) .320 (+22%) .368 (+14%) .688 (+17%) 1437.7
1982 CHA AL 160 580 91 166 23 1 19 98 7 89 83 .286 .261 (+10%) .324 (+17%) .388 (+10%) .712 (+13%) 1918.1
1983 NYA AL 109 373 53 90 17 3 12 49 1 41 37 .241 .260 (-8%) .324 (-2%) .389 (+3%) .714 (avg) 38.2
1984 NYA AL 94 313 37 91 12 1 7 41 4 40 54 .291 .259 (+12%) .322 (+14%) .384 (+5%) .707 (+9%) 627.1
1985 PIT NL 92 236 19 59 13 2 2 21 1 25 54 .250 .257 (-3%) .323 (-2%) .390 (-11%) .714 (-7%) -268.1
1986 PIT NL 13 16 1 3 0 0 1 1 1 4 6 .188 — — — — 0.0
1988 TEX AL 16 36 2 8 0 0 0 2 1 2 9 .222 — — — — 0.0
Career · 11 seasons 1,168 4,058 581 1,128 179 25 130 634 39 576 605 .278 — — — — 11,015

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 (1168 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home591201230556264320.279
Away577204627656666314.277

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1988-05-24 TEXTORL 100000000
1988-05-22 TEXMINL 110000011
1988-05-15 TEXKCRL 000000000
1988-05-11 TEXBALW 100000000
1988-05-08 TEXNYYW 402000100
1988-05-02 TEXBALL 300000012
1988-04-30 TEXNYYL 100000000
1988-04-26 TEXMILW 201000100
1988-04-24 TEXDETW 401000002
1988-04-23 TEXDETL 100000001

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 1 0 1 0 0 0
OF 1004 978 1962 55 37 12

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1977 DET OF 148 147 252 10 5 1
1978 DET OF 157 156 325 11 8 2
1979 DET OF 120 117 229 12 6 2
1980 DET OF 85 84 197 4 1 3
1981 DET OF 92 92 207 4 3 0
1982 CHA OF 154 154 280 6 7 1
1983 NYA OF 101 92 215 5 3 3
1984 NYA OF 75 70 138 2 4 0
1985 PIT OF 63 61 105 1 0 0
1986 PIT OF 4 3 9 0 0 0
1988 TEX 1B 1 0 1 0 0 0
1988 TEX OF 5 2 5 0 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
First Base 1
Left Field 925
Right Field 89
Designated Hitter 92

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1984 Player of the Week Week of 1984-06-01
1980 Player of the Week Week of 1980-09-19

Salary History

Year Team League Salary
1987 NYA AL $1,320,000
1986 NYA AL $1,220,000
1985 NYA AL $1,420,000
Total Career Earnings $3,960,000

College History

School Name City State Years Attended
University of Southern California Los Angeles CA 1973, 1974, 1975

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1981 Most Valuable Player AL 23th 3.0 392 0
1979 Most Valuable Player AL 17th 15.0 392 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Steve Kemp (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Sixto Lezcano
    .271 avg, 148 HR
  2. 88
    Orlando Merced
    .277 avg, 103 HR
  3. 86
    Johnny Grubb
    .278 avg, 99 HR
  4. 85
    Milton Bradley
    .271 avg, 125 HR
  5. 79
    Hoot Evers
    .278 avg, 98 HR
  6. 78
    Bernard Gilkey
    .275 avg, 118 HR

Frequently Asked Questions about Steve Kemp

What years did Steve Kemp play?
Steve Kemp played in Major League Baseball from 1977 to 1988.
Was Steve Kemp a pitcher?
No. Steve Kemp was a position player (Outfielder).
How many home runs did Steve Kemp hit?
Steve Kemp hit 130 career home runs with 1128 hits.