Ron Kline

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1952-1970)

Ron Kline was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1952 to 1970 for 9 teams, including the Pittsburgh Pirates, a span of 19 seasons. Across 736 career appearances, he went 114-144 with a 3.75 ERA, 989 strikeouts, and 108 saves. He also batted .092 with 0 home runs.

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 114–144
ERA 3.75
WHIP 1.37
SO 989
Pitcher PIV -11132.6
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'3" / 205 lb
Born
3/9/1932 in Callery, PA, USA
Died
6/22/2002 in Callery, PA, USA
MLB Debut
1952-04-21
Last Game
1970-06-13

Full name: Ronald Lee Kline

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Career Pitching Statistics

Ron Kline — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
114 144 736 203 44 8 108 2078.0 2,113 866 218 731 989 3.75 -11132.6

Career ERA 3.75 vs. league average 3.68 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Ron Kline Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1952 PIT NL 0 7 27 11 0 0 0 78.2 74 48 66 27 5.49 3.70 (-48%) -2444.7
1955 PIT NL 6 13 36 19 2 1 2 136.2 161 63 53 48 4.15 4.00 (-4%) -604.4
1956 PIT NL 14 18 44 39 9 2 2 264.0 263 99 81 125 3.38 3.96 (+15%) 1985.3
1957 PIT NL 9 16 40 31 11 2 0 205.0 214 92 61 88 4.04 3.83 (-5%) -2295.7
1958 PIT NL 13 16 32 32 11 2 0 237.1 220 93 92 109 3.53 3.86 (+9%) -1356.5
1959 PIT NL 11 13 33 29 7 0 0 186.0 186 88 70 91 4.26 3.90 (-9%) -1996.5
1960 SLN NL 4 9 34 17 1 0 1 117.2 133 79 43 54 6.04 3.82 (-58%) -3554.8
1961 LAA AL 3 6 26 12 0 0 1 104.2 119 57 44 70 4.90 4.03 (-22%) -1274.6
1961 DET AL 5 3 10 8 3 1 0 56.1 53 17 17 27 2.72 4.03 (+33%) 1158.7
1962 DET AL 3 6 36 4 0 0 2 77.1 88 37 28 47 4.31 3.96 (-9%) -238.1
1963 WS2 AL 3 8 62 1 0 0 17 93.2 85 29 30 49 2.79 3.46 (+19%) 1319.6
1964 WS2 AL 10 7 61 0 0 0 14 81.1 81 21 21 40 2.32 3.58 (+35%) 974.7
1965 WS2 AL 7 6 74 0 0 0 29 99.1 106 29 32 52 2.63 3.50 (+25%) 217.0
1966 WS2 AL 6 4 63 0 0 0 23 90.1 79 24 17 46 2.39 3.52 (+32%) -693.5
1967 MIN AL 7 1 54 0 0 0 5 71.2 71 30 15 36 3.77 3.30 (-14%) -1280.4
1968 PIT NL 12 5 56 0 0 0 7 112.2 94 21 31 48 1.68 2.98 (+44%) 646.0
1969 PIT NL 1 3 20 0 0 0 3 31.0 37 20 5 15 5.81 3.61 (-61%) 181.9
1969 SFN NL 0 2 7 0 0 0 0 11.0 16 5 6 7 4.09 3.61 (-13%) -121.3
1969 BOS AL 0 1 16 0 0 0 1 17.0 24 9 17 7 4.76 3.61 (-32%) -1755.7
1970 ATL NL 0 0 5 0 0 0 1 6.1 9 5 2 3 7.11 — 0.0
Career · 20 seasons 114 144 736 203 44 8 108 2,078.0 2,113 866 731 989 3.75 — -11,133

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

Ron Kline — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
743 491 14 45 2 1 0 14 1 15 221 .092 .122 .100 .222 -3,126

Career AVG .092 vs. league average .251 across their career seasons — 63.6% below league average.

Career OBP .122 vs. league average .319 across their career seasons — 61.8% below league average.

Career SLG .100 vs. league average .379 across their career seasons — 73.7% below league average.

Career OPS .222 vs. league average .698 across their career seasons — 68.3% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Ron Kline 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
1952 PIT NL 27 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 .000 — — — — 0.0
1955 PIT NL 37 38 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 21 .132 — — — — 0.0
1956 PIT NL 44 79 2 10 0 0 0 3 1 4 26 .127 .258 (-51%) .331 (-50%) .397 (-68%) .728 (-60%) -765.3
1957 PIT NL 40 66 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 24 .061 .257 (-76%) .323 (-77%) .391 (-85%) .715 (-81%) -840.2
1958 PIT NL 33 74 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 4 42 .027 .257 (-90%) .324 (-73%) .394 (-90%) .719 (-82%) -965.2
1959 PIT NL 38 59 4 8 0 0 0 6 0 1 23 .136 .256 (-47%) .323 (-54%) .392 (-65%) .715 (-60%) -555.8
1960 SLN NL 34 35 1 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 13 .143 — — — — 0.0
1961 LAA AL 26 31 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 17 .097 — — — — 0.0
1961 DET AL 10 18 2 3 1 0 0 2 0 0 8 .167 — — — — 0.0
1962 DET AL 36 16 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 .125 — — — — 0.0
1963 WS2 AL 62 11 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 7 .091 — — — — 0.0
1964 WS2 AL 61 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 .167 — — — — 0.0
1965 WS2 AL 74 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 — — — — 0.0
1966 WS2 AL 63 6 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 4 .167 — — — — 0.0
1967 MIN AL 54 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 — — — — 0.0
1968 PIT NL 56 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 .000 — — — — 0.0
1969 PIT NL 20 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 — — — — 0.0
1969 SFN NL 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1969 BOS AL 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1970 ATL NL 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 20 seasons 743 491 14 45 2 1 0 14 1 15 221 .092 — — — — -3,126

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 (1479 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Ron Kline — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home37324752207.089
Away37024492307.094

Pitching — Home / Away

Ron Kline — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home3681067.010854043385313.41
Away3681011.010284623954604.11

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Ron Kline — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1970-06-13 ATLNYN — 1.0100010
1970-06-06 ATLWSN — 1.1211111
1970-05-17 ATLCIN — 1.0333002
1970-05-16 ATLCIN — 2.0211111
1970-05-11 ATLCHC SV 1.0100000
1969-09-28 BOSDET — 3.0511111
1969-09-21 BOSDET — 1.0000210
1969-09-11 BOSBAL — 2.0100200
1969-09-05 BOSTEX — 0.0100000
1969-08-29 BOSMIN — 1.0100010

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Ron Kline — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
3B 1 0 0 0 0 0
P 736 192 147 319 20 24

Season-by-Season Fielding

Ron Kline — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1952 PIT P 27 0 3 8 0 2
1955 PIT 3B 1 0 0 0 0 0
1955 PIT P 36 19 20 30 2 2
1956 PIT P 44 39 17 42 4 3
1957 PIT P 40 31 18 27 1 2
1958 PIT P 32 32 20 40 3 4
1959 PIT P 33 29 15 27 2 1
1960 SLN P 34 17 8 23 0 1
1961 LAA P 26 12 8 21 3 1
1961 DET P 10 8 2 7 0 1
1962 DET P 36 4 13 11 2 2
1963 WS2 P 62 1 3 14 1 2
1964 WS2 P 61 0 2 13 1 1
1965 WS2 P 74 0 3 13 0 1
1966 WS2 P 63 0 6 7 1 0
1967 MIN P 54 0 2 11 0 0
1968 PIT P 56 0 4 15 0 0
1969 PIT P 20 0 1 5 0 0
1969 SFN P 7 0 1 1 0 0
1969 BOS P 16 0 1 4 0 1
1970 ATL P 5 0 0 0 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Ron Kline Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 736
Third Base 1

Award Voting History

Ron Kline — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1965 Most Valuable Player AL 29th 2.0 280 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Ron Kline (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Rick Honeycutt
    109-143, 3.72 ERA
  2. 91
    Dick Drago
    108-117, 3.62 ERA
  3. 84
    Firpo Marberry
    148-88, 3.63 ERA
  4. 84
    Billy Hoeft
    97-101, 3.94 ERA
  5. 84
    Dick Tidrow
    100-94, 3.68 ERA
  6. 83
    Gerry Staley
    134-111, 3.70 ERA

Ron Kline: the record in brief

The profile opens with Ron Kline's first major league game on April 21, 1952; the last one listed came on June 13, 1970. The season rows list, in order, the Pittsburgh Pirates (1952 through 1969), the St. Louis Cardinals (1960), the Los Angeles Angels (1961), the Detroit Tigers (1961 through 1962), the Washington Senators (1963 through 1966), the Minnesota Twins (1967), the San Francisco Giants (1969), and the Boston Red Sox (1969), with further stops in the season rows. At 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, Kline is listed as a pitcher. Kline both batted and threw right-handed, per the bio block. The recorded birth is March 9, 1932, in Callery, PA, USA. Kline died on June 22, 2002, in Callery, PA, USA. The given name on file is Ronald Lee Kline.

The pitching table credits Kline with a 114-144 record and a 3.75 ERA in 736 games. Also on Kline's record: 989 strikeouts, 44 complete games, 8 shutouts, and 108 saves.

Frequently Asked Questions about Ron Kline

What years did Ron Kline play?
Ron Kline played in Major League Baseball from 1952 to 1970.
Was Ron Kline a pitcher?
Yes. Ron Kline pitched in the major leagues, recording 114 wins and 989 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Ron Kline hit?
Ron Kline hit 0 career home runs with 45 hits.
What teams did Ron Kline play for?
Ron Kline played for 9 teams: the Pittsburgh Pirates (1952, 1955–1959, 1968–1969), the St. Louis Cardinals (1960), the Los Angeles Angels (1961), the Detroit Tigers (1961–1962), the Washington Senators (1963–1966), the Minnesota Twins (1967), the San Francisco Giants (1969), the Boston Red Sox (1969), and the Atlanta Braves (1970).
What were Ron Kline's career stats?
In 736 games, Ron Kline went 114-144 with a 3.75 ERA, 989 strikeouts, 2,078.0 innings pitched, and 108 saves. At the plate he had 45 hits and 0 home runs.
What position did Ron Kline play?
Ron Kline played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Ron Kline and how much did he weigh?
Ron Kline was listed at 6 feet 3 inches and 205 pounds.
What was Ron Kline's career ERA?
Ron Kline finished with a 3.75 career ERA, going 114-144 with 989 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Ron Kline have?
Ron Kline recorded 989 career strikeouts.
Is Ron Kline in the Hall of Fame?
No. Ron Kline has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.