Johnny Klippstein

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1950-1967)

Johnny Klippstein was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1967 for 8 teams, including the Chicago Cubs, a span of 18 seasons. Across 711 career appearances, he went 101-118 with a 4.24 ERA, 1,158 strikeouts, and 66 saves. He also batted .125 with 5 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 101–118
ERA 4.24
WHIP 1.47
SO 1,158
Pitcher PIV -17528.8
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'1" / 173 lb
Born
10/17/1927 in Washington, DC, USA
Died
10/10/2003 in Elgin, IL, USA
MLB Debut
1950-05-03
Last Game
1967-05-27

Full name: John Calvin Klippstein

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Career Pitching Statistics

Johnny Klippstein — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
101 118 711 161 37 6 66 1967.2 1,915 927 203 978 1,158 4.24 -17528.8

Career ERA 4.24 vs. league average 3.80 across their career seasons — 11.6% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Johnny Klippstein Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1950 CHN NL 2 9 33 11 3 0 1 104.2 112 61 64 51 5.25 4.36 (-20%) -831.2
1951 CHN NL 6 6 35 11 1 1 2 123.2 125 59 53 56 4.29 4.04 (-6%) -50.2
1952 CHN NL 9 14 41 25 7 2 3 202.2 208 100 89 110 4.44 3.70 (-20%) -502.4
1953 CHN NL 10 11 48 19 5 0 6 167.2 169 90 107 113 4.83 4.14 (-17%) -1369.0
1954 CHN NL 4 11 36 21 4 0 1 148.0 155 87 96 69 5.29 3.90 (-36%) -2727.8
1955 CIN NL 9 10 39 14 3 2 0 138.0 120 52 60 68 3.39 4.00 (+15%) -0.1
1956 CIN NL 12 11 37 29 11 0 1 211.0 219 96 82 86 4.09 3.96 (-3%) -2635.6
1957 CIN NL 8 11 46 18 3 1 3 146.0 146 82 68 99 5.05 3.83 (-32%) -875.9
1958 CIN NL 3 2 12 4 0 0 1 33.0 37 18 14 22 4.91 3.86 (-27%) -507.2
1958 LAN NL 3 5 45 0 0 0 9 90.0 81 38 44 73 3.80 3.86 (+2%) -583.4
1959 LAN NL 4 0 28 0 0 0 2 45.2 48 30 33 30 5.91 3.90 (-51%) -2171.2
1960 CLE AL 5 5 49 0 0 0 14 74.1 53 24 35 46 2.91 3.82 (+24%) -602.4
1961 WS2 AL 2 2 42 1 0 0 0 71.2 83 54 43 41 6.78 4.03 (-68%) -3097.8
1962 CIN NL 7 6 40 7 0 0 4 108.2 113 54 64 67 4.47 3.96 (-13%) -2339.9
1963 PHI NL 5 6 49 1 0 0 8 112.0 80 24 46 86 1.93 3.46 (+44%) 2448.9
1964 PHI NL 2 1 11 0 0 0 1 22.1 22 10 8 13 4.03 3.58 (-13%) -1505.3
1964 MIN AL 0 4 33 0 0 0 2 45.2 44 10 20 39 1.97 3.58 (+45%) 190.6
1965 MIN AL 9 3 56 0 0 0 5 76.1 59 19 31 59 2.24 3.50 (+36%) -326.7
1966 MIN AL 1 1 26 0 0 0 3 39.2 35 15 20 26 3.40 3.52 (+3%) -42.1
1967 DET AL 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 6.2 6 4 1 4 5.40 — 0.0
Career · 20 seasons 101 118 711 161 37 6 66 1,967.2 1,915 927 978 1,158 4.24 — -17,529

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

Johnny Klippstein — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
713 502 28 63 8 1 5 29 0 14 190 .125 .152 .175 .328 -1,534

Career AVG .125 vs. league average .255 across their career seasons — 50.8% below league average.

Career OBP .152 vs. league average .324 across their career seasons — 52.9% below league average.

Career SLG .175 vs. league average .385 across their career seasons — 54.5% below league average.

Career OPS .328 vs. league average .709 across their career seasons — 53.8% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Johnny Klippstein 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
1950 CHN NL 35 33 4 11 3 0 1 3 0 0 5 .333 — — — — 0.0
1951 CHN NL 35 37 1 4 0 0 1 4 0 0 12 .108 — — — — 0.0
1952 CHN NL 41 63 3 11 1 1 1 9 0 1 24 .175 .252 (-31%) .326 (-39%) .369 (-27%) .696 (-33%) -336.6
1953 CHN NL 48 58 5 9 2 0 1 4 0 1 20 .155 .264 (-41%) .335 (-50%) .397 (-39%) .733 (-44%) -425.8
1954 CHN NL 36 45 2 6 1 0 0 3 0 0 14 .133 — — — — 0.0
1955 CIN NL 39 31 3 2 1 0 0 1 0 3 15 .065 — — — — 0.0
1956 CIN NL 37 71 4 7 0 0 0 3 0 3 19 .099 .258 (-62%) .331 (-59%) .397 (-75%) .728 (-68%) -771.9
1957 CIN NL 46 41 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 20 .073 — — — — 0.0
1958 CIN NL 12 8 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 .125 — — — — 0.0
1958 LAN NL 45 20 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 .050 — — — — 0.0
1959 LAN NL 28 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .143 — — — — 0.0
1960 CLE AL 49 14 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 .143 — — — — 0.0
1961 WS2 AL 42 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 .143 — — — — 0.0
1962 CIN NL 40 24 2 3 0 0 1 1 0 2 14 .125 — — — — 0.0
1963 PHI NL 49 26 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 .038 — — — — 0.0
1964 PHI NL 11 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 — — — — 0.0
1964 MIN AL 33 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 — — — — 0.0
1965 MIN AL 56 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 .000 — — — — 0.0
1966 MIN AL 26 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 — — — — 0.0
1967 DET AL 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 20 seasons 713 502 28 63 8 1 5 29 0 14 190 .125 — — — — -1,534

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

Johnny Klippstein — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Batting by Year

Johnny Klippstein — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1965 WS MIN 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1959 WS LAN 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

Johnny Klippstein — Playoff Career Pitching
W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
0 0 3 0 0 4.2 3 0 2 5 0.00

Playoff Pitching by Year

Johnny Klippstein — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1965 WS MIN 0 0 2 0 0 2.2 2 0 2 3 0.00
1959 WS LAN 0 0 1 0 0 2.0 1 0 0 2 0.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1424 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Johnny Klippstein — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home3612491429114.116
Away3522531434415.134

Pitching — Home / Away

Johnny Klippstein — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home359998.09884674815704.21
Away352970.09264605005864.27

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Johnny Klippstein — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1967-05-27 DETTEX — 2.2311000
1967-05-14 DETBOS — 0.2111011
1967-05-13 DETBOS — 0.1122100
1967-04-28 DETBAL — 2.0100030
1967-04-16 DETKC1 — 1.0000000
1966-09-05 MINCHW — 2.0322310
1966-09-03 MINNYY — 1.0100010
1966-08-21 MINBOS — 1.1200010
1966-08-14 MINKC1 — 2.0100100
1966-08-08 MINKC1 — 2.0222100

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Johnny Klippstein — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
P 711 95 106 324 15 23

Season-by-Season Fielding

Johnny Klippstein — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1950 CHN P 33 0 7 15 3 3
1951 CHN P 35 0 4 23 0 3
1952 CHN P 41 0 6 43 0 4
1953 CHN P 48 0 5 21 2 1
1954 CHN P 36 21 15 27 0 3
1955 CIN P 39 14 9 23 3 0
1956 CIN P 37 29 10 42 1 3
1957 CIN P 46 18 10 17 0 0
1958 CIN P 12 4 1 2 0 0
1958 LAN P 45 0 7 9 0 1
1959 LAN P 28 0 2 7 2 0
1960 CLE P 49 0 13 9 1 0
1961 WS2 P 42 1 3 14 0 2
1962 CIN P 40 7 3 22 0 1
1963 PHI P 49 1 5 15 0 0
1964 PHI P 11 0 1 7 1 0
1964 MIN P 33 0 1 12 0 2
1965 MIN P 56 0 0 11 2 0
1966 MIN P 26 0 4 4 0 0
1967 DET P 5 0 0 1 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Johnny Klippstein Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 711

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Johnny Klippstein (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Miguel Batista
    102-115, 4.48 ERA
  2. 81
    Jamey Wright
    97-130, 4.81 ERA
  3. 80
    Diego Segui
    92-111, 3.81 ERA
  4. 74
    Darren Oliver
    118-98, 4.51 ERA
  5. 68
    Dan Spillner
    75-89, 4.21 ERA
  6. 68
    Billy Hoeft
    97-101, 3.94 ERA

Johnny Klippstein: the record in brief

Between the debut on May 3, 1950 and the final game on May 27, 1967, Johnny Klippstein built the record summarized on this page. Club by club, the record runs the Chicago Cubs (1950 to 1954), the Cincinnati Redlegs (1955 to 1958), the Los Angeles Dodgers (1958 through 1959), the Cleveland Indians (1960), the Washington Senators (1961), the Cincinnati Reds (1962), the Philadelphia Phillies (1963 to 1964), and the Minnesota Twins (1964 to 1966), among other clubs in the table. At 173 pounds on a 6-foot-1 frame, Klippstein is listed as a pitcher. Klippstein batted and threw right-handed, per the bio block. Klippstein was born on October 17, 1927, in Washington, DC, USA. Klippstein's death is recorded on October 10, 2003, in Elgin, IL, USA. The bio lists the given name John Calvin.

Across 711 games (161 starts), Klippstein recorded 101 wins against 118 losses with a 4.24 ERA. Klippstein had 1,158 strikeouts, 37 complete games, 6 shutouts, and 66 saves.

Frequently Asked Questions about Johnny Klippstein

What years did Johnny Klippstein play?
Johnny Klippstein played in Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1967.
Was Johnny Klippstein a pitcher?
Yes. Johnny Klippstein pitched in the major leagues, recording 101 wins and 1158 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Johnny Klippstein hit?
Johnny Klippstein hit 5 career home runs with 63 hits.
What teams did Johnny Klippstein play for?
Johnny Klippstein played for 8 teams: the Chicago Cubs (1950–1954), the Cincinnati Reds (1955–1958, 1962), the Los Angeles Dodgers (1958–1959), the Cleveland Indians (1960), the Washington Senators (1961), the Philadelphia Phillies (1963–1964), the Minnesota Twins (1964–1966), and the Detroit Tigers (1967).
What were Johnny Klippstein's career stats?
In 711 games, Johnny Klippstein went 101-118 with a 4.24 ERA, 1,158 strikeouts, 1,967.2 innings pitched, and 66 saves. At the plate he had 63 hits and 5 home runs.
What position did Johnny Klippstein play?
Johnny Klippstein played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Johnny Klippstein and how much did he weigh?
Johnny Klippstein was listed at 6 feet 1 inch and 173 pounds.
What was Johnny Klippstein's career ERA?
Johnny Klippstein finished with a 4.24 career ERA, going 101-118 with 1,158 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Johnny Klippstein have?
Johnny Klippstein recorded 1,158 career strikeouts.
Is Johnny Klippstein in the Hall of Fame?
No. Johnny Klippstein has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.