What years did Ray Knight play?

Ray Knight played in Major League Baseball from 1974 to 1988.

Was Ray Knight a pitcher?

No. Ray Knight was a position player (Third Baseman).

How many home runs did Ray Knight hit?

Ray Knight hit 84 career home runs with 1,311 hits.

What teams did Ray Knight play for?

Ray Knight played for 5 teams: the Cincinnati Reds (1974, 1977–1981), the Houston Astros (1982–1984), the New York Mets (1984–1986), the Baltimore Orioles (1987), and the Detroit Tigers (1988).

Did Ray Knight win an MVP award?

No. Ray Knight did not win the MVP award.

What awards did Ray Knight win?

Ray Knight won the World Series MVP award (1986). He was selected to 2 All-Star Games.

What were Ray Knight's career stats?

In 1,495 games, Ray Knight had 1,311 hits, 84 home runs, 595 RBI, 490 runs, and 14 stolen bases, with a .271 batting average.

What was Ray Knight's salary?

Ray Knight's last recorded salary was $525,000, in 1988. His highest recorded salary was $645,000, in 1986, and his lowest was $525,000, in 1988. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1988.

What position did Ray Knight play?

Ray Knight played primarily as a third baseman, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Ray Knight and how much did he weigh?

Ray Knight was listed at 6 feet 1 inch and 185 pounds.

How many home runs did Ray Knight hit each season?

Ray Knight's home runs by season: 0 in 1974, 1 in 1977, 1 in 1978, 10 in 1979, 14 in 1980, 6 in 1981, 6 in 1982, 9 in 1983, 3 in 1984, 6 in 1985, 11 in 1986, 14 in 1987, and 3 in 1988. His most in one season was 14, in 1980 and 1987.

What was Ray Knight's career batting average?

Ray Knight batted .271 over his career, with 1,311 hits in 4,829 at bats.

How many RBI did Ray Knight have?

Ray Knight drove in 595 runs in his career.

Ray Knight

Third Baseman · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1974-1988)

Ray Knight was a third baseman who played in Major League Baseball from 1974 to 1988 for 5 teams, including the Cincinnati Reds, a span of 15 seasons. In 1,495 career games, he hit .271 with 1,311 hits, 84 home runs, and 595 RBI. Ray Knight was a 2-time All-Star, a World Series MVP, and a Babe Ruth Award.

AVG (Batting Average):: Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):: Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):: Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):: On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated October 17, 2026

AVG .271

HR 84

RBI 595

H 1,311

OPS .711

PIV -349

Position: Third Baseman
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'1" / 185 lb
Born: 12/28/1952 in Albany, GA, USA
MLB Debut: 1974-09-10
Last Game: 1988-10-02
Awards: 2× All-Star · World Series MVP · Babe Ruth Award

Full name: Charles Ray Knight

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Career Batting Statistics

Ray Knight — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
1,495	4,829	490	1,311	266	27	84	595	14	343	579	.271	.321	.390	.711	-349

Career AVG .271 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .321 vs. league average .325 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .390 vs. league average .389 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OPS .711 vs. league average .714 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Ray Knight 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
1974	CIN	NL	14	11	1	2	1	0	0	2	0	1	2	.182	—	—	—	—	0.0
1977	CIN	NL	80	92	8	24	5	1	1	13	1	9	16	.261	.264 (-1%)	.329 (-2%)	.401 (-8%)	.730 (-5%)	-78.3
1978	CIN	NL	83	65	7	13	3	0	1	4	0	3	13	.200	.257 (-22%)	.323 (-27%)	.378 (-23%)	.702 (-25%)	-259.9
1979	CIN	NL	150	551	64	175	37	4	10	79	4	38	57	.318	.265 (+20%)	.329 (+9%)	.397 (+14%)	.727 (+12%)	1240.8
1980	CIN	NL	162	618	71	163	39	7	14	78	1	36	62	.264	.264 (avg)	.326 (-6%)	.387 (+8%)	.714 (+1%)	-22.1
1981	CIN	NL	106	386	43	100	23	1	6	34	2	33	51	.259	.255 (+1%)	.320 (avg)	.368 (+1%)	.688 (avg)	35.5
1982	HOU	NL	158	609	72	179	36	6	6	70	2	48	58	.294	.261 (+13%)	.324 (+6%)	.388 (+3%)	.712 (+5%)	491.2
1983	HOU	NL	145	507	43	154	36	4	9	70	0	42	62	.304	.260 (+16%)	.324 (+9%)	.389 (+14%)	.714 (+12%)	1097.3
1984	HOU	NL	88	278	15	62	10	0	2	29	0	14	30	.223	.259 (-14%)	.322 (-20%)	.384 (-27%)	.707 (-24%)	-1062.2
1984	NYN	NL	27	93	13	26	4	0	1	6	0	7	13	.280	.259 (+8%)	.322 (+4%)	.384 (-8%)	.707 (-2%)	-1062.2
1985	NYN	NL	90	271	22	59	12	0	6	36	1	13	32	.218	.257 (-15%)	.323 (-22%)	.390 (-16%)	.714 (-19%)	-883.5
1986	NYN	NL	137	486	51	145	24	2	11	76	2	40	63	.298	.257 (+16%)	.325 (+8%)	.395 (+7%)	.720 (+8%)	704.1
1987	BAL	AL	150	563	46	144	24	0	14	65	0	39	90	.256	.262 (-3%)	.331 (-6%)	.415 (-10%)	.746 (-8%)	-754.2
1988	DET	AL	105	299	34	65	12	2	3	33	1	20	30	.217	.254 (-14%)	.317 (-15%)	.377 (-20%)	.695 (-18%)	-843.7
Career · 14 seasons			1,495	4,829	490	1,311	266	27	84	595	14	343	579	.271	—	—	—	—	-1,397

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

Ray Knight — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
15	61	5	17	2	0	1	7	3	9	.279

Playoff Batting by Year

Ray Knight — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1986	NLCS	NYN	6	24	1	4	0	0	2	1	5	.167
1986	WS	NYN	6	23	4	9	1	1	5	2	2	.391
1979	NLCS	CIN	3	14	0	4	1	0	0	0	2	.286

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1495 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Ray Knight — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	748	2350	233	606	39	288	.258
Away	747	2479	257	705	45	307	.284

Last 10 Games — Batting

Ray Knight — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO
1988-10-02	DET	NYY	W	3	1	1	0	0	1	2	0	0
1988-10-01	DET	NYY	W	3	1	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
1988-09-28	DET	CLE	L	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
1988-09-27	DET	CLE	L	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1988-09-25	DET	BAL	W	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1988-09-20	DET	CLE	W	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1988-09-16	DET	BAL	W	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1988-09-14	DET	TOR	L	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1988-09-13	DET	TOR	L	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1988-09-12	DET	TOR	W	4	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Ray Knight — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1B	339	313	2936	174	24	271
2B	23	9	31	28	2	5
3B	1021	894	694	1653	105	144
OF	10	3	8	1	0	0
SS	4	1	0	2	0	1

Season-by-Season Fielding

Ray Knight — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1974	CIN	3B	14	1	2	8	0	0
1977	CIN	2B	17	8	28	23	2	5
1977	CIN	3B	37	1	11	21	2	2
1977	CIN	OF	5	2	6	0	0	0
1977	CIN	SS	3	1	0	2	0	1
1978	CIN	1B	1	0	2	0	0	0
1978	CIN	2B	4	0	1	2	0	0
1978	CIN	3B	60	7	8	38	7	1
1978	CIN	OF	3	1	2	1	0	0
1978	CIN	SS	1	0	0	0	0	0
1979	CIN	3B	149	149	120	262	15	26
1980	CIN	3B	162	161	120	291	13	19
1981	CIN	3B	105	104	69	176	11	18
1982	HOU	1B	96	93	945	55	10	76
1982	HOU	3B	67	65	57	131	7	18
1983	HOU	1B	143	141	1285	73	9	131
1984	HOU	1B	24	21	199	9	0	16
1984	HOU	3B	54	48	37	86	7	6
1984	NYN	1B	3	0	6	1	0	1
1984	NYN	3B	27	27	14	36	2	4
1985	NYN	1B	1	0	2	1	0	0
1985	NYN	2B	2	1	2	3	0	0
1985	NYN	3B	73	67	52	109	7	5
1986	NYN	1B	1	0	6	0	0	0
1986	NYN	3B	132	130	88	204	16	17
1987	BAL	1B	6	5	59	2	1	7
1987	BAL	3B	130	128	110	282	18	28
1988	DET	1B	64	53	432	33	4	40
1988	DET	3B	11	6	6	9	0	0
1988	DET	OF	2	0	0	0	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Ray Knight Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
First Base	339
Second Base	23
Third Base	1021
Shortstop	4
Left Field	9
Right Field	1
Designated Hitter	39

Awards & Honors

Ray Knight — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1987	Player of the Week	Week of 1987-04-11
1986	Babe Ruth Award	3B
1986	TSN Comeback Player of the Year
1986	World Series MVP
1983	Hutch Award

Salary History

Ray Knight's recorded salaries total $2,330,000 over 4 seasons, 1985 to 1988. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Knight's career ran from 1974 to 1988. His seasons before 1985 are not included.

Ray Knight — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1988	DET	AL	$525,000
1987	BAL	AL	$600,000
1986	NYN	NL	$645,000
1985	NYN	NL	$560,000
Total recorded salary (partial)			$2,330,000

Award Voting History

Ray Knight — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1986	Most Valuable Player	NL	14th	9.0	336	0
1982	Most Valuable Player	NL	25th	1.0	336	0
1979	Most Valuable Player	NL	5th	82.0	336	2

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Ray Knight (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Ray Knight: the record in brief

Ray Knight's major league career runs from a debut on September 10, 1974 to a final game on October 2, 1988. Knight played for the Cincinnati Reds (1974 through 1981), the Houston Astros (1982 through 1984), the New York Mets (1984 to 1986), the Baltimore Orioles (1987), and the Detroit Tigers (1988). At 185 pounds on a 6-foot-1 frame, Knight is listed as a third baseman. The bio says Knight batted and threw right-handed. Knight was born on December 28, 1952, in Albany, GA, USA. On the record, Ray Knight was born Charles Ray Knight.

The batting record for Knight: 1,495 games, 1,311 hits in 4,829 at bats, and a .271 average, along with 84 homers and 595 RBI. The on-base percentage is .321 and the slugging percentage .390, for an OPS of .711. Against a .260 league average for those years, Knight's .271 average was near the norm. The home run peak was 14 in 1980 with the Cincinnati Reds. The hits column peaks at 179, in 1982. 1979 brought the most runs batted in, 79.

Frequently Asked Questions about Ray Knight

What years did Ray Knight play?: Ray Knight played in Major League Baseball from 1974 to 1988.
Was Ray Knight a pitcher?: No. Ray Knight was a position player (Third Baseman).
How many home runs did Ray Knight hit?: Ray Knight hit 84 career home runs with 1,311 hits.
What teams did Ray Knight play for?: Ray Knight played for 5 teams: the Cincinnati Reds (1974, 1977–1981), the Houston Astros (1982–1984), the New York Mets (1984–1986), the Baltimore Orioles (1987), and the Detroit Tigers (1988).
Did Ray Knight win an MVP award?: No. Ray Knight did not win the MVP award.
What awards did Ray Knight win?: Ray Knight won the World Series MVP award (1986). He was selected to 2 All-Star Games.
What were Ray Knight's career stats?: In 1,495 games, Ray Knight had 1,311 hits, 84 home runs, 595 RBI, 490 runs, and 14 stolen bases, with a .271 batting average.
How much did Ray Knight earn in his career?: Ray Knight's recorded salaries total $2,330,000 over 4 seasons, 1985 to 1988. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Knight's career ran from 1974 to 1988. His seasons before 1985 are not included.
What was Ray Knight's salary?: Ray Knight's last recorded salary was $525,000, in 1988. His highest recorded salary was $645,000, in 1986, and his lowest was $525,000, in 1988. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1988.
What position did Ray Knight play?: Ray Knight played primarily as a third baseman, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Ray Knight and how much did he weigh?: Ray Knight was listed at 6 feet 1 inch and 185 pounds.
How many home runs did Ray Knight hit each season?: Ray Knight's home runs by season: 0 in 1974, 1 in 1977, 1 in 1978, 10 in 1979, 14 in 1980, 6 in 1981, 6 in 1982, 9 in 1983, 3 in 1984, 6 in 1985, 11 in 1986, 14 in 1987, and 3 in 1988. His most in one season was 14, in 1980 and 1987.
What was Ray Knight's career batting average?: Ray Knight batted .271 over his career, with 1,311 hits in 4,829 at bats.
How many RBI did Ray Knight have?: Ray Knight drove in 595 runs in his career.