What years did Darold Knowles play?

Darold Knowles played in Major League Baseball from 1965 to 1980.

Was Darold Knowles a pitcher?

Yes. Darold Knowles pitched in the major leagues, recording 66 wins and 681 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Darold Knowles hit?

Darold Knowles hit 0 career home runs with 15 hits.

What was Darold Knowles's career batting average?

Darold Knowles batted .120 over his career, with 15 hits in 125 at bats.

How many RBI did Darold Knowles have?

Darold Knowles drove in 11 runs in his career.

What was Darold Knowles's career ERA?

Darold Knowles finished with a 3.12 career ERA, going 66-74 with 681 strikeouts.

Darold Knowles

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1965-1980)

Darold Knowles was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1965 to 1980 for 8 teams, including the Baltimore Orioles, a span of 16 seasons. Across 765 career appearances, he went 66-74 with a 3.12 ERA, 681 strikeouts, and 143 saves. Darold Knowles was an All-Star. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 2746.5.

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 October 12, 2026

W–L 66–74

ERA 3.12

WHIP 1.36

SO 681

Pitcher PIV 2746.5

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 6'0" / 180 lb
Born: 12/9/1941 in Brunswick, MO, USA
MLB Debut: 1965-04-18
Last Game: 1980-04-18
Awards: All-Star

Full name: Darold Duane Knowles

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Career Pitching Statistics

Darold Knowles — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
66	74	765	8	1	1	143	1092.0	1,006	378	65	480	681	3.12	2746.5

Career ERA 3.12 vs. league average 3.62 across their career seasons — 14.0% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Darold Knowles Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1965	BAL	AL	0	1	5	1	0	0	0	14.2	14	15	10	12	9.20	3.50 (-163%)	-665.1
1966	PHI	NL	6	5	69	0	0	0	13	100.1	98	34	46	88	3.05	3.52 (+13%)	1580.0
1967	WS2	AL	6	8	61	1	0	0	14	113.1	91	34	52	85	2.70	3.30 (+18%)	604.6
1968	WS2	AL	1	1	32	0	0	0	4	41.1	38	10	12	37	2.18	2.98 (+27%)	1504.5
1969	WS2	AL	9	2	53	0	0	0	13	84.1	73	21	31	59	2.24	3.61 (+38%)	54.0
1970	WS2	AL	2	14	71	0	0	0	27	119.1	100	27	58	71	2.04	3.89 (+48%)	1354.1
1971	WS2	AL	2	2	12	0	0	0	2	15.1	17	6	6	16	3.52	3.47 (-2%)	90.3
1971	OAK	AL	5	2	43	0	0	0	7	52.2	40	21	16	40	3.59	3.47 (-3%)	950.0
1972	OAK	AL	5	1	54	0	0	0	11	65.2	49	10	37	36	1.37	3.26 (+58%)	121.6
1973	OAK	AL	6	8	52	5	1	1	9	99.0	87	34	49	46	3.09	3.75 (+17%)	-953.6
1974	OAK	AL	3	3	45	1	0	0	3	53.1	61	25	35	18	4.22	3.63 (-16%)	-2426.2
1975	CHN	NL	6	9	58	0	0	0	15	88.1	107	57	36	63	5.81	3.71 (-57%)	1762.8
1976	CHN	NL	5	7	58	0	0	0	9	71.2	61	23	22	39	2.89	3.51 (+18%)	-220.5
1977	TEX	AL	5	2	42	0	0	0	4	50.1	50	18	23	14	3.22	4.00 (+20%)	-563.9
1978	MON	NL	3	3	60	0	0	0	6	72.0	63	19	30	34	2.38	3.69 (+36%)	-191.2
1979	SLN	NL	2	5	48	0	0	0	6	48.2	54	22	17	22	4.07	4.00 (-2%)	-255.0
1980	SLN	NL	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	1.2	3	2	0	1	10.80	—	0.0
Career · 17 seasons			66	74	765	8	1	1	143	1,092.0	1,006	378	480	681	3.12	—	2,746

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

Darold Knowles — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
766	125	2	15	0	1	0	11	0	9	43	.120	.184	.136	.320	0

Career AVG .120 vs. league average .254 across their career seasons — 52.7% below league average.

Career OBP .184 vs. league average .320 across their career seasons — 42.5% below league average.

Career SLG .136 vs. league average .374 across their career seasons — 63.6% below league average.

Career OPS .320 vs. league average .694 across their career seasons — 53.9% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Darold Knowles Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	3B	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1965	BAL	AL	5	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1966	PHI	NL	69	16	0	4	0	2	0	3	.250	—	—	—	—	0.0
1967	WS2	AL	61	16	0	1	0	1	1	6	.062	—	—	—	—	0.0
1968	WS2	AL	32	4	0	1	1	2	0	1	.250	—	—	—	—	0.0
1969	WS2	AL	53	13	1	1	0	2	3	8	.077	—	—	—	—	0.0
1970	WS2	AL	71	20	0	1	0	1	0	9	.050	—	—	—	—	0.0
1971	WS2	AL	12	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1971	OAK	AL	43	8	0	1	0	0	0	0	.125	—	—	—	—	0.0
1972	OAK	AL	54	12	0	3	0	1	1	3	.250	—	—	—	—	0.0
1973	OAK	AL	53	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1974	OAK	AL	45	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1975	CHN	NL	58	15	0	1	0	1	1	8	.067	—	—	—	—	0.0
1976	CHN	NL	58	7	0	1	0	0	3	0	.143	—	—	—	—	0.0
1977	TEX	AL	42	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1978	MON	NL	60	6	1	1	0	0	0	3	.167	—	—	—	—	0.0
1979	SLN	NL	48	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1980	SLN	NL	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 17 seasons			766	125	2	15	1	11	9	43	.120	—	—	—	—	0

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

Darold Knowles — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Darold Knowles — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1973	WS	OAK	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1971	ALCS	OAK	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Darold Knowles — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	0	8	0	2	6.2	5	0	5	5	0.00

Playoff Pitching by Year

Darold Knowles — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1973	WS	OAK	0	0	7	0	2	6.1	4	0	5	5	0.00
1971	ALCS	OAK	0	0	1	0	0	0.1	1	0	0	0	0.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1531 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Darold Knowles — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	391	48	2	5	0	5	.104
Away	375	77	0	10	0	6	.130

Pitching — Home / Away

Darold Knowles — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	390	550.2	501	163	201	353	2.66
Away	375	541.1	505	216	279	328	3.59

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Darold Knowles — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1980-04-18	STL	PIT	L	0.2	3	2	2	0	0	1
1980-04-12	STL	PIT	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0
1979-09-28	STL	NYN	—	1.0	1	1	1	1	1	0
1979-09-24	STL	PHI	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0
1979-09-17	STL	PHI	L	0.2	3	3	1	0	0	0
1979-09-16	STL	WSN	—	0.0	0	2	0	1	0	0
1979-09-11	STL	PIT	—	0.0	1	1	1	0	0	0
1979-09-07	STL	WSN	—	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0
1979-09-05	STL	PIT	—	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0
1979-08-31	STL	SDP	—	0.0	1	0	0	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Darold Knowles — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	765	8	51	276	29	16

Season-by-Season Fielding

Darold Knowles — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1965	BAL	P	5	1	3	3	0	0
1966	PHI	P	69	0	3	28	5	1
1967	WS2	P	61	1	6	28	5	4
1968	WS2	P	32	0	1	8	1	0
1969	WS2	P	53	0	6	12	0	0
1970	WS2	P	71	0	8	25	2	2
1971	WS2	P	12	0	0	2	0	0
1971	OAK	P	43	0	1	15	1	0
1972	OAK	P	54	0	2	26	1	0
1973	OAK	P	52	5	3	27	5	0
1974	OAK	P	45	1	2	12	0	2
1975	CHN	P	58	0	6	26	0	1
1976	CHN	P	58	0	3	23	2	2
1977	TEX	P	42	0	3	14	2	2
1978	MON	P	60	0	2	20	1	2
1979	SLN	P	48	0	2	7	4	0
1980	SLN	P	2	0	0	0	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Darold Knowles Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	765

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Darold Knowles (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Darold Knowles: the record in brief

The profile opens with Darold Knowles's first major league game on April 18, 1965; the last one listed came on April 18, 1980. Club by club, the record runs the Baltimore Orioles (1965), the Philadelphia Phillies (1966), the Washington Senators (1967 through 1971), the Oakland Athletics (1971 to 1974), the Chicago Cubs (1975 through 1976), the Texas Rangers (1977), the Montreal Expos (1978), and the St. Louis Cardinals (1979 through 1980). Knowles played primarily as a pitcher and batted and threw left-handed. Born on December 9, 1941, in Brunswick, MO, USA, Knowles was listed at 6-foot-0 and 180 pounds. On the record, Darold Knowles was born Darold Duane Knowles.

Knowles pitched in 765 games, starting 8, and finished with a 66-74 record and 3.12 ERA. The same table counts 681 strikeouts and 143 saves. That 3.12 ERA compares with a 3.62 league average across the same seasons, 14.0% better. 1969 brought Knowles a season-high 9 wins. 1966 produced Knowles's most strikeouts, 88.

Frequently Asked Questions about Darold Knowles

What years did Darold Knowles play?: Darold Knowles played in Major League Baseball from 1965 to 1980.
Was Darold Knowles a pitcher?: Yes. Darold Knowles pitched in the major leagues, recording 66 wins and 681 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Darold Knowles hit?: Darold Knowles hit 0 career home runs with 15 hits.
What was Darold Knowles's career batting average?: Darold Knowles batted .120 over his career, with 15 hits in 125 at bats.
How many RBI did Darold Knowles have?: Darold Knowles drove in 11 runs in his career.
What was Darold Knowles's career ERA?: Darold Knowles finished with a 3.12 career ERA, going 66-74 with 681 strikeouts.