Max Lanier

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1938-1953)

W–L 108–82
ERA 3.01
WHIP 1.30
SO 821
Pitcher PIV 23059.9
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / L
Height / Weight
5'11" / 180 lb
Born
8/18/1915 in Denton, NC, USA
Died
1/30/2007 in Lecanto, FL, USA
MLB Debut
1938-04-20
Last Game
1953-07-04
Awards
2× All-Star

Full name: Hubert Max Lanier

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Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
108 82 327 204 91 21 17 1619.3 1,490 541 65 611 821 3.01 23059.9

Career ERA 3.01 vs. league average 3.92 across their career seasons — 23.3% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1938 SLN NL 0 3 18 3 1 0 0 45.0 57 21 28 14 4.20 4.35 (+3%) -463.5
1939 SLN NL 2 1 7 6 2 0 0 37.7 29 10 13 14 2.39 4.28 (+44%) 801.1
1940 SLN NL 9 6 35 11 4 2 3 105.0 113 39 38 49 3.34 4.21 (+21%) 2430.0
1941 SLN NL 10 8 35 18 8 2 3 153.0 126 48 59 93 2.82 3.94 (+28%) 3283.0
1942 SLN NL 13 8 34 20 8 2 2 161.0 137 53 60 93 2.96 3.57 (+17%) 2784.6
1943 SLN NL 15 7 32 25 14 2 3 213.3 195 45 75 123 1.90 3.50 (+46%) 4123.1
1944 SLN NL 17 12 33 30 16 5 0 224.3 192 66 71 141 2.65 3.57 (+26%) 5140.5
1945 SLN NL 2 2 4 3 3 0 0 26.0 22 5 8 16 1.73 3.67 (+53%) 821.9
1946 SLN NL 6 0 6 6 6 2 0 56.0 45 12 19 36 1.93 3.59 (+46%) 1398.1
1949 SLN NL 5 4 15 15 4 1 0 92.0 92 39 35 37 3.82 4.12 (+7%) 1321.7
1950 SLN NL 11 9 27 27 10 2 0 181.3 173 63 68 89 3.13 4.36 (+28%) 3216.8
1951 SLN NL 11 9 31 23 9 2 1 160.0 149 58 50 59 3.26 4.04 (+19%) 845.6
1952 NY1 NL 7 12 37 16 6 1 5 137.0 124 60 65 47 3.94 3.70 (-6%) -1831.3
1953 NY1 NL 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 5.3 8 4 3 2 6.75 — 0.0
1953 SLA AL 0 1 10 1 0 0 0 22.3 28 18 19 8 7.25 4.14 (-75%) -811.7
Career · 15 seasons 108 82 327 204 91 21 17 1,619.1 1,490 541 611 821 3.01 — 23,060

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

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
328 535 46 99 4 1 0 27 0 23 45 .185 .219 .196 .415 -2,433

Career AVG .185 vs. league average .262 across their career seasons — 29.5% below league average.

Career OBP .219 vs. league average .334 across their career seasons — 34.4% below league average.

Career SLG .196 vs. league average .374 across their career seasons — 47.6% below league average.

Career OPS .415 vs. league average .708 across their career seasons — 41.4% below 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
1938 SLN NL 18 10 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .100 — — — — 0.0
1939 SLN NL 7 14 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .286 — — — — 0.0
1940 SLN NL 35 30 3 6 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 .200 — — — — 0.0
1941 SLN NL 35 52 3 10 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 .192 .262 (-27%) .332 (-38%) .373 (-48%) .705 (-43%) -352.3
1942 SLN NL 34 47 6 12 0 0 0 4 0 5 5 .255 — — — — -77.4
1943 SLN NL 32 73 8 12 0 0 0 5 0 1 5 .164 .255 (-36%) .324 (-46%) .346 (-53%) .671 (-49%) -542.7
1944 SLN NL 33 77 11 14 1 0 0 2 0 4 2 .182 .261 (-30%) .325 (-32%) .357 (-46%) .683 (-39%) -454.3
1945 SLN NL 4 11 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .182 — — — — 0.0
1946 SLN NL 6 25 1 5 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 .200 — — — — 0.0
1949 SLN NL 15 27 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 3 1 .074 — — — — 0.0
1950 SLN NL 27 68 5 11 1 1 0 10 0 3 10 .162 .265 (-39%) .346 (-43%) .401 (-49%) .747 (-46%) -531.2
1951 SLN NL 31 53 2 8 0 0 0 1 0 1 5 .151 .260 (-42%) .336 (-50%) .385 (-61%) .721 (-56%) -475.2
1952 NY1 NL 38 41 4 11 2 0 0 2 0 1 4 .268 — — — — 0.0
1953 NY1 NL 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1953 SLA AL 10 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .167 — — — — 0.0
Career · 15 seasons 328 535 46 99 4 1 0 27 0 23 45 .185 — — — — -2,433

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

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
7 9 0 4 0 0 0 3 0 0 .444

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1944 WS SLN 2 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 .500
1943 WS SLN 3 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .250
1942 WS SLN 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1.000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
2 1 7 4 0 31.7 24 6 12 25 1.71

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1944 WS SLN 1 0 2 2 0 12.3 8 3 8 11 2.19
1943 WS SLN 0 1 3 2 0 15.3 13 3 3 13 1.76
1942 WS SLN 1 0 2 0 0 4.0 3 0 1 1 0.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (655 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home1762482250016.202
Away1522872449011.171

Pitching — Home / Away

SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home175836.07592582804662.78
Away152782.27292773303543.19

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1953-07-04 SLACHWL 000000000
1953-07-01 SLACHWL 100000000
1953-06-24 SLAMINW 000000000
1953-06-17 SLANYYL 100000000
1953-06-13 SLAPHAL 000000000
1953-06-11 SLABOSL 000000000
1953-06-10 SLABOSL 100000000
1953-06-05 SLANYYL 201000000
1953-06-02 SLAMINW 000000000
1953-05-29 SLADETW 100000001

Last 10 Games — Pitching

DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1953-07-04 SLACHW — 0.2244201
1953-07-01 SLACHW — 2.0300000
1953-06-24 SLAMIN — 2.0322220
1953-06-17 SLANYY — 3.0422400
1953-06-13 SLAPHA — 2.0333201
1953-06-11 SLABOS — 1.0000010
1953-06-10 SLABOS L 2.2566210
1953-06-05 SLANYY — 4.2300440
1953-06-02 SLAMIN — 1.0100200
1953-05-29 SLADET — 3.1411100

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 327 0 78 324 17 25

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1938 SLN P 18 0 3 9 2 1
1939 SLN P 7 0 1 6 0 0
1940 SLN P 35 0 5 26 3 1
1941 SLN P 35 0 10 37 0 2
1942 SLN P 34 0 5 38 2 1
1943 SLN P 32 0 8 43 1 2
1944 SLN P 33 0 8 39 3 3
1945 SLN P 4 0 0 4 0 0
1946 SLN P 6 0 1 10 0 1
1949 SLN P 15 0 2 12 0 2
1950 SLN P 27 0 12 31 1 2
1951 SLN P 31 0 9 28 2 5
1952 NY1 P 37 0 13 37 3 4
1953 NY1 P 3 0 0 1 0 0
1953 SLA P 10 0 1 3 0 1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Pitcher 327

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1944 Most Valuable Player NL 26th 2.0 336 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Max Lanier (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Jim Shaw
    84-98, 3.07 ERA
  2. 95
    Sal Maglie
    119-62, 3.15 ERA
  3. 93
    Larry Cheney
    116-100, 2.70 ERA
  4. 91
    Tom Seaton
    93-65, 3.14 ERA
  5. 91
    Guy Morton
    98-88, 3.13 ERA
  6. 91
    Vean Gregg
    92-63, 2.70 ERA

Frequently Asked Questions about Max Lanier

What years did Max Lanier play?
Max Lanier played in Major League Baseball from 1938 to 1953.
Was Max Lanier a pitcher?
Yes. Max Lanier pitched in the major leagues, recording 108 wins and 821 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Max Lanier hit?
Max Lanier hit 0 career home runs with 99 hits.