What years did Johnny Lanning play?

Johnny Lanning played in Major League Baseball from 1936 to 1947.

Was Johnny Lanning a pitcher?

Yes. Johnny Lanning pitched in the major leagues, recording 58 wins and 295 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Johnny Lanning hit?

Johnny Lanning hit 1 career home run with 47 hits.

What teams did Johnny Lanning play for?

Johnny Lanning played for 2 teams: the Boston Braves (1936–1939, 1947) and the Pittsburgh Pirates (1940–1943, 1945–1946).

What were Johnny Lanning's career stats?

In 278 games, Johnny Lanning went 58-60 with a 3.58 ERA, 295 strikeouts, 1,071.0 innings pitched, and 13 saves. At the plate he had 47 hits and 1 home runs.

What position did Johnny Lanning play?

Johnny Lanning played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Johnny Lanning and how much did he weigh?

Johnny Lanning was listed at 6 feet 1 inch and 185 pounds.

What was Johnny Lanning's career ERA?

Johnny Lanning finished with a 3.58 career ERA, going 58-60 with 295 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Johnny Lanning have?

Johnny Lanning recorded 295 career strikeouts.

Is Johnny Lanning in the Hall of Fame?

No. Johnny Lanning has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Johnny Lanning

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1936-1947)

Johnny Lanning was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1936 to 1947 for the Boston Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates, a span of 12 seasons. Across 278 career appearances, he went 58-60 with a 3.58 ERA and 295 strikeouts. He also batted .146 with 1 home runs. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 990.3.

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 15, 2026

W–L 58–60

ERA 3.58

WHIP 1.34

SO 295

Pitcher PIV 990.3

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'1" / 185 lb
Born: 9/6/1910 in Asheville, NC, USA
Died: 11/8/1989 in Asheville, NC, USA
MLB Debut: 1936-04-17
Last Game: 1947-05-12

Full name: John Young Lanning

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Career Pitching Statistics

Johnny Lanning — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
58	60	278	104	30	4	13	1071.0	1,078	426	55	358	295	3.58	990.3

Career ERA 3.58 vs. league average 4.00 across their career seasons — 10.4% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Johnny Lanning Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1936	BSN	NL	7	11	28	20	3	1	0	153.0	154	62	55	33	3.65	4.59 (+20%)	-698.6
1937	BSN	NL	5	7	32	11	4	1	2	116.2	107	51	40	37	3.93	4.34 (+9%)	-1162.0
1938	BSN	NL	8	7	32	18	4	1	0	138.0	146	57	52	39	3.72	4.35 (+14%)	698.8
1939	BSN	NL	5	6	37	6	3	0	4	129.0	120	49	53	45	3.42	4.28 (+20%)	97.9
1940	PIT	NL	8	4	38	7	2	0	2	115.2	119	52	39	42	4.05	4.21 (+4%)	75.5
1941	PIT	NL	11	11	34	23	9	0	1	175.2	175	61	47	41	3.13	3.94 (+21%)	1602.7
1942	PIT	NL	6	8	34	8	2	1	1	119.1	125	44	26	31	3.32	3.57 (+7%)	213.4
1943	PIT	NL	4	1	12	2	0	0	2	27.0	23	7	9	11	2.33	3.50 (+33%)	452.4
1945	PIT	NL	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2.0	8	8	0	0	36.00	—	0.0
1946	PIT	NL	4	5	27	9	3	0	1	91.0	97	31	31	16	3.07	3.59 (+15%)	-289.7
1947	BSN	NL	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	3.2	4	4	6	0	9.82	—	0.0
Career · 11 seasons			58	60	278	104	30	4	13	1,071.0	1,078	426	358	295	3.58	—	990

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 Lanning — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
278	322	17	47	11	0	1	17	0	11	67	.146	.177	.189	.366	-953

Career AVG .146 vs. league average .266 across their career seasons — 45.1% below league average.

Career OBP .177 vs. league average .335 across their career seasons — 47.3% below league average.

Career SLG .189 vs. league average .376 across their career seasons — 49.6% below league average.

Career OPS .366 vs. league average .711 across their career seasons — 48.5% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Johnny Lanning Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1936	BSN	NL	28	52	1	7	0	1	2	1	11	.135	.283 (-53%)	.349 (-57%)	.404 (-52%)	.753 (-54%)	-474.7
1937	BSN	NL	32	33	2	4	0	0	0	3	12	.121	—	—	—	—	0.0
1938	BSN	NL	32	48	6	9	0	0	3	0	10	.188	—	—	—	—	0.0
1939	BSN	NL	37	42	1	6	2	0	4	0	7	.143	—	—	—	—	0.0
1940	PIT	NL	38	35	2	7	2	0	3	2	8	.200	—	—	—	—	0.0
1941	PIT	NL	34	56	5	6	3	0	4	3	8	.107	.262 (-59%)	.332 (-50%)	.373 (-57%)	.705 (-54%)	-478.5
1942	PIT	NL	34	29	0	4	3	0	1	1	7	.138	—	—	—	—	0.0
1943	PIT	NL	12	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	.167	—	—	—	—	0.0
1945	PIT	NL	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1946	PIT	NL	27	21	0	3	1	0	0	1	4	.143	—	—	—	—	0.0
1947	BSN	NL	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 11 seasons			278	322	17	47	11	1	17	11	67	.146	—	—	—	—	-953

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 (556 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Johnny Lanning — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	124	136	7	18	0	7	.132
Away	154	185	10	29	1	10	.157

Pitching — Home / Away

Johnny Lanning — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	124	484.0	479	189	144	138	3.51
Away	154	587.2	601	238	214	156	3.64

Last 10 Games — Batting

Johnny Lanning — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	BB	SO
1947-05-12	BSN	BRO	L	0	0	0
1947-05-11	BSN	NY1	L	0	0	0
1947-04-27	BSN	PHI	L	0	0	0
1946-09-22	PIT	CIN	L	0	0	0
1946-09-22	PIT	CIN	L	0	0	0
1946-09-19	PIT	BRO	L	0	0	0
1946-09-15	PIT	PHI	L	2	0	1
1946-09-11	PIT	NY1	W	0	0	0
1946-09-05	PIT	CIN	W	1	1	0
1946-09-01	PIT	STL	L	0	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Johnny Lanning — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
1947-05-12	BSN	BRO	—	1.1	4	2	2	1	0
1947-05-11	BSN	NY1	—	0.0	0	3	3	3	0
1947-04-27	BSN	PHI	—	2.2	0	0	0	2	0
1946-09-22	PIT	CIN	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	0
1946-09-22	PIT	CIN	L	2.0	2	1	0	1	0
1946-09-19	PIT	BRO	—	2.0	1	0	0	1	0
1946-09-15	PIT	PHI	—	7.0	8	4	4	1	1
1946-09-11	PIT	NY1	W	5.0	5	3	3	2	2
1946-09-05	PIT	CIN	—	7.0	6	1	1	4	3
1946-09-01	PIT	STL	—	1.1	1	0	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Johnny Lanning — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	278	0	73	212	15	19

Season-by-Season Fielding

Johnny Lanning — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	PO	A	E	DP
1936	BSN	P	28	8	28	3	1
1937	BSN	P	32	7	23	0	3
1938	BSN	P	32	7	24	3	3
1939	BSN	P	37	12	25	3	3
1940	PIT	P	38	8	22	3	2
1941	PIT	P	34	12	41	0	2
1942	PIT	P	34	13	20	1	4
1943	PIT	P	12	1	3	2	0
1945	PIT	P	1	0	1	0	0
1946	PIT	P	27	5	22	0	1
1947	BSN	P	3	0	3	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Johnny Lanning Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	278

College History

Johnny Lanning — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
North Carolina State University	Raleigh	NC	1931, 1932

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

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

Johnny Lanning: the record in brief

The profile opens with Johnny Lanning's first major league game on April 17, 1936; the last one listed came on May 12, 1947. Club by club, the record runs the Boston Bees (1936 through 1939), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1940 through 1946), and the Boston Braves (1947). Lanning is listed as a pitcher at 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds. The bio says Lanning batted and threw right-handed. The recorded birth is September 6, 1910, in Asheville, NC, USA. Lanning's death is recorded on November 8, 1989, in Asheville, NC, USA. The given name on file is John Young Lanning.

Across 278 games (104 starts), Lanning recorded 58 wins against 60 losses with a 3.58 ERA. The totals include 295 strikeouts, 30 complete games, and 13 saves. The leagues Lanning pitched in allowed 4.00 earned runs per nine over those seasons, so the career ERA was 10.4% better than average. No season topped the 11 wins of 1941.

Frequently Asked Questions about Johnny Lanning

What years did Johnny Lanning play?: Johnny Lanning played in Major League Baseball from 1936 to 1947.
Was Johnny Lanning a pitcher?: Yes. Johnny Lanning pitched in the major leagues, recording 58 wins and 295 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Johnny Lanning hit?: Johnny Lanning hit 1 career home run with 47 hits.
What teams did Johnny Lanning play for?: Johnny Lanning played for 2 teams: the Boston Braves (1936–1939, 1947) and the Pittsburgh Pirates (1940–1943, 1945–1946).
What were Johnny Lanning's career stats?: In 278 games, Johnny Lanning went 58-60 with a 3.58 ERA, 295 strikeouts, 1,071.0 innings pitched, and 13 saves. At the plate he had 47 hits and 1 home runs.
What position did Johnny Lanning play?: Johnny Lanning played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Johnny Lanning and how much did he weigh?: Johnny Lanning was listed at 6 feet 1 inch and 185 pounds.
What was Johnny Lanning's career ERA?: Johnny Lanning finished with a 3.58 career ERA, going 58-60 with 295 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Johnny Lanning have?: Johnny Lanning recorded 295 career strikeouts.
Is Johnny Lanning in the Hall of Fame?: No. Johnny Lanning has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.