What years did Dave LaRoche play?

Dave LaRoche played in Major League Baseball from 1970 to 1983.

Was Dave LaRoche a pitcher?

Yes. Dave LaRoche pitched in the major leagues, recording 65 wins and 819 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Dave LaRoche hit?

Dave LaRoche hit 0 career home runs with 15 hits.

What was Dave LaRoche's career batting average?

Dave LaRoche batted .246 over his career, with 15 hits in 61 at bats.

How many RBI did Dave LaRoche have?

Dave LaRoche drove in 2 runs in his career.

What was Dave LaRoche's career ERA?

Dave LaRoche finished with a 3.53 career ERA, going 65-58 with 819 strikeouts.

Dave LaRoche

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1970-1983)

Dave LaRoche was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1970 to 1983 for 5 teams, including the California Angels, a span of 14 seasons. Across 647 career appearances, he went 65-58 with a 3.53 ERA, 819 strikeouts, and 126 saves. Dave LaRoche was a 2-time All-Star. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 2721.9.

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 65–58

ERA 3.53

WHIP 1.31

SO 819

Pitcher PIV 2721.9

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 6'2" / 200 lb
Born: 5/14/1948 in Colorado Springs, CO, USA
MLB Debut: 1970-05-11
Last Game: 1983-08-23
Awards: 2× All-Star

Full name: David Eugene LaRoche

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Pitching Statistics

Dave LaRoche — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
65	58	647	15	1	0	126	1049.1	919	411	94	459	819	3.53	2721.9

Career ERA 3.53 vs. league average 3.73 across their career seasons — 5.5% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Dave LaRoche Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1970	CAL	AL	4	1	38	0	0	4	49.2	41	19	21	44	3.44	3.89 (+11%)	-76.1
1971	CAL	AL	5	1	56	0	0	9	72.0	55	20	27	63	2.50	3.47 (+28%)	1934.9
1972	MIN	AL	5	7	62	0	0	10	95.1	72	30	39	79	2.83	3.26 (+13%)	-288.5
1973	CHN	NL	4	1	45	0	0	4	54.1	55	35	29	34	5.80	3.75 (-55%)	-1221.7
1974	CHN	NL	5	6	49	4	0	5	92.0	103	49	47	49	4.79	3.63 (-32%)	-1812.1
1975	CLE	AL	5	3	61	0	0	17	82.1	61	20	57	94	2.19	3.71 (+41%)	979.1
1976	CLE	AL	1	4	61	0	0	21	96.1	57	24	49	104	2.24	3.51 (+36%)	2981.1
1977	CLE	AL	2	2	13	0	0	4	18.2	15	11	7	18	5.30	4.00 (-33%)	-11.8
1977	CAL	AL	6	5	46	0	0	13	81.1	64	28	37	61	3.10	4.00 (+23%)	89.4
1978	CAL	AL	10	9	59	0	0	25	95.2	73	30	48	70	2.82	3.69 (+23%)	113.1
1979	CAL	AL	7	11	53	1	0	10	85.2	107	53	32	59	5.57	4.00 (-39%)	-1105.4
1980	CAL	AL	3	5	52	9	1	4	128.0	122	58	39	89	4.08	3.84 (-6%)	242.5
1981	NYA	AL	4	1	26	1	0	0	47.0	38	13	16	24	2.49	3.58 (+31%)	106.3
1982	NYA	AL	4	2	25	0	0	0	50.0	54	19	11	31	3.42	3.86 (+11%)	791.0
1983	NYA	AL	0	0	1	0	0	0	1.0	2	2	0	0	18.00	—	0.0
Career · 15 seasons			65	58	647	15	1	126	1,049.1	919	411	459	819	3.53	—	2,722

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

Dave LaRoche — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
649	61	7	15	3	0	0	2	0	7	13	.246	.324	.295	.619	0

Career AVG .246 vs. league average .258 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .324 vs. league average .324 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .295 vs. league average .379 across their career seasons — 22.2% below league average.

Career OPS .619 vs. league average .703 across their career seasons — 12.0% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Dave LaRoche Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1970	CAL	AL	38	8	0	2	1	0	1	0	.250	—	—	—	—	0.0
1971	CAL	AL	56	11	0	1	0	0	1	3	.091	—	—	—	—	0.0
1972	MIN	AL	62	11	2	1	0	0	3	6	.091	—	—	—	—	0.0
1973	CHN	NL	45	4	1	2	0	0	1	0	.500	—	—	—	—	0.0
1974	CHN	NL	50	27	4	9	2	2	1	4	.333	—	—	—	—	0.0
1975	CLE	AL	61	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1976	CLE	AL	61	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1977	CLE	AL	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1977	CAL	AL	46	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1978	CAL	AL	59	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1979	CAL	AL	53	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1980	CAL	AL	53	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1981	NYA	AL	26	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1982	NYA	AL	25	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1983	NYA	AL	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 15 seasons			649	61	7	15	3	2	7	13	.246	—	—	—	—	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

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

Playoff Batting by Year

Dave LaRoche — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1981	WS	NYA	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1979	ALCS	CAL	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Dave LaRoche — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	0	2	0	0	2.1	2	1	1	3	3.86

Playoff Pitching by Year

Dave LaRoche — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1981	WS	NYA	0	0	1	0	0	1.0	0	0	0	2	0.00
1979	ALCS	CAL	0	0	1	0	0	1.1	2	1	1	1	6.75

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1296 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Dave LaRoche — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	330	24	4	6	0	1	.250
Away	319	37	3	9	0	1	.243

Pitching — Home / Away

Dave LaRoche — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	328	543.1	475	212	222	447	3.51
Away	319	506.0	444	199	237	372	3.54

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Dave LaRoche — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1983-08-23	NYY	OAK	—	1.0	2	2	2	0	0	1
1982-09-13	NYY	BAL	—	0.2	1	1	1	0	0	0
1982-09-08	NYY	BAL	—	1.0	2	3	3	1	2	1
1982-09-06	NYY	BAL	—	2.0	3	4	4	2	0	1
1982-09-03	NYY	KCR	—	4.2	4	0	0	2	2	0
1982-09-01	NYY	MIN	—	1.0	1	1	1	2	1	0
1982-08-28	NYY	TOR	L	4.0	5	1	1	2	2	0
1982-08-23	NYY	TOR	W	2.2	3	0	0	0	4	0
1982-08-17	NYY	KCR	—	2.0	6	4	4	0	2	1
1982-08-15	NYY	CHW	—	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Dave LaRoche — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	647	15	48	144	8	5

Season-by-Season Fielding

Dave LaRoche — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1970	CAL	P	38	0	5	7	0	1
1971	CAL	P	56	0	0	8	1	0
1972	MIN	P	62	0	2	15	0	0
1973	CHN	P	45	0	5	13	3	1
1974	CHN	P	49	4	3	14	0	0
1975	CLE	P	61	0	7	13	0	0
1976	CLE	P	61	0	3	9	3	0
1977	CLE	P	13	0	1	1	0	1
1977	CAL	P	46	0	5	9	0	2
1978	CAL	P	59	0	2	14	0	0
1979	CAL	P	53	1	4	17	0	0
1980	CAL	P	52	9	5	16	1	0
1981	NYA	P	26	1	5	4	0	0
1982	NYA	P	25	0	1	3	0	0
1983	NYA	P	1	0	0	1	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Dave LaRoche Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	647

Award Voting History

Dave LaRoche — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1978	Most Valuable Player	AL	25th	6.0	392	0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Dave LaRoche (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Dave LaRoche: the record in brief

Dave LaRoche played a first major league game on May 11, 1970 and a last one on August 23, 1983. LaRoche played for the California Angels (1970 to 1980), the Minnesota Twins (1972), the Chicago Cubs (1973 to 1974), the Cleveland Indians (1975 through 1977), and the New York Yankees (1981 to 1983). LaRoche, born on May 14, 1948, in Colorado Springs, CO, USA, is listed as a pitcher and both batted and threw left-handed. Size on record: 6'2" and 200 pounds. The bio lists the given name David Eugene.

LaRoche's career pitching line is 65 wins, 58 losses and a 3.53 ERA over 647 appearances. The same table counts 819 strikeouts and 126 saves. Against a 3.73 league ERA for the same years, LaRoche was 5.5% better. The best win total was 10, in 1978. The strikeout high was 104 in 1976. LaRoche saved 25 games in 1978, the season high.

Frequently Asked Questions about Dave LaRoche

What years did Dave LaRoche play?: Dave LaRoche played in Major League Baseball from 1970 to 1983.
Was Dave LaRoche a pitcher?: Yes. Dave LaRoche pitched in the major leagues, recording 65 wins and 819 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Dave LaRoche hit?: Dave LaRoche hit 0 career home runs with 15 hits.
What was Dave LaRoche's career batting average?: Dave LaRoche batted .246 over his career, with 15 hits in 61 at bats.
How many RBI did Dave LaRoche have?: Dave LaRoche drove in 2 runs in his career.
What was Dave LaRoche's career ERA?: Dave LaRoche finished with a 3.53 career ERA, going 65-58 with 819 strikeouts.