What years did Don Larsen play?

Don Larsen played in Major League Baseball from 1953 to 1967.

Was Don Larsen a pitcher?

Yes. Don Larsen pitched in the major leagues, recording 81 wins and 849 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Don Larsen hit?

Don Larsen hit 14 career home runs with 144 hits.

What teams did Don Larsen play for?

Don Larsen played for 7 teams: the Baltimore Orioles (1953–1954, 1965), the New York Yankees (1955–1959), the Kansas City Athletics (1960–1961), the Chicago White Sox (1961), the San Francisco Giants (1962–1964), the Houston Astros (1964–1965), and the Chicago Cubs (1967).

What awards did Don Larsen win?

Don Larsen won the World Series MVP award (1956).

What were Don Larsen's career stats?

In 412 games, Don Larsen went 81-91 with a 3.78 ERA, 849 strikeouts, 1,548.0 innings pitched, and 26 saves. At the plate he had 144 hits and 14 home runs.

What position did Don Larsen play?

Don Larsen played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Don Larsen and how much did he weigh?

Don Larsen was listed at 6 feet 4 inches and 215 pounds.

What was Don Larsen's career ERA?

Don Larsen finished with a 3.78 career ERA, going 81-91 with 849 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Don Larsen have?

Don Larsen recorded 849 career strikeouts.

Is Don Larsen in the Hall of Fame?

No. Don Larsen has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Don Larsen

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1953-1967)

Don Larsen was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1953 to 1967 for 8 teams, including the St. Louis Browns, a span of 15 seasons. Across 412 career appearances, he went 81-91 with a 3.78 ERA, 849 strikeouts, and 26 saves. He also batted .242 with 14 home runs. Don Larsen was a World Series MVP and a Babe Ruth Award.

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 81–91

ERA 3.78

WHIP 1.40

SO 849

Pitcher PIV -1685.9

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'4" / 215 lb
Born: 8/7/1929 in Michigan City, IN, USA
Died: 1/1/2020 in Coeur d'Alene, ID, USA
MLB Debut: 1953-04-18
Last Game: 1967-07-07
Awards: World Series MVP · Babe Ruth Award

Full name: Don James Larsen

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Career Pitching Statistics

Don Larsen — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
81	91	412	171	44	11	26	1548.0	1,442	650	130	725	849	3.78	-1685.9

Career ERA 3.78 vs. league average 3.78 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Don Larsen Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1953	SLA	AL	7	12	38	22	7	2	2	192.2	201	89	64	96	4.16	4.14 (avg)	3721.3
1954	BAL	AL	3	21	29	28	12	1	0	201.2	213	98	89	80	4.37	3.90 (-12%)	-1041.4
1955	NYA	AL	9	2	19	13	5	1	2	97.0	81	33	51	44	3.06	4.00 (+23%)	-421.2
1956	NYA	AL	11	5	38	20	6	1	1	179.2	133	65	96	107	3.26	3.96 (+18%)	-1385.1
1957	NYA	AL	10	4	27	20	4	1	0	139.2	113	58	87	81	3.74	3.83 (+2%)	-1568.9
1958	NYA	AL	9	6	19	19	5	3	0	114.1	100	39	52	55	3.07	3.86 (+20%)	1239.1
1959	NYA	AL	6	7	25	18	3	1	3	124.2	122	60	76	69	4.33	3.90 (-11%)	-2708.3
1960	KC1	AL	1	10	22	15	0	0	0	83.2	97	50	42	43	5.38	3.82 (-41%)	-1876.4
1961	KC1	AL	1	0	8	1	0	0	0	15.0	21	7	11	13	4.20	4.03 (-4%)	-355.4
1961	CHA	AL	7	2	25	3	0	0	2	74.1	64	34	29	53	4.12	4.03 (-2%)	1496.6
1962	SFN	NL	5	4	49	0	0	0	11	86.1	83	42	47	58	4.38	3.96 (-11%)	-812.0
1963	SFN	NL	7	7	46	0	0	0	3	62.0	46	21	30	44	3.05	3.46 (+12%)	-1131.1
1964	SFN	NL	0	1	6	0	0	0	0	10.1	10	5	6	6	4.35	3.58 (-22%)	102.2
1964	HOU	NL	4	8	30	10	2	1	1	103.1	92	26	20	58	2.26	3.58 (+37%)	2599.4
1965	HOU	NL	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	5.1	8	3	3	1	5.06	—	0.0
1965	BAL	AL	1	2	27	1	0	0	1	54.0	53	16	20	40	2.67	3.50 (+24%)	455.2
1967	CHN	NL	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	4.0	5	4	2	1	9.00	—	0.0
Career · 17 seasons			81	91	412	171	44	11	26	1,548.0	1,442	650	725	849	3.78	—	-1,686

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

Don Larsen — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
480	596	65	144	25	5	14	72	0	43	138	.242	.291	.371	.662	-38

Career AVG .242 vs. league average .254 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .291 vs. league average .322 across their career seasons — 9.6% below league average.

Career SLG .371 vs. league average .386 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OPS .662 vs. league average .708 across their career seasons — 6.5% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Don Larsen Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1953	SLA	AL	50	81	11	23	3	1	3	10	4	14	.284	.264 (+7%)	.335 (-5%)	.397 (+15%)	.733 (+6%)	50.6
1954	BAL	AL	44	88	6	22	5	3	1	4	5	15	.250	.261 (-4%)	.333 (-13%)	.390 (+5%)	.723 (-3%)	-85.0
1955	NYA	AL	21	41	4	6	1	0	2	7	4	13	.146	—	—	—	—	0.0
1956	NYA	AL	45	79	10	19	5	0	2	12	6	17	.241	.258 (-7%)	.331 (-11%)	.397 (-4%)	.728 (-8%)	-106.3
1957	NYA	AL	31	56	6	14	5	0	0	5	6	11	.250	.257 (-3%)	.323 (-2%)	.391 (-13%)	.715 (-8%)	-74.9
1958	NYA	AL	28	49	9	15	1	0	4	13	5	9	.306	—	—	—	—	235.8
1959	NYA	AL	29	47	8	12	2	0	0	8	7	15	.255	—	—	—	—	-58.3
1960	KC1	AL	23	29	3	6	1	0	0	3	0	11	.207	—	—	—	—	0.0
1961	KC1	AL	18	20	2	6	0	0	1	4	1	5	.300	—	—	—	—	0.0
1961	CHA	AL	25	25	2	8	0	0	1	4	0	5	.320	—	—	—	—	0.0
1962	SFN	NL	52	25	3	5	0	1	0	1	0	7	.200	—	—	—	—	0.0
1963	SFN	NL	46	11	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	.182	—	—	—	—	0.0
1964	SFN	NL	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1964	HOU	NL	31	31	0	3	1	0	0	0	4	10	.097	—	—	—	—	0.0
1965	HOU	NL	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1965	BAL	AL	27	11	0	3	1	0	0	1	0	4	.273	—	—	—	—	0.0
1967	CHN	NL	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 17 seasons			480	596	65	144	25	5	14	72	43	138	.242	—	—	—	—	-38

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

Don Larsen — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
10	9	2	1	0	0	0	1	3	2	.111

Playoff Batting by Year

Don Larsen — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1962	WS	SFN	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1958	WS	NYA	2	2	0	0	0	1	0	.000
1957	WS	NYA	2	2	1	0	0	2	1	.000
1956	WS	NYA	2	3	1	1	1	0	1	.333
1955	WS	NYA	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Don Larsen — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
4	2	10	6	0	36.0	24	11	19	24	2.75

Playoff Pitching by Year

Don Larsen — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1962	WS	SFN	1	0	3	0	2.1	1	1	2	0	3.86
1958	WS	NYA	1	0	2	2	9.1	9	1	6	9	0.96
1957	WS	NYA	1	1	2	1	9.2	8	4	5	6	3.72
1956	WS	NYA	1	0	2	2	10.2	1	0	4	7	0.00
1955	WS	NYA	0	1	1	1	4.0	5	5	2	2	11.25

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (888 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Don Larsen — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	226	278	33	70	7	38	.252
Away	252	318	32	74	7	34	.233

Pitching — Home / Away

Don Larsen — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	189	766.2	682	307	356	434	3.60
Away	221	778.2	759	343	366	409	3.96

Last 10 Games — Batting

Don Larsen — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	SO
1967-07-07	CHC	HOU	L	0	0
1967-07-04	CHC	ATL	L	0	0
1967-07-03	CHC	ATL	W	0	0
1965-09-10	BAL	KC1	L	0	0
1965-09-07	BAL	NYY	W	1	0
1965-09-05	BAL	CLE	W	1	1
1965-08-29	BAL	TEX	L	1	0
1965-08-24	BAL	CHW	L	0	0
1965-08-19	BAL	BOS	L	1	1
1965-08-14	BAL	TEX	L	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Don Larsen — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1967-07-07	CHC	HOU	—	2.0	1	0	0	1	1	0
1967-07-04	CHC	ATL	—	2.0	2	2	2	0	0	1
1967-07-03	CHC	ATL	—	0.0	2	2	2	1	0	0
1965-09-10	BAL	KC1	—	1.0	3	3	2	1	1	1
1965-09-07	BAL	NYY	—	1.0	1	0	0	3	1	0
1965-09-05	BAL	CLE	SV	2.0	3	0	0	0	1	0
1965-08-29	BAL	TEX	—	2.1	2	0	0	0	3	0
1965-08-24	BAL	CHW	—	1.1	1	0	0	2	1	0
1965-08-19	BAL	BOS	—	4.0	2	0	0	1	2	0
1965-08-14	BAL	TEX	L	1.0	2	3	0	0	0	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Don Larsen — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
OF	2	1	3	0	0	0
P	412	149	92	244	17	22

Season-by-Season Fielding

Don Larsen — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1953	SLA	OF	1	0	0	0	0	0
1953	SLA	P	38	0	8	29	2	1
1954	BAL	P	29	28	14	34	1	3
1955	NYA	P	19	13	5	13	1	3
1956	NYA	P	38	20	13	23	3	3
1957	NYA	P	27	20	10	20	2	2
1958	NYA	P	19	19	5	14	2	2
1959	NYA	P	25	18	5	22	2	1
1960	KC1	P	22	15	4	8	1	1
1961	KC1	OF	1	1	3	0	0	0
1961	KC1	P	8	1	1	4	0	0
1961	CHA	P	25	3	4	13	0	0
1962	SFN	P	49	0	4	15	0	3
1963	SFN	P	46	0	4	12	1	0
1964	SFN	P	6	0	2	0	0	0
1964	HOU	P	30	10	7	19	1	1
1965	HOU	P	1	1	1	3	0	0
1965	BAL	P	27	1	5	13	1	1
1967	CHN	P	3	0	0	2	0	1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Don Larsen Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	412
Left Field	2

Awards & Honors

Don Larsen — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1956	Babe Ruth Award	P
1956	World Series MVP

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Don Larsen (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Don Larsen: the record in brief

Don Larsen played a first major league game on April 18, 1953 and a last one on July 7, 1967. Club by club, the record runs the St. Louis Browns (1953), the Baltimore Orioles (1954 to 1965), the New York Yankees (1955 through 1959), the Kansas City Athletics (1960 to 1961), the Chicago White Sox (1961), the San Francisco Giants (1962 through 1964), the Houston Colt .45's (1964), and the Houston Astros (1965), with further stops in the season rows. Larsen played primarily as a pitcher and threw and hit right-handed. Born on August 7, 1929, in Michigan City, IN, USA, Larsen was listed at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds. Larsen's death is recorded on January 1, 2020, in Coeur d'Alene, ID, USA. The given name on file is Don James Larsen.

Across 412 games (171 starts), Larsen recorded 81 wins against 91 losses with a 3.78 ERA. The same table counts 849 strikeouts, 44 complete games, 11 shutouts, and 26 saves.

Frequently Asked Questions about Don Larsen

What years did Don Larsen play?: Don Larsen played in Major League Baseball from 1953 to 1967.
Was Don Larsen a pitcher?: Yes. Don Larsen pitched in the major leagues, recording 81 wins and 849 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Don Larsen hit?: Don Larsen hit 14 career home runs with 144 hits.
What teams did Don Larsen play for?: Don Larsen played for 7 teams: the Baltimore Orioles (1953–1954, 1965), the New York Yankees (1955–1959), the Kansas City Athletics (1960–1961), the Chicago White Sox (1961), the San Francisco Giants (1962–1964), the Houston Astros (1964–1965), and the Chicago Cubs (1967).
What awards did Don Larsen win?: Don Larsen won the World Series MVP award (1956).
What were Don Larsen's career stats?: In 412 games, Don Larsen went 81-91 with a 3.78 ERA, 849 strikeouts, 1,548.0 innings pitched, and 26 saves. At the plate he had 144 hits and 14 home runs.
What position did Don Larsen play?: Don Larsen played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Don Larsen and how much did he weigh?: Don Larsen was listed at 6 feet 4 inches and 215 pounds.
What was Don Larsen's career ERA?: Don Larsen finished with a 3.78 career ERA, going 81-91 with 849 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Don Larsen have?: Don Larsen recorded 849 career strikeouts.
Is Don Larsen in the Hall of Fame?: No. Don Larsen has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.