Vern Law

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1950-1967)

W–L 162–147
ERA 3.77
WHIP 1.28
SO 1,092
Pitcher PIV 8172.6
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'2" / 195 lb
Born
3/12/1930 in Meridian, ID, USA
MLB Debut
1950-06-11
Last Game
1967-08-20
Awards
All-Star · Cy Young

Full name: Vernon Sanders Law

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Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
162 147 483 364 119 28 13 2672.0 2,833 1,118 268 597 1,092 3.77 8172.6

Career ERA 3.77 vs. league average 3.79 across their career seasons — near 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
1950 PIT NL 7 9 27 17 5 1 0 128.0 137 70 49 57 4.92 4.36 (-13%) 1006.2
1951 PIT NL 6 9 28 14 2 1 2 114.0 109 57 51 41 4.50 4.04 (-11%) -702.3
1954 PIT NL 9 13 39 18 7 0 3 161.7 201 99 56 57 5.51 3.90 (-41%) -2015.6
1955 PIT NL 10 10 43 24 8 1 1 200.7 221 85 61 82 3.81 4.00 (+5%) 1517.4
1956 PIT NL 8 16 39 32 6 0 2 195.7 218 94 49 60 4.32 3.96 (-9%) -1122.0
1957 PIT NL 10 8 31 25 9 3 1 172.7 172 55 32 55 2.87 3.83 (+25%) 302.6
1958 PIT NL 14 12 35 29 6 1 3 202.3 235 89 39 56 3.96 3.86 (-3%) 1676.9
1959 PIT NL 18 9 34 33 20 2 1 266.0 245 88 53 110 2.98 3.90 (+24%) 2432.9
1960 PIT NL 20 9 35 35 18 3 0 271.7 266 93 40 120 3.08 3.82 (+19%) 3533.6
1961 PIT NL 3 4 11 10 1 0 0 59.3 72 31 18 20 4.70 4.03 (-17%) -1520.6
1962 PIT NL 10 7 23 20 7 2 0 139.3 156 61 27 78 3.94 3.96 (avg) -364.0
1963 PIT NL 4 5 18 12 1 1 0 76.7 91 42 13 31 4.93 3.46 (-43%) -1121.8
1964 PIT NL 12 13 35 29 7 5 0 192.0 203 77 32 93 3.61 3.58 (-1%) 1047.6
1965 PIT NL 17 9 29 28 13 4 0 217.3 182 52 35 101 2.15 3.50 (+38%) 2098.3
1966 PIT NL 12 8 31 28 8 4 0 177.7 203 80 24 88 4.05 3.52 (-15%) 430.8
1967 PIT NL 2 6 25 10 1 0 0 97.0 122 45 18 43 4.18 3.30 (-26%) 972.8
Career · 16 seasons 162 147 483 364 119 28 13 2,672.0 2,833 1,118 597 1,092 3.77 — 8,173

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
516 883 96 191 35 7 11 90 1 41 179 .216 .254 .309 .563 -2,386

Career AVG .216 vs. league average .254 across their career seasons — 15.0% below league average.

Career OBP .254 vs. league average .323 across their career seasons — 21.3% below league average.

Career SLG .309 vs. league average .385 across their career seasons — 19.8% below league average.

Career OPS .563 vs. league average .708 across their career seasons — 20.5% 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
1950 PIT NL 27 41 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 14 .073 — — — — 0.0
1951 PIT NL 28 32 5 11 2 1 1 4 0 3 6 .344 — — — — 0.0
1954 PIT NL 50 52 10 12 5 0 1 13 0 5 8 .231 .261 (-12%) .333 (-7%) .390 (-1%) .723 (-4%) -35.0
1955 PIT NL 44 63 8 16 3 0 1 8 1 4 16 .254 .258 (-2%) .332 (-10%) .393 (-11%) .726 (-11%) -112.7
1956 PIT NL 39 57 3 10 1 0 1 8 0 4 16 .175 .258 (-32%) .331 (-32%) .397 (-38%) .728 (-35%) -335.5
1957 PIT NL 34 63 3 12 1 1 0 6 0 1 11 .190 .257 (-26%) .323 (-34%) .391 (-39%) .715 (-37%) -368.8
1958 PIT NL 36 62 11 12 3 1 2 12 0 9 10 .194 .257 (-25%) .324 (-11%) .394 (-6%) .719 (-8%) -104.1
1959 PIT NL 38 96 6 16 2 0 1 8 0 3 20 .167 .256 (-35%) .323 (-41%) .392 (-44%) .715 (-43%) -651.4
1960 PIT NL 35 94 10 17 5 2 1 7 0 2 19 .181 .255 (-29%) .323 (-40%) .387 (-20%) .711 (-29%) -480.4
1961 PIT NL 11 19 0 5 1 0 0 5 0 1 4 .263 — — — — 0.0
1962 PIT NL 23 45 6 14 4 1 0 5 0 1 7 .311 — — — — 0.0
1963 PIT NL 21 23 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .217 — — — — 0.0
1964 PIT NL 36 61 9 19 3 0 1 3 0 3 11 .311 .250 (+24%) .312 (+13%) .377 (+8%) .690 (+11%) 110.7
1965 PIT NL 34 82 9 20 0 0 1 6 0 0 19 .244 .245 (-1%) .310 (-22%) .371 (-25%) .682 (-23%) -291.9
1966 PIT NL 34 66 11 16 3 0 1 3 0 3 11 .242 .248 (-2%) .309 (-11%) .376 (-11%) .685 (-11%) -117.4
1967 PIT NL 26 27 3 3 2 0 0 1 0 1 6 .111 — — — — 0.0
Career · 16 seasons 516 883 96 191 35 7 11 90 1 41 179 .216 — — — — -2,386

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
3 6 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 .333

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1960 WS PIT 3 6 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 .333

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
2 0 3 3 0 18.3 22 7 3 8 3.44

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1960 WS PIT 2 0 3 3 0 18.3 22 7 3 8 3.44

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (999 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home2534143987028.210
Away263469571041162.222

Pitching — Home / Away

SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home2371366.014205222935813.44
Away2461307.014155983035164.12

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1967-08-20 PITNYNW 200000000
1967-08-13 PITNYNL 211000001
1967-08-09 PITCHCW 210000010
1967-08-05 PITLADW 200000000
1967-07-30 PITSFGW 400000001
1967-07-25 PITLADL 100000001
1967-07-20 PITSFGL 100000000
1967-07-16 PITATLL 200000001
1967-07-05 PITLADL 100000000
1967-07-04 PITLADW 010000000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1967-08-20 PITNYN — 5.11022010
1967-08-13 PITNYN — 4.1955121
1967-08-09 PITCHC — 5.1752200
1967-08-05 PITLAD W 9.0511150
1967-07-30 PITSFG W 8.1933130
1967-07-25 PITLAD L 5.0432150
1967-07-20 PITSFG L 4.1844020
1967-07-16 PITATL L 7.0522030
1967-07-05 PITLAD — 2.2100000
1967-06-28 PITCHC — 1.0100000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
OF 1 1 1 0 0 0
P 483 333 212 453 19 41

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1950 PIT P 27 0 5 15 2 1
1951 PIT P 28 0 10 15 2 2
1954 PIT OF 1 1 1 0 0 0
1954 PIT P 39 18 11 23 1 2
1955 PIT P 43 24 14 35 4 3
1956 PIT P 39 32 12 31 0 3
1957 PIT P 31 25 13 23 2 2
1958 PIT P 35 29 16 31 0 3
1959 PIT P 34 33 20 47 1 5
1960 PIT P 35 35 28 50 2 6
1961 PIT P 11 10 7 13 0 1
1962 PIT P 23 20 7 27 2 3
1963 PIT P 18 12 5 20 0 1
1964 PIT P 35 29 16 36 1 3
1965 PIT P 29 28 29 36 1 2
1966 PIT P 31 28 11 36 0 4
1967 PIT P 25 10 8 15 1 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Pitcher 483
Right Field 1

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1965 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
1965 TSN Comeback Player of the Year
1960 Cy Young Award
1960 TSN All-Star P
1960 TSN Pitcher of the Year

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1965 Most Valuable Player NL 17th 12.0 280 0
1960 Cy Young Award ML 1st 8.0 16 8
1960 Most Valuable Player NL 6th 80.0 336 0
1959 Most Valuable Player NL 19th 3.0 336 0
1955 Most Valuable Player NL 23th 1.0 336 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Vern Law (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Mike Caldwell
    137-130, 3.81 ERA
  2. 86
    Schoolboy Rowe
    158-101, 3.87 ERA
  3. 86
    Claude Passeau
    162-150, 3.32 ERA
  4. 83
    Ken Raffensberger
    119-154, 3.60 ERA
  5. 82
    Bob Forsch
    168-136, 3.76 ERA
  6. 82
    Bill Gullickson
    162-136, 3.93 ERA

Frequently Asked Questions about Vern Law

What years did Vern Law play?
Vern Law played in Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1967.
Was Vern Law a pitcher?
Yes. Vern Law pitched in the major leagues, recording 162 wins and 1092 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Vern Law hit?
Vern Law hit 11 career home runs with 191 hits.