Tommy Leach

Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1898-1918)

Tommy Leach was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1898 to 1918 for 4 teams, including the Louisville Colonels, a span of 21 seasons. In 2,156 career games, he hit .269 with 2,143 hits, 63 home runs, and 810 RBI. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 14,022.

AVG (Batting Average):
Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):
Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):
Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated

AVG .269
HR 63
RBI 810
H 2,143
OPS .710
PIV 14,022
Position
Outfielder
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
5'6" / 150 lb
Born
11/4/1877 in French Creek, NY, USA
Died
9/29/1969 in Haines City, FL, USA
MLB Debut
1898-09-28
Last Game
1918-09-02

Full name: Thomas William Leach

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Career Batting Statistics

Tommy Leach — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
2,156 7,959 1,355 2,143 266 172 63 810 361 820 666 .269 .340 .370 .710 14,022

Career AVG .269 vs. league average .257 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .340 vs. league average .319 across their career seasons — +6.5% above league average.

Career SLG .370 vs. league average .336 across their career seasons — +10.1% above league average.

Career OPS .710 vs. league average .655 across their career seasons — +8.4% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Tommy Leach Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1898 LS3 NL 3 10 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .100 — — — — 0.0
1899 LS3 NL 106 406 75 117 10 6 5 57 19 37 27 .288 .282 (+2%) .343 (+2%) .366 (+3%) .710 (+3%) 205.4
1900 PIT NL 51 160 20 34 1 2 1 16 8 21 16 .212 .279 (-24%) .338 (-10%) .366 (-28%) .705 (-20%) -454.3
1901 PIT NL 98 374 64 114 12 13 2 44 16 20 32 .305 .271 (+12%) .326 (+6%) .359 (+17%) .686 (+12%) 728.4
1902 PIT NL 135 514 97 143 14 22 6 85 25 45 45 .278 .266 (+4%) .321 (+6%) .343 (+24%) .665 (+15%) 1356.0
1903 PIT NL 127 507 97 151 16 17 7 87 22 40 32 .298 .261 (+14%) .316 (+11%) .345 (+27%) .662 (+19%) 1710.8
1904 PIT NL 146 579 92 149 15 12 2 56 23 45 47 .257 .246 (+4%) .300 (+5%) .321 (+4%) .622 (+5%) 519.0
1905 PIT NL 131 499 71 128 10 14 2 53 17 37 44 .257 .248 (+3%) .307 (+1%) .322 (+7%) .629 (+4%) 246.5
1906 PIT NL 133 476 66 136 10 7 1 39 21 33 19 .286 .247 (+15%) .307 (+8%) .315 (+9%) .622 (+9%) 705.3
1907 PIT NL 149 547 102 166 19 12 4 43 43 40 36 .303 .245 (+24%) .304 (+16%) .308 (+31%) .613 (+23%) 2141.2
1908 PIT NL 152 583 93 151 24 16 5 41 24 54 40 .259 .240 (+8%) .298 (+9%) .306 (+24%) .605 (+16%) 1587.0
1909 PIT NL 151 587 126 153 29 8 6 43 27 66 49 .261 .244 (+7%) .306 (+10%) .312 (+18%) .618 (+14%) 1522.9
1910 PIT NL 135 529 83 143 24 5 4 52 18 38 62 .270 .249 (+8%) .317 (avg) .326 (+9%) .644 (+5%) 367.2
1911 PIT NL 108 386 60 92 12 6 3 43 19 46 50 .238 .266 (-11%) .336 (-4%) .356 (-9%) .693 (-7%) -368.0
1912 PIT NL 28 97 24 29 4 2 0 19 6 12 9 .299 .268 (+11%) .335 (+12%) .358 (+6%) .694 (+9%) 162.3
1912 CHN NL 82 265 50 64 10 3 2 32 14 55 20 .242 .268 (-10%) .335 (+12%) .358 (-10%) .694 (+1%) 162.3
1913 CHN NL 131 456 99 131 23 10 6 32 21 77 44 .287 .259 (+11%) .325 (+20%) .345 (+22%) .670 (+21%) 2070.4
1914 CHN NL 153 577 80 152 24 9 7 46 16 79 50 .263 .255 (+3%) .322 (+10%) .339 (+10%) .661 (+10%) 1219.1
1915 CIN NL 107 335 42 75 7 5 0 17 20 56 38 .224 .250 (-11%) .318 (+6%) .332 (-17%) .651 (-6%) -102.6
1918 PIT NL 30 72 14 14 2 3 0 5 2 19 5 .194 .255 (-24%) .318 (+14%) .326 (-6%) .645 (+4%) 106.0
Career · 20 seasons 2,156 7,959 1,355 2,143 266 172 63 810 361 820 666 .269 — — — — 13,885

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

Tommy Leach — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
15 58 11 18 4 4 0 9 3 5 .310

Playoff Batting by Year

Tommy Leach — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1909 WS PIT 7 25 8 9 4 0 0 2 2 1 .360
1903 WS PIT 8 33 3 9 0 4 0 7 1 4 .273

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (2155 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Tommy Leach — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home10593849691108429439.282
Away10964115663105934349.257

Last 10 Games — Batting

Tommy Leach — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1918-09-02 PITCHCL 000000000
1918-09-01 PITCHCL 400000000
1918-08-29 PITSTLL 400000000
1918-08-29 PITSTLW 210000020
1918-08-27 PITPHIL 301000010
1918-08-27 PITPHIL 212010220
1918-08-24 PITPHIL 500000000
1918-08-24 PITPHIW 301000011
1918-08-23 PITBSNL 401100000
1918-08-22 PITBSNW 322000110

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Tommy Leach — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
2B 14 2 22 35 4 4
3B 955 466 1323 2127 344 113
OF 1079 509 2548 133 70 37
SS 64 8 115 165 41 14

Season-by-Season Fielding

Tommy Leach — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1898 LS3 2B 1 0 0 1 0 0
1898 LS3 3B 3 0 2 6 3 0
1899 LS3 2B 2 0 3 3 2 1
1899 LS3 3B 80 0 135 200 34 13
1899 LS3 SS 25 0 56 75 25 3
1900 PIT 2B 7 0 16 28 2 3
1900 PIT 3B 31 0 45 69 18 4
1900 PIT OF 4 0 1 0 0 0
1900 PIT SS 8 0 12 20 4 2
1901 PIT 3B 92 0 122 196 34 9
1901 PIT SS 4 0 8 12 1 2
1902 PIT 3B 134 0 170 316 39 10
1903 PIT 3B 127 0 178 292 65 16
1904 PIT 3B 146 146 212 371 60 18
1905 PIT 2B 2 2 2 3 0 0
1905 PIT 3B 58 58 80 123 14 13
1905 PIT OF 71 70 158 11 2 2
1905 PIT SS 2 0 5 4 0 0
1906 PIT 3B 65 67 73 135 16 4
1906 PIT OF 60 56 131 6 4 0
1906 PIT SS 1 1 5 2 0 0
1907 PIT 2B 1 0 0 0 0 0
1907 PIT 3B 33 33 45 65 15 5
1907 PIT OF 111 111 284 15 6 5
1907 PIT SS 6 5 3 15 3 2
1908 PIT 3B 150 150 199 293 33 19
1908 PIT OF 2 2 6 2 0 0
1909 PIT 3B 13 12 22 26 2 2
1909 PIT OF 138 139 333 12 11 3
1910 PIT 2B 1 0 1 0 0 0
1910 PIT OF 131 131 352 14 13 4
1910 PIT SS 2 2 5 3 1 1
1911 PIT 3B 1 0 0 0 0 0
1911 PIT OF 89 0 208 15 3 3
1911 PIT SS 13 0 18 27 4 3
1912 PIT OF 24 0 65 4 1 3
1912 CHN 3B 4 0 9 7 1 0
1912 CHN OF 73 0 181 11 5 4
1913 CHN 3B 2 0 6 2 3 0
1913 CHN OF 121 0 271 15 3 5
1914 CHN 3B 16 0 25 26 7 0
1914 CHN OF 136 0 321 16 11 5
1915 CIN OF 96 0 200 9 9 2
1918 PIT OF 23 0 37 3 2 1
1918 PIT SS 3 0 3 7 3 1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Tommy Leach Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Second Base 14
Third Base 957
Shortstop 65
Left Field 71
Center Field 1000
Right Field 15

Awards & Honors

Tommy Leach — Awards & Honors
Year Award Notes
1913 Baseball Magazine All-Star OF
1910 Baseball Magazine All-Star CF
1909 Baseball Magazine All-Star CF

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Tommy Leach (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Frank Schulte
    .270 avg, 92 HR
  2. 94
    Harry Hooper HOF
    .281 avg, 75 HR
  3. 93
    Clyde Milan
    .285 avg, 17 HR
  4. 93
    Tom Brown
    .265 avg, 64 HR
  5. 92
    Jimmy Sheckard
    .274 avg, 56 HR
  6. 90
    George Burns
    .287 avg, 41 HR

Tommy Leach: the record in brief

Tommy Leach's major league career runs from a debut on September 28, 1898 to a final game on September 2, 1918. The season rows list, in order, the Louisville Colonels (1898 through 1899), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1900 through 1918), the Chicago Cubs (1912 to 1914), and the Cincinnati Reds (1915). At 5 feet, 6 inches and 150 pounds, Leach is listed as an outfielder. Leach batted and threw right-handed, per the bio block. The recorded birth is November 4, 1877, in French Creek, NY, USA. Leach's death is recorded on September 29, 1969, in Haines City, FL, USA. Tommy Leach was the playing name; the full given name is Thomas William.

Leach collected 2,143 hits in 7,959 at bats across 2,156 games, good for a .269 batting average; the totals also include 63 homers, 810 runs batted in, and 361 stolen bases. On-base and slugging figures of .340 and .370 give Leach a career OPS of .710. Against a .257 league average for those years, Leach's .269 average was near the norm.

Frequently Asked Questions about Tommy Leach

What years did Tommy Leach play?
Tommy Leach played in Major League Baseball from 1898 to 1918.
Was Tommy Leach a pitcher?
No. Tommy Leach was a position player (Outfielder).
How many home runs did Tommy Leach hit?
Tommy Leach hit 63 career home runs with 2,143 hits.
What teams did Tommy Leach play for?
Tommy Leach played for 4 teams: the Louisville Colonels (1898–1899), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1900–1912, 1918), the Chicago Cubs (1912–1914), and the Cincinnati Reds (1915).
What were Tommy Leach's career stats?
In 2,156 games, Tommy Leach had 2,143 hits, 63 home runs, 810 RBI, 1,355 runs, and 361 stolen bases, with a .269 batting average.
What position did Tommy Leach play?
Tommy Leach played primarily as an outfielder, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Tommy Leach and how much did he weigh?
Tommy Leach was listed at 5 feet 6 inches and 150 pounds.
How many home runs did Tommy Leach hit each season?
Tommy Leach's home runs by season: 0 in 1898, 5 in 1899, 1 in 1900, 2 in 1901, 6 in 1902, 7 in 1903, 2 in 1904, 2 in 1905, 1 in 1906, 4 in 1907, 5 in 1908, 6 in 1909, 4 in 1910, 3 in 1911, 2 in 1912, 6 in 1913, 7 in 1914, 0 in 1915, and 0 in 1918. His most in one season was 7, in 1903 and 1914.
What was Tommy Leach's career batting average?
Tommy Leach batted .269 over his career, with 2,143 hits in 7,959 at bats.
How many RBI did Tommy Leach have?
Tommy Leach drove in 810 runs in his career.
Is Tommy Leach in the Hall of Fame?
No. Tommy Leach has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.