Thornton Lee

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1933-1948)

W–L 117–124
ERA 3.56
WHIP 1.36
SO 937
Pitcher PIV 7384.6
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
L / L
Height / Weight
6'3" / 205 lb
Born
9/13/1906 in Sonoma, CA, USA
Died
6/9/1997 in Tucson, AZ, USA
MLB Debut
1933-09-19
Last Game
1948-06-18
Awards
2× All-Star

Full name: Thornton Starr Lee

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Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
117 124 374 272 155 14 10 2331.3 2,327 921 121 838 937 3.56 7384.6

Career ERA 3.56 vs. league average 4.01 across their career seasons — 11.3% better than 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
1933 CLE AL 1 1 3 2 2 0 0 17.3 13 8 11 7 4.15 3.86 (-8%) -390.5
1934 CLE AL 1 1 24 6 0 0 0 85.7 105 48 44 41 5.04 4.29 (-18%) -1781.6
1935 CLE AL 7 10 32 20 8 1 1 180.7 179 81 71 81 4.04 4.35 (+7%) 1766.4
1936 CLE AL 3 5 43 8 2 0 3 127.0 138 69 67 49 4.89 4.59 (-7%) 542.0
1937 CHA AL 12 10 30 25 13 2 0 204.7 209 80 60 80 3.52 4.34 (+19%) -288.0
1938 CHA AL 13 12 33 30 18 1 1 245.3 252 95 94 77 3.49 4.35 (+20%) 389.9
1939 CHA AL 15 11 33 29 15 2 3 235.0 260 110 70 81 4.21 4.28 (+2%) 1225.9
1940 CHA AL 12 13 28 27 24 1 0 228.0 223 88 56 87 3.47 4.21 (+18%) 2803.3
1941 CHA AL 22 11 35 34 30 3 1 300.3 258 79 92 130 2.37 3.94 (+40%) 2071.8
1942 CHA AL 2 6 11 8 6 1 0 76.0 82 28 31 25 3.32 3.57 (+7%) -641.1
1943 CHA AL 5 9 19 19 7 1 0 127.0 129 59 50 35 4.18 3.50 (-19%) -2196.6
1944 CHA AL 3 9 15 14 6 0 0 113.3 105 38 25 39 3.02 3.57 (+16%) 1603.2
1945 CHA AL 15 12 29 28 19 1 0 228.3 208 62 76 108 2.44 3.67 (+33%) 2541.0
1946 CHA AL 2 4 7 7 2 0 0 43.3 39 17 23 23 3.53 3.59 (+2%) 114.3
1947 CHA AL 3 7 21 11 2 1 1 86.7 86 43 56 57 4.47 3.97 (-12%) -361.2
1948 NY1 NL 1 3 11 4 1 0 0 32.7 41 16 12 17 4.41 4.10 (-7%) -14.1
Career · 16 seasons 117 124 374 272 155 14 10 2,331.1 2,327 921 838 937 3.56 — 7,385

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
375 835 63 167 24 4 4 66 0 27 208 .200 .226 .253 .479 -2,503

Career AVG .200 vs. league average .267 across their career seasons — 25.2% below league average.

Career OBP .226 vs. league average .335 across their career seasons — 32.6% below league average.

Career SLG .253 vs. league average .377 across their career seasons — 33.1% below league average.

Career OPS .479 vs. league average .713 across their career seasons — 32.8% 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
1933 CLE AL 3 8 2 3 0 1 0 3 0 0 2 .375 — — — — 0.0
1934 CLE AL 24 21 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 11 .095 — — — — 0.0
1935 CLE AL 32 61 6 12 2 0 0 7 0 3 17 .197 .279 (-30%) .342 (-28%) .399 (-43%) .742 (-36%) -355.1
1936 CLE AL 43 41 3 5 0 0 0 1 0 3 12 .122 — — — — 0.0
1937 CHA AL 30 71 5 15 3 2 0 4 0 1 16 .211 .276 (-24%) .342 (-35%) .398 (-22%) .740 (-28%) -354.4
1938 CHA AL 34 97 14 25 3 1 4 16 0 0 23 .258 .272 (-6%) .341 (-25%) .392 (+10%) .734 (-6%) -139.8
1939 CHA AL 33 91 8 15 3 0 0 4 0 4 18 .165 .274 (-40%) .342 (-42%) .393 (-50%) .735 (-46%) -684.7
1940 CHA AL 28 84 7 23 4 0 0 5 0 4 30 .274 .267 (+2%) .335 (-8%) .387 (-17%) .722 (-13%) -178.7
1941 CHA AL 35 114 7 29 5 0 0 8 0 4 20 .254 .262 (-3%) .332 (-16%) .373 (-20%) .705 (-18%) -336.7
1942 CHA AL 11 30 0 6 2 0 0 2 0 0 10 .200 — — — — 0.0
1943 CHA AL 19 42 1 3 0 0 0 3 0 0 8 .071 — — — — 0.0
1944 CHA AL 15 42 2 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 8 .095 — — — — 0.0
1945 CHA AL 29 78 6 14 1 0 0 6 0 5 15 .179 .260 (-31%) .328 (-30%) .354 (-46%) .683 (-38%) -453.3
1946 CHA AL 7 15 0 4 0 0 0 3 0 0 4 .267 — — — — 0.0
1947 CHA AL 21 29 0 6 0 0 0 1 0 2 11 .207 — — — — 0.0
1948 NY1 NL 11 11 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .091 — — — — 0.0
Career · 16 seasons 375 835 63 167 24 4 4 66 0 27 208 .200 — — — — -2,503

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 (749 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home1773823474135.194
Away1984542993330.205

Pitching — Home / Away

SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home1771147.111204353805123.41
Away1971184.112064914574303.73

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1948-06-18 NY1STLL 000000000
1948-06-16 NY1PITL 000000000
1948-06-13 NY1STLW 000000000
1948-06-10 NY1CHCL 100000001
1948-06-05 NY1CINL 100000001
1948-05-29 NY1PHIW 400000000
1948-05-26 NY1STLW 000000000
1948-05-21 NY1CHCL 000000000
1948-05-05 NY1CINL 200000001
1948-04-29 NY1BROL 111000000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1948-06-18 NY1STL — 1.0200020
1948-06-16 NY1PIT — 0.0200000
1948-06-13 NY1STL — 1.0211000
1948-06-10 NY1CHC — 2.2644100
1948-06-05 NY1CIN L 3.2641220
1948-05-29 NY1PHI W 9.0711161
1948-05-26 NY1STL — 2.0000120
1948-05-21 NY1CHC — 1.0100010
1948-05-05 NY1CIN — 5.2311111
1948-04-29 NY1BRO L 1.2444311

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 374 0 67 428 38 21

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1933 CLE P 3 0 0 3 0 0
1934 CLE P 24 0 4 18 2 1
1935 CLE P 32 0 11 41 3 3
1936 CLE P 43 0 3 35 2 0
1937 CHA P 30 0 9 34 3 0
1938 CHA P 33 0 1 46 5 2
1939 CHA P 33 0 6 45 2 0
1940 CHA P 28 0 5 31 4 2
1941 CHA P 35 0 10 52 5 2
1942 CHA P 11 0 1 7 1 2
1943 CHA P 19 0 3 17 3 1
1944 CHA P 15 0 3 32 2 2
1945 CHA P 29 0 6 38 2 4
1946 CHA P 7 0 0 7 2 1
1947 CHA P 21 0 4 15 2 1
1948 NY1 P 11 0 1 7 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Pitcher 374

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1941 Baseball Magazine All-Star P2
1941 Baseball Magazine All-Star P3
1941 TSN All-Star P

College History

School Name City State Years Attended
California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo CA 1925, 1926

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1941 Most Valuable Player AL 4th 144.0 336 1

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Thornton Lee (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Ned Garver
    129-157, 3.73 ERA
  2. 94
    Bob Harmon
    107-133, 3.33 ERA
  3. 94
    Ed Brandt
    121-146, 3.86 ERA
  4. 93
    Hal Schumacher
    158-121, 3.36 ERA
  5. 92
    Howie Pollet
    131-116, 3.51 ERA
  6. 92
    Dutch Ruether
    137-95, 3.50 ERA

Frequently Asked Questions about Thornton Lee

What years did Thornton Lee play?
Thornton Lee played in Major League Baseball from 1933 to 1948.
Was Thornton Lee a pitcher?
Yes. Thornton Lee pitched in the major leagues, recording 117 wins and 937 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Thornton Lee hit?
Thornton Lee hit 4 career home runs with 167 hits.