Buck Leonard

First Baseman · Career Stats, Hall of Fame Bio & Records (Final season: 1948)

⭐ Hall of Fame 1972
AVG .343
HR 100
RBI 578
H 790
OPS 1.034
PIV 19,107
Position
First Baseman
Bats / Throws
L / L
Height / Weight
5'10" / 185 lb
Born
9/8/1907 in Rocky Mount, NC, USA
Died
11/27/1997 in Rocky Mount, NC, USA
Last Game
1948-09-29
Hall of Fame
Inducted 1972 (Negro League)
Awards
11× All-Star

Full name: Walter Fenner Leonard

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
2866.0 2370.0 636.0 892.0 152.0 58.0 156.0 481.0 455.0 28.0 37.0 .376 .478 .687 1.165

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
641 2,300 567 790 153 52 100 578 32 419 14 .343 .449 .586 1.034 19,107

Career AVG .343 vs. league average .267 across their career seasons — +28.5% above league average.

Career OBP .449 vs. league average .336 across their career seasons — +33.6% above league average.

Career SLG .586 vs. league average .377 across their career seasons — +55.1% above league average.

Career OPS 1.034 vs. league average .713 across their career seasons — +45.0% above 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
1934 HG IND 20 78 12 26 3 0 3 17 0 6 0 .333 .278 (+20%) .340 (+12%) .392 (+24%) .733 (+18%) 240.5
1935 HG NN2 40 157 30 61 18 3 4 36 5 17 3 .389 .279 (+39%) .342 (+32%) .399 (+55%) .742 (+44%) 1209.8
1936 HG NN2 35 124 35 43 3 4 6 34 2 29 0 .347 .283 (+22%) .349 (+35%) .404 (+44%) .753 (+39%) 972.3
1937 HG NN2 42 170 54 64 15 3 13 55 2 25 1 .376 .276 (+36%) .342 (+35%) .398 (+83%) .740 (+61%) 1837.6
1938 HG NN2 43 153 42 64 12 5 9 53 1 25 0 .418 .272 (+53%) .341 (+46%) .392 (+88%) .734 (+69%) 1872.1
1939 HG NN2 32 118 35 44 11 1 11 48 2 19 1 .373 .274 (+36%) .342 (+33%) .393 (+94%) .735 (+66%) 1329.2
1940 HG NN2 54 185 49 70 14 5 8 42 1 39 3 .378 .267 (+42%) .335 (+46%) .387 (+65%) .722 (+56%) 1991.8
1941 HG NN2 57 196 60 68 12 7 13 50 5 40 2 .347 .262 (+32%) .332 (+39%) .373 (+82%) .705 (+62%) 2183.6
1942 HG NN2 38 125 19 27 6 1 0 21 3 24 0 .216 .253 (-15%) .323 (+6%) .349 (-20%) .672 (-8%) -71.1
1943 HG NN2 68 255 71 84 18 8 4 61 2 49 1 .329 .255 (+29%) .324 (+36%) .346 (+47%) .671 (+42%) 1976.8
1944 HG NN2 50 184 49 63 16 7 7 40 1 31 0 .342 .261 (+31%) .325 (+37%) .357 (+73%) .683 (+56%) 1779.7
1945 HG NN2 40 155 31 53 6 3 5 34 0 22 3 .342 .260 (+31%) .328 (+31%) .354 (+45%) .683 (+38%) 1030.5
1946 HG NN2 50 169 37 56 6 4 7 45 3 39 0 .331 .256 (+29%) .328 (+40%) .358 (+50%) .687 (+45%) 1447.4
1947 HG NN2 35 109 20 33 5 1 6 24 4 28 0 .303 .262 (+15%) .336 (+33%) .376 (+41%) .712 (+38%) 812.3
1948 HG NN2 37 122 23 34 8 0 4 18 1 26 0 .279 .263 (+6%) .340 (+22%) .379 (+17%) .719 (+19%) 494.1
Career · 15 seasons 641 2,300 567 790 153 52 100 578 32 419 14 .343 — — — — 19,107

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
34 119 22 39 6 1 3 16 25 2 .328

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1948 NLC HG 4 14 0 5 1 0 0 3 3 0 .357
1948 NWS HG 2 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000
1945 NWS HG 4 15 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .200
1944 NWS HG 5 16 5 8 1 0 1 2 5 1 .500
1943 NWS HG 7 27 7 8 3 1 0 4 6 0 .296
1942 NWS HG 4 16 3 4 0 0 0 1 1 1 .250
1941 NLC HG 1 4 3 2 0 0 1 3 2 0 .500
1939 NLC HG 5 13 1 6 0 0 0 2 5 0 .462
1939 NLP2 HG 2 7 2 3 1 0 1 1 1 0 .429

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (522 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home28285624733354170.389
Away24083920930954138.368

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1948-09-08 HOMNW2W 301100110
1948-09-06 HOMBLGW 422100210
1948-08-31 HOMPH5W 011001100
1948-08-30 HOMPH5W 013001200
1948-08-27 HOMPH5W 212001120
1948-08-23 HOMPH5L 300000010
1948-08-13 HOMBLGL 401000000
1948-08-12 HOMNY6W 300000020
1948-08-11 HOMNW2L 300000010
1948-08-10 HOMNW2L 401000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 639 637 6361 285 81 354

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1934 HG 1B 20 20 188 7 6 8
1935 HG 1B 40 40 379 15 6 28
1936 HG 1B 35 35 347 18 4 26
1937 HG 1B 42 42 444 27 6 21
1938 HG 1B 43 43 451 13 4 22
1939 HG 1B 32 32 324 12 2 19
1940 HG 1B 54 54 568 21 5 31
1941 HG 1B 57 57 590 28 6 32
1942 HG 1B 38 38 330 17 4 12
1943 HG 1B 68 68 645 32 12 43
1944 HG 1B 50 50 542 30 3 31
1945 HG 1B 40 40 422 17 4 24
1946 HG 1B 50 50 487 20 8 30
1947 HG 1B 33 33 295 12 2 9
1948 HG 1B 37 35 349 16 9 18

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
First Base 639

Most Similar Players

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

  1. 98
    John Beckwith
    .350 avg, 97 HR
  2. 94
    George Scales
    .329 avg, 76 HR
  3. 91
    Jud Wilson HOF
    .357 avg, 100 HR
  4. 91
    Willard Brown HOF
    .354 avg, 63 HR
  5. 88
    Mule Suttles HOF
    .339 avg, 188 HR
  6. 75
    Willie Wells HOF
    .327 avg, 145 HR

Compare Buck Leonard

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Leonard's closest peers by position and era.

vs Harmon Killebrew
vs Hank Greenberg
vs Johnny Mize
vs Orlando Cepeda
vs Ernie Banks
vs George Sisler

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

Frequently Asked Questions about Buck Leonard

Was Buck Leonard a pitcher?
No. Buck Leonard was a position player (First Baseman).
How many home runs did Buck Leonard hit?
Buck Leonard hit 100 career home runs with 790 hits.
Is Buck Leonard in the Hall of Fame?
Yes. Buck Leonard was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.