Duster Mails

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1915-1926)

Duster Mails was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1926 for the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Cleveland Guardians, and the St. Louis Cardinals, a span of 12 seasons. Across 104 career appearances, he went 32-25 with a 4.10 ERA and 232 strikeouts.

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

W–L 32–25
ERA 4.10
WHIP 1.50
SO 232
Pitcher PIV -2697.6
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
L / L
Height / Weight
6'0" / 195 lb
Born
10/1/1894 in San Quentin, CA, USA
Died
7/5/1974 in San Francisco, CA, USA
MLB Debut
1915-09-28
Last Game
1926-04-29

Full name: John Walter Mails

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Career Pitching Statistics

Duster Mails — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
32 25 104 59 29 5 2 516.0 554 235 27 220 232 4.10 -2697.6

Career ERA 4.10 vs. league average 3.71 across their career seasons — 10.4% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Duster Mails — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1915 BRO NL 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 5.0 6 2 5 3 3.60 — 0.0
1916 BRO NL 0 1 11 0 0 0 0 17.1 15 7 9 13 3.63 2.78 (-31%) -174.3
1920 CLE AL 7 0 9 8 6 2 0 63.1 54 13 18 25 1.85 3.45 (+46%) 615.4
1921 CLE AL 14 8 34 24 10 2 2 194.1 210 85 89 87 3.94 4.02 (+2%) 391.6
1922 CLE AL 4 7 26 13 4 1 0 104.0 122 61 40 54 5.28 4.18 (-26%) -640.6
1925 SLN NL 7 7 21 14 9 0 0 131.0 145 67 58 49 4.60 4.55 (-1%) -2889.6
1926 SLN NL 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1.0 2 0 1 1 0.00 — 0.0
Career · 7 seasons 32 25 104 59 29 5 2 516.0 554 235 220 232 4.10 — -2,698

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

Duster Mails — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
104 165 14 22 6 1 0 8 0 16 73 .133 .210 .182 .392 -574

Career AVG .133 vs. league average .273 across their career seasons — 51.2% below league average.

Career OBP .210 vs. league average .336 across their career seasons — 37.5% below league average.

Career SLG .182 vs. league average .374 across their career seasons — 51.4% below league average.

Career OPS .392 vs. league average .710 across their career seasons — 44.8% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Duster Mails — Season-by-Season Batting
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1915 BRO NL 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1916 BRO NL 11 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .250 — — — — 0.0
1920 CLE AL 9 20 3 4 1 0 0 0 0 2 6 .200 — — — — 0.0
1921 CLE AL 34 64 5 6 2 0 0 4 0 9 38 .094 .286 (-67%) .344 (-40%) .395 (-68%) .739 (-55%) -573.8
1922 CLE AL 26 31 2 5 1 1 0 1 0 2 14 .161 — — — — 0.0
1925 SLN NL 21 45 3 6 2 0 0 3 0 3 13 .133 — — — — 0.0
1926 SLN NL 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 7 seasons 104 165 14 22 6 1 0 8 0 16 73 .133 — — — — -574

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

Duster Mails — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000

Playoff Batting by Year

Duster Mails — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1920 WS CLE 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

Duster Mails — Playoff Career Pitching
W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1 0 2 1 0 15.2 6 0 6 6 0.00

Playoff Pitching by Year

Duster Mails — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1920 WS CLE 1 0 2 1 0 15.2 6 0 6 6 0.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (208 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Duster Mails — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home558681504.174
Away49796702.089

Pitching — Home / Away

Duster Mails — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home55290.02941201241413.72
Away49226.1261115104934.57

Last 10 Games — Batting

Duster Mails — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1926-04-29 STLCHCL 000000000
1925-09-20 STLBROW 300000002
1925-09-13 STLPITW 211000110
1925-09-07 STLCINL 000000000
1925-09-05 STLPITL 100000001
1925-08-30 STLNY1L 300000001
1925-08-27 STLBROL 000000000
1925-08-25 STLBROL 200000000
1925-08-20 STLBSNL 200000010
1925-08-14 STLCHCL 200000000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Duster Mails — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1926-04-29 STLCHC L 1.0210110
1925-09-20 STLBRO W 6.2744620
1925-09-13 STLPIT W 9.0943531
1925-09-07 STLCIN — 3.0431110
1925-09-05 STLPIT — 3.2855320
1925-08-30 STLNY1 L 8.01032241
1925-08-27 STLBRO — 0.1210000
1925-08-25 STLBRO — 6.0933411
1925-08-20 STLBSN L 8.0964311
1925-08-14 STLCHC L 7.0975120

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Duster Mails — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
P 104 0 20 96 6 2

Season-by-Season Fielding

Duster Mails — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1915 BRO P 2 0 0 2 0 0
1916 BRO P 11 0 0 2 0 0
1920 CLE P 9 0 3 10 0 0
1921 CLE P 34 0 7 33 2 0
1922 CLE P 26 0 6 24 0 1
1925 SLN P 21 0 4 24 3 1
1926 SLN P 1 0 0 1 1 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Duster Mails — Career Games by Position
Position Games
Pitcher 104

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Duster Mails (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Jack Marshall
    35-31, 4.23 ERA
  2. 82
    Mike Dunne
    25-30, 4.08 ERA
  3. 81
    Jim Umbarger
    25-33, 4.14 ERA
  4. 79
    Slick Castleman
    36-26, 4.25 ERA
  5. 79
    Johnny Broaca
    44-29, 4.08 ERA
  6. 76
    Jim Hughes
    25-30, 4.30 ERA

Duster Mails: the record in brief

Duster Mails's major league career runs from a debut on September 28, 1915 to a final game on April 29, 1926. Club by club, the record runs the Brooklyn Robins (1915 to 1916), the Cleveland Indians (1920 through 1922), and the St. Louis Cardinals (1925 to 1926). Mails, born on October 1, 1894, in San Quentin, CA, USA, is listed as a pitcher and batted and threw left-handed. Mails's listed size is 6 feet, 0 inches and 195 pounds. The bio records the death on July 5, 1974, in San Francisco, CA, USA. Duster Mails was the playing name; the full given name is John Walter.

The pitching table credits Mails with a 32-25 record and a 4.10 ERA in 104 games. Also on Mails's record: 232 strikeouts, 29 complete games, and 5 shutouts. The league ERA over Mails's seasons was 3.71, so the 4.10 figure ran 10.4% worse than average. Mails won 14 games in 1921, the most of any season listed.

Frequently Asked Questions about Duster Mails

What years did Duster Mails play?
Duster Mails played in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1926.
Was Duster Mails a pitcher?
Yes. Duster Mails pitched in the major leagues, recording 32 wins and 232 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Duster Mails hit?
Duster Mails hit 0 career home runs with 22 hits.
What was Duster Mails's career batting average?
Duster Mails batted .133 over his career, with 22 hits in 165 at bats.
How many RBI did Duster Mails have?
Duster Mails drove in 8 runs in his career.
What was Duster Mails's career ERA?
Duster Mails finished with a 4.10 career ERA, going 32-25 with 232 strikeouts.