Cliff Mapes

Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1948-1952)

Cliff Mapes was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1948 to 1952 for the New York Yankees, the St. Louis Browns, and the Detroit Tigers, a span of 5 seasons. In 459 career games, he hit .242 with 289 hits, 38 home runs, and 172 RBI. His totals include Negro Leagues seasons, which MLB recognized as major league in 2020. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 533.

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 .242
HR 38
RBI 172
H 289
OPS .743
PIV 533
Position
Outfielder
Bats / Throws
L / R
Height / Weight
6'3" / 205 lb
Born
3/13/1922 in Sutherland, NE, USA
Died
12/5/1996 in Pryor, OK, USA
MLB Debut
1948-04-20
Last Game
1952-09-28

Full name: Clifford Franklin Mapes

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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

Cliff Mapes — Batting
PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
26.0 23.0 2.0 3.0 1.0 0 1.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 .130 .231 .304 .535

Negro Leagues (season totals). Additive Retrosheet-digitized totals for seasons not already in the logs above; they are not summed into the career line. No team/league breakdown is available, and coverage may be partial.

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Cliff Mapes — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting
Season PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1947 1.0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
Listed seasons · 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — —

Career Batting Statistics

Cliff Mapes — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
459 1,193 199 289 55 13 38 172 8 168 213 .242 .338 .406 .743 533

Career AVG .242 vs. league average .261 across their career seasons — 7.3% below league average.

Career OBP .338 vs. league average .339 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .406 vs. league average .384 across their career seasons — +5.7% above league average.

Career OPS .743 vs. league average .723 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Cliff Mapes — 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
1948 NYA AL 53 88 19 22 11 1 1 12 1 6 13 .250 .263 (-5%) .340 (-12%) .379 (+14%) .719 (+1%) -29.6
1949 NYA AL 111 304 56 75 13 3 7 38 6 58 50 .247 .262 (-6%) .343 (+7%) .384 (-1%) .727 (+3%) 294.2
1950 NYA AL 108 356 60 88 14 6 12 61 1 47 61 .247 .265 (-7%) .346 (-2%) .401 (+5%) .747 (+2%) 77.1
1951 NYA AL 45 51 6 11 3 1 2 8 0 4 14 .216 .260 (-17%) .336 (-19%) .385 (+12%) .721 (-2%) -47.6
1951 SLA AL 56 201 32 55 7 2 7 30 0 26 33 .274 .260 (+5%) .336 (+7%) .385 (+12%) .721 (+10%) -47.6
1952 DET AL 86 193 26 38 7 0 9 23 0 27 42 .197 .252 (-22%) .326 (-10%) .369 (+1%) .696 (-4%) -125.6
Career · 6 seasons 459 1,193 199 289 55 13 38 172 8 168 213 .242 — — — — 121

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

Cliff Mapes — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
5 14 3 1 1 0 0 2 2 5 .071

Playoff Batting by Year

Cliff Mapes — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1950 WS NYA 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000
1949 WS NYA 4 10 3 1 1 0 0 2 2 4 .100

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (459 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Cliff Mapes — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home22860511416225103.268
Away231588851271367.216

Last 10 Games — Batting

Cliff Mapes — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1952-09-28 DETCLEL 100000001
1952-09-27 DETCLEL 100000000
1952-09-22 DETCLEL 300000013
1952-09-21 DETCLEL 200000011
1952-09-20 DETCLEL 101000000
1952-09-19 DETCLEL 100000000
1952-09-15 DETMINW 010000010
1952-09-14 DETMINL 100000000
1952-09-13 DETPHAL 101000000
1952-09-12 DETPHAL 411001101

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Cliff Mapes — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
OF 381 0 675 33 23 11

Season-by-Season Fielding

Cliff Mapes — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1948 NYA OF 21 0 42 4 2 1
1949 NYA OF 108 0 228 14 6 4
1950 NYA OF 102 0 183 8 10 4
1951 NYA OF 34 0 25 0 0 0
1951 SLA OF 53 0 111 4 2 1
1952 DET OF 63 0 86 3 3 1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Cliff Mapes — Career Games by Position
Position Games
Left Field 38
Center Field 119
Right Field 237

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Cliff Mapes (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Pavin Smith
    .242 avg, 48 HR
  2. 93
    Nolan Jones
    .247 avg, 30 HR
  3. 91
    Lars Nootbaar
    .241 avg, 66 HR
  4. 90
    Jake Fraley
    .246 avg, 49 HR
  5. 86
    Rob Ducey
    .242 avg, 31 HR
  6. 81
    Brandon Guyer
    .250 avg, 32 HR

Cliff Mapes: the record in brief

The profile opens with Cliff Mapes's first major league game on April 20, 1948; the last one listed came on September 28, 1952. By club, Mapes's seasons break down as the New York Yankees (1948 through 1951), the St. Louis Browns (1951), and the Detroit Tigers (1952). Born on March 13, 1922, in Sutherland, NE, USA, Mapes is listed as an outfielder and threw right-handed and batted left-handed. The bio gives 6 feet, 3 inches and 205 pounds. The bio records the death on December 5, 1996, in Pryor, OK, USA. The bio lists the given name Clifford Franklin.

The batting record for Mapes: 459 games, 289 hits in 1,193 at bats, and a .242 average, along with 38 homers and 172 RBI. Reaching base at a .338 clip and slugging .406, Mapes finished with a .743 OPS. Set against a .261 league average for the same years, Mapes's .242 average sits 7.3% below it. The home run peak was 12 in 1950 with the New York Yankees.

Frequently Asked Questions about Cliff Mapes

What years did Cliff Mapes play?
Cliff Mapes played in Major League Baseball from 1948 to 1952.
Was Cliff Mapes a pitcher?
No. Cliff Mapes was a position player (Outfielder).
How many home runs did Cliff Mapes hit?
Cliff Mapes hit 38 career home runs with 289 hits.
What was Cliff Mapes's career batting average?
Cliff Mapes batted .242 over his career, with 289 hits in 1,193 at bats.
How many RBI did Cliff Mapes have?
Cliff Mapes drove in 172 runs in his career.
Is Cliff Mapes in the Hall of Fame?
No. Cliff Mapes has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.