Johnny Markham

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records

Johnny Markham was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Kansas City Monarchs, the Monroe Monarchs, and the Birmingham Black Barons. Across 82 career appearances, he went 26-19 with a 3.66 ERA and 218 strikeouts. His totals include Negro Leagues seasons, which MLB recognized as major league in 2020. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 9039.3.

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 26–19
ERA 3.66
WHIP 1.28
SO 218
Pitcher PIV 9039.3
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
5'10" / 180 lb
Born
10/1/1908 in Shreveport, LA, USA
Died
3/10/1975 in Los Angeles, CA, USA

Full name: John Matthew Markham

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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

Johnny Markham — Batting
PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
148.0 141.0 7.0 19.0 3.0 0 0 5.0 1.0 2.0 0 .135 .141 .156 .297

Pitching

Johnny Markham — Pitching
W L GS CG GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA WHIP
50 29 79 56 57 7 657.2 535 273 79 7 83 178 1.08 0.94

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

Johnny Markham — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting
Season PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1946 5.0 4.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
Listed seasons · 1 5 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — —

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching

Johnny Markham — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching
Season W L GS CG GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA WHIP
1946 2 4 4 4 8 2 52.2 35 19 2 2 5 5 0.34 0.76
1947 1 0 1 1 0 0 7.0 5 1 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.71
Listed seasons · 2 3 4 5 5 8 2 59.2 40 20 2 2 5 5 0.30 0.75

Career Pitching Statistics

Johnny Markham — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
26 19 82 40 25 5 4 376.0 383 153 13 97 218 3.66 9039.3

Career ERA 3.66 vs. league average 3.99 across their career seasons — 8.2% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Johnny Markham Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1930 KCM NNL 3 7 17 12 7 1 0 96.2 112 47 30 39 4.38 4.80 (+9%) 492.4
1932 MRM NSL 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 3.1 2 3 6 4 8.10 — 0.0
1937 KCM NAL 7 0 12 4 2 0 0 47.2 51 22 13 47 4.15 4.34 (+4%) 1695.9
1938 KCM NAL 3 4 14 3 2 1 1 41.0 38 16 12 38 3.51 4.35 (+19%) 1650.5
1941 BBB NAL 4 3 8 4 3 2 0 36.0 39 14 4 24 3.50 3.94 (+11%) 1933.2
1942 BBB NAL 2 2 13 5 4 1 2 60.0 47 15 8 33 2.25 3.57 (+37%) 2342.3
1943 BBB NAL 5 1 8 7 5 0 0 49.0 42 12 11 16 2.20 3.50 (+37%) 624.6
1944 BBB NAL 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 7.2 9 3 1 3 3.52 — 0.0
1945 BBB NAL 2 2 7 4 2 0 1 34.2 43 21 12 14 5.45 3.67 (-49%) 300.3
Career · 9 seasons 26 19 82 40 25 5 4 376.0 383 153 97 218 3.66 — 9,039

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

Johnny Markham — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
88 156 8 22 6 1 0 8 0 2 2 .141 .157 .192 .350 0

Career AVG .141 vs. league average .268 across their career seasons — 47.5% below league average.

Career OBP .157 vs. league average .335 across their career seasons — 53.0% below league average.

Career SLG .192 vs. league average .378 across their career seasons — 49.1% below league average.

Career OPS .350 vs. league average .712 across their career seasons — 50.9% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Johnny Markham 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
1930 KCM NNL 17 40 1 7 4 1 0 6 0 1 0 .175 — — — — 0.0
1932 MRM NSL 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1937 KCM NAL 12 17 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .176 — — — — 0.0
1938 KCM NAL 15 18 1 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 .167 — — — — 0.0
1941 BBB NAL 9 17 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .059 — — — — 0.0
1942 BBB NAL 14 21 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .048 — — — — 0.0
1943 BBB NAL 8 21 2 5 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 .238 — — — — 0.0
1944 BBB NAL 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1945 BBB NAL 10 17 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .118 — — — — 0.0
Career · 9 seasons 88 156 8 22 6 1 0 8 0 2 2 .141 — — — — 0

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

Johnny Markham — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
5 14 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .143

Playoff Batting by Year

Johnny Markham — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1944 NWS BBB 2 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200
1943 NWS BBB 3 9 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .111

Playoff Career Pitching

Johnny Markham — Playoff Career Pitching
W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1 2 4 3 0 32.2 31 8 13 8 2.20

Playoff Pitching by Year

Johnny Markham — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1944 NWS BBB 0 1 1 1 0 9.0 13 7 4 5 7.00
1943 NWS BBB 1 1 3 2 0 23.2 18 1 9 3 0.38

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (172 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Johnny Markham — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home51452601.133
Away38311201.065

Pitching — Home / Away

Johnny Markham — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home49191.11642227851.03
Away34143.11151616361.00

Last 10 Games — Batting

Johnny Markham — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1949-06-04 IN9KCMW 000000000
1947-09-01 CAGIN9W 000000000
1945-09-01 BIRCIAW 400000000
1945-08-26 BIRCIAL 000000000
1945-08-19 BIRCVBL 100000000
1945-07-16 BIRCVBL 200000000
1945-07-15 BIRCVBL 000000000
1945-07-03 BIRMEMW 000000000
1945-06-26 BIRCVBW 000000000
1945-06-10 BIRCAGW 000000000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Johnny Markham — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1947-09-01 CAGIN9 W 7.0510000
1945-09-01 BIRCIA W 9.0633430
1945-08-26 BIRCIA — 0.0000000
1945-08-19 BIRCVB L 5.0870100
1945-07-15 BIRCVB L 8.0730000
1945-07-03 BIRMEM — 0.0000000
1945-06-26 BIRCVB W 9.01140000
1945-06-10 BIRCAG SV 2.0100000
1945-06-03 BIRKCM — 0.0000000
1945-05-28 BIRCIA — 0.0000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Johnny Markham — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 1 1 12 0 0 1
2B 1 0 0 2 0 1
OF 1 0 1 0 0 0
P 82 41 6 81 6 5

Season-by-Season Fielding

Johnny Markham — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1930 KCM P 17 12 2 22 1 1
1932 MRM P 1 1 0 1 0 0
1937 KCM P 12 4 0 11 0 1
1938 KCM OF 1 0 1 0 0 0
1938 KCM P 14 3 1 7 0 1
1941 BBB 1B 1 1 12 0 0 1
1941 BBB P 8 4 2 9 0 0
1942 BBB P 13 6 1 9 2 1
1943 BBB P 8 7 0 11 0 0
1944 BBB P 2 0 0 2 0 0
1945 BBB 2B 1 0 0 2 0 1
1945 BBB P 7 4 0 9 3 1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Johnny Markham Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 82
First Base 1
Second Base 1
Left Field 1

Most Similar Players

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

  1. 98
    Rich Nye
    26-31, 3.71 ERA
  2. 91
    Jim LaMarque
    35-17, 3.46 ERA
  3. 89
    Porter Charleston
    32-19, 3.86 ERA
  4. 83
    Verdell Mathis
    27-24, 3.75 ERA
  5. 80
    Larry Jaster
    35-33, 3.64 ERA
  6. 80
    Lee Wade
    25-27, 3.77 ERA

Johnny Markham: the record in brief

Johnny Markham's record on this page is drawn from the season tables, which run from 1930 to 1945. The season rows list, in order, the Kansas City Monarchs (1930 through 1938), the Monroe Monarchs (1932), and the Birmingham Black Barons (1941 to 1945). Markham, born on October 1, 1908, in Shreveport, LA, USA, is listed as a pitcher and batted and threw right-handed. Markham's listed size is 180 pounds on a 5-foot-10 frame. Markham's death is recorded on March 10, 1975, in Los Angeles, CA, USA. The given name on file is John Matthew Markham.

Across 82 games (40 starts), Markham recorded 26 wins against 19 losses with a 3.66 ERA. Also on Markham's record: 218 strikeouts, 25 complete games, and 5 shutouts. That 3.66 ERA compares with a 3.99 league average across the same seasons, 8.2% better. Markham won 7 games in 1937, the most of any season listed. Among the heaviest workloads, the lowest ERA was 2.25 in 1942, when the league's was 3.57.

Frequently Asked Questions about Johnny Markham

Was Johnny Markham a pitcher?
Yes. Johnny Markham pitched in the major leagues, recording 26 wins and 218 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Johnny Markham hit?
Johnny Markham hit 0 career home runs with 22 hits.
What was Johnny Markham's career batting average?
Johnny Markham batted .141 over his career, with 22 hits in 156 at bats.
How many RBI did Johnny Markham have?
Johnny Markham drove in 8 runs in his career.
What was Johnny Markham's career ERA?
Johnny Markham finished with a 3.66 career ERA, going 26-19 with 218 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Johnny Markham have?
Johnny Markham recorded 218 career strikeouts.