What years did Bobby Mathews play?

Bobby Mathews played in Major League Baseball from 1871 to 1887.

Was Bobby Mathews a pitcher?

Yes. Bobby Mathews pitched in the major leagues, recording 297 wins and 1528 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Bobby Mathews hit?

Bobby Mathews hit 1 career home runs with 504 hits.

Bobby Mathews

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1871-1887)

W–L 297–248

ERA 2.86

WHIP 1.24

SO 1,528

Pitcher PIV 25038.6

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 5'5" / 140 lb
Born: 11/21/1851 in Baltimore, MD, USA
Died: 4/17/1898 in Baltimore, MD, USA
MLB Debut: 1871-05-04
Last Game: 1887-10-10

Full name: Robert T. Mathews

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Pitching Statistics

W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
297	248	578	568	525	20	3	4956.0	5,601	1,573	70	532	1,528	2.86	25038.6

Career ERA 2.86 vs. league average 3.16 across their career seasons — 9.6% 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
1871	FW1		6	11	19	19	19	1	0	169.0	261	97	21	17	5.17	4.22 (-22%)	368.2
1872	BL1		25	18	49	47	39	0	0	406.0	480	144	52	57	3.19	3.66 (+13%)	286.0
1873	NY2		29	23	52	52	47	2	0	443.0	489	127	62	79	2.58	3.40 (+24%)	1050.1
1874	NY2		42	22	65	65	62	4	0	578.0	652	122	41	101	1.90	2.19 (+13%)	3187.7
1875	NY2		29	38	70	70	69	3	0	625.7	711	173	20	75	2.49	2.23 (-12%)	850.5
1876	NY3	NL	21	34	56	56	55	2	0	516.0	693	164	24	37	2.86	2.31 (-24%)	-1632.7
1877	CN1	NL	3	12	15	15	13	0	0	129.3	208	58	17	9	4.04	2.81 (-44%)	-926.8
1879	PRO	NL	12	6	27	25	15	1	1	189.0	194	48	26	90	2.29	2.50 (+8%)	107.0
1881	PRO	NL	4	8	14	14	10	1	0	102.3	121	36	21	28	3.17	2.77 (-14%)	-599.4
1881	BSN	NL	1	0	5	1	1	0	2	23.0	22	6	11	5	2.35	2.77 (+15%)	-524.3
1882	BSN	NL	19	15	34	32	31	0	0	285.0	278	91	22	153	2.87	2.80 (-3%)	4971.0
1883	PH4	AA	30	13	44	44	41	1	0	381.0	396	104	31	203	2.46	3.22 (+24%)	4255.9
1884	PH4	AA	30	18	49	49	48	3	0	430.7	401	159	49	286	3.32	3.11 (-7%)	5174.1
1885	PH4	AA	30	17	48	48	46	2	0	422.3	394	114	57	286	2.43	3.03 (+20%)	10066.2
1886	PH4	AA	13	9	24	24	22	0	0	197.7	226	87	53	93	3.96	3.37 (-18%)	56.3
1887	PH4	AA	3	4	7	7	7	0	0	58.0	75	43	25	9	6.67	4.17 (-60%)	-1651.2
Career · 16 seasons			297	248	578	568	525	20	3	4,956.0	5,601	1,573	532	1,528	2.86	—	25,039

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

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
623	2,486	318	504	48	9	1	164	10	73	62	.203	.225	.230	.456	-8,543

Career AVG .203 vs. league average .256 across their career seasons — 20.9% below league average.

Career OBP .225 vs. league average .292 across their career seasons — 22.7% below league average.

Career SLG .230 vs. league average .338 across their career seasons — 31.8% below league average.

Career OPS .456 vs. league average .629 across their career seasons — 27.6% 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
1871	FW1		19	89	15	24	3	1	0	10	2	2	0	.270	.286 (-6%)	.311 (-8%)	.383 (-15%)	.695 (-12%)	-156.3
1872	BL1		50	222	36	50	2	0	0	22	3	3	2	.225	.285 (-21%)	.296 (-21%)	.347 (-33%)	.644 (-27%)	-813.9
1873	NY2		52	223	40	43	3	3	0	14	1	10	3	.193	.290 (-34%)	.304 (-25%)	.357 (-35%)	.661 (-30%)	-955.8
1874	NY2		65	298	46	72	6	1	0	30	2	3	4	.242	.273 (-12%)	.282 (-12%)	.333 (-19%)	.615 (-16%)	-608.9
1875	NY2		70	264	23	48	6	2	0	15	1	2	5	.182	.253 (-28%)	.260 (-28%)	.309 (-29%)	.570 (-29%)	-934.4
1876	NY3	NL	56	218	19	40	4	1	0	9	0	3	2	.183	.265 (-31%)	.277 (-30%)	.320 (-34%)	.598 (-32%)	-908.6
1877	CN1	NL	15	59	5	10	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.169	.271 (-37%)	.289 (-37%)	.337 (-50%)	.626 (-44%)	-343.6
1879	PRO	NL	43	173	25	35	2	0	1	10	0	7	12	.202	.255 (-21%)	.270 (-14%)	.328 (-30%)	.599 (-22%)	-462.0
1881	PRO	NL	16	57	6	11	1	0	0	4	0	5	6	.193	.260 (-26%)	.290 (-11%)	.338 (-38%)	.628 (-25%)	-176.3
1881	BSN	NL	19	71	2	12	2	0	0	4	0	0	5	.169	.260 (-35%)	.290 (-42%)	.338 (-42%)	.628 (-42%)	-176.3
1882	BSN	NL	45	169	17	38	6	0	0	13	0	8	18	.225	.248 (-9%)	.275 (-6%)	.329 (-21%)	.605 (-14%)	-280.8
1883	PH4	AA	45	167	15	31	2	0	0	11	0	5	0	.186	.257 (-28%)	.285 (-27%)	.345 (-43%)	.631 (-36%)	-789.5
1884	PH4	AA	49	184	26	34	5	1	0	0	0	7	0	.185	.243 (-24%)	.278 (-23%)	.327 (-32%)	.606 (-28%)	-675.0
1885	PH4	AA	48	179	22	30	3	0	0	12	0	10	0	.168	.244 (-31%)	.287 (-26%)	.325 (-43%)	.613 (-35%)	-832.3
1886	PH4	AA	24	88	16	21	3	0	0	10	1	3	0	.239	.246 (-3%)	.302 (-13%)	.331 (-18%)	.634 (-15%)	-195.7
1887	PH4	AA	7	25	5	5	0	0	0	0	0	4	3	.200	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 16 seasons			623	2,486	318	504	48	9	1	164	10	73	62	.203	—	—	—	—	-8,309

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.

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
3B	9	1	5	6	10	1
OF	80	2	54	8	21	1
P	578	130	236	791	220	22
SS	2	0	1	1	4	0

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1871	FW1	P	19	19	19	23	8	2
1872	BL1	3B	3	1	1	3	6	0
1872	BL1	OF	8	2	1	0	0	0
1872	BL1	P	49	46	20	51	20	2
1873	NY2	OF	5	0	2	0	1	0
1873	NY2	P	52	0	27	58	24	1
1874	NY2	3B	1	0	1	1	0	1
1874	NY2	OF	1	0	0	0	0	0
1874	NY2	P	65	65	29	101	38	2
1875	NY2	OF	1	0	0	0	0	0
1875	NY2	P	70	0	44	106	29	4
1876	NY3	OF	1	0	0	0	0	0
1876	NY3	P	56	0	41	78	28	0
1877	CN1	OF	1	0	0	0	0	0
1877	CN1	P	15	0	7	18	4	0
1877	CN1	SS	1	0	1	1	3	0
1879	PRO	3B	5	0	3	2	4	0
1879	PRO	OF	21	0	17	5	7	1
1879	PRO	P	27	0	4	39	2	0
1881	PRO	OF	5	0	3	0	1	0
1881	PRO	P	14	0	1	16	4	2
1881	BSN	OF	18	0	24	3	6	0
1881	BSN	P	5	0	2	2	0	0
1882	BSN	OF	13	0	6	0	5	0
1882	BSN	P	34	0	5	34	6	1
1882	BSN	SS	1	0	0	0	1	0
1883	PH4	OF	3	0	0	0	0	0
1883	PH4	P	44	0	15	68	12	2
1884	PH4	OF	1	0	0	0	0	0
1884	PH4	P	49	0	8	78	25	1
1885	PH4	OF	1	0	1	0	0	0
1885	PH4	P	48	0	7	67	10	1
1886	PH4	OF	1	0	0	0	1	0
1886	PH4	P	24	0	5	38	8	3
1887	PH4	P	7	0	2	14	2	1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position	Games
Pitcher	577
Third Base	9
Shortstop	2
Left Field	5
Center Field	10
Right Field	66

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Bobby Mathews (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Frequently Asked Questions about Bobby Mathews

What years did Bobby Mathews play?: Bobby Mathews played in Major League Baseball from 1871 to 1887.
Was Bobby Mathews a pitcher?: Yes. Bobby Mathews pitched in the major leagues, recording 297 wins and 1528 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Bobby Mathews hit?: Bobby Mathews hit 1 career home runs with 504 hits.