Verdell Mathis

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records

Verdell Mathis was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Memphis Red Sox, the Chicago American Giants, and the Philadelphia Stars. Across 68 career appearances, he went 27-24 with a 3.75 ERA and 245 strikeouts. He also batted .265 with 1 home runs. Verdell Mathis was a 4-time All-Star. 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 8218.7.

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 27–24
ERA 3.75
WHIP 1.33
SO 245
Pitcher PIV 8218.7
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
L / L
Height / Weight
5'11" / 155 lb
Born
11/18/1913 in Crawfordsville, AR, USA
Died
10/30/1998 in Memphis, TN, USA
Awards
4× All-Star

Full name: Verdell Jackson Mathis

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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

Verdell Mathis — Batting
PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
527.0 474.0 86.0 138.0 14.0 4.0 6.0 51.0 52.0 7.0 8.0 .291 .361 .376 .737

Pitching

Verdell Mathis — Pitching
W L GS CG GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA WHIP
96 71 178 121 63 4 1270.0 954 529 92 24 162 293 0.65 0.88

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

Verdell Mathis — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting
Season PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1949 33.0 30.0 6.0 7.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 4.0 3.0 0 0 .233 .303 .467 .770
Listed seasons · 1 33 30 6 7 2 1 1 4 3 0 0 .233 — — —

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching

Verdell Mathis — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching
Season W L GS CG GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA WHIP
1949 9 3 12 10 7 2 101.0 74 33 10 1 17 9 0.89 0.90
Listed seasons · 1 9 3 12 10 7 2 101.0 74 33 10 1 17 9 0.89 0.90

Career Pitching Statistics

Verdell Mathis — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
27 24 68 51 36 2 1 420.1 440 175 14 121 245 3.75 8218.7

Career ERA 3.75 vs. league average 3.79 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Verdell Mathis Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1940 MRS NAL 1 3 9 4 2 0 0 49.0 47 23 14 29 4.22 4.21 (avg) 1674.7
1941 MRS NAL 3 1 5 3 3 0 0 30.1 31 11 7 21 3.26 3.94 (+17%) 737.8
1941 CAG NAL 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 3.1 10 7 1 3 18.90 — 0.0
1942 MRS NAL 5 6 13 10 8 0 1 79.0 83 30 16 41 3.42 3.57 (+4%) 1788.3
1943 MRS NAL 4 2 10 6 5 1 0 62.2 68 20 14 28 2.87 3.50 (+18%) 1301.4
1943 PS NN2 2 2 4 4 2 0 0 25.2 24 11 7 15 3.86 3.50 (-10%) 373.4
1944 MRS NAL 8 2 12 10 9 1 0 88.0 84 29 28 61 2.97 3.57 (+17%) 1831.4
1945 MRS NAL 2 2 5 5 4 0 0 34.0 39 14 4 16 3.71 3.67 (-1%) 1165.8
1946 MRS NAL 0 2 2 2 1 0 0 11.0 11 3 3 6 2.45 3.59 (+32%) 276.9
1947 MRS NAL 1 1 3 3 1 0 0 16.1 19 13 16 9 7.16 3.97 (-80%) -954.1
1948 MRS NAL 1 2 4 3 1 0 0 21.0 24 14 11 16 6.00 4.10 (-46%) 23.2
Career · 11 seasons 27 24 68 51 36 2 1 420.1 440 175 121 245 3.75 — 8,219

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

Verdell Mathis — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
163 437 66 116 10 1 1 39 6 43 3 .265 .331 .300 .631 -617

Career AVG .265 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .331 vs. league average .331 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .300 vs. league average .365 across their career seasons — 17.8% below league average.

Career OPS .631 vs. league average .696 across their career seasons — 9.3% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Verdell Mathis 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
1940 MRS NAL 43 117 14 25 3 0 1 9 3 12 1 .214 .267 (-20%) .335 (-14%) .387 (-32%) .722 (-24%) -425.3
1941 MRS NAL 10 29 6 12 0 0 0 4 0 1 0 .414 — — — — 0.0
1941 CAG NAL 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1942 MRS NAL 20 43 7 19 1 0 0 4 1 4 0 .442 — — — — 0.0
1943 MRS NAL 23 74 12 16 1 0 0 8 0 12 1 .216 .255 (-16%) .324 (avg) .346 (-34%) .671 (-17%) -148.4
1943 PS NN2 5 11 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .182 — — — — -148.4
1944 MRS NAL 24 72 7 20 2 1 0 6 1 5 0 .278 .261 (+6%) .325 (avg) .357 (-7%) .683 (-4%) -43.2
1945 MRS NAL 17 36 11 10 2 0 0 5 1 7 0 .278 — — — — 0.0
1946 MRS NAL 10 34 4 7 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 .206 — — — — 0.0
1947 MRS NAL 3 8 2 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .375 — — — — 0.0
1948 MRS NAL 7 12 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 .167 — — — — 0.0
Career · 11 seasons 163 437 66 116 10 1 1 39 6 43 3 .265 — — — — -765

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.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (438 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Verdell Mathis — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home1221071932212.299
Away1352194565428.297

Pitching — Home / Away

Verdell Mathis — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home94476.22892128590.40
Away87471.141566971361.26

Last 10 Games — Batting

Verdell Mathis — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1949-09-05 MEMBIRW 000000000
1949-08-26 MEMHOEL 000000000
1949-08-24 MEMNY6L 411000100
1949-08-23 MEMBLGW 421100010
1949-08-21 MEMBLGL 100000000
1949-08-21 MEMBLGL 312100000
1949-08-04 MEMKCMW 401010200
1949-07-31 MEMKCML 100000000
1949-07-31 MEMKCML 300000000
1949-07-28 MEMBIRW 000000000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Verdell Mathis — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1949-09-05 MEMBIR W 9.0510000
1949-08-26 MEMHOE L 0.0000000
1949-08-21 MEMBLG L 8.0976831
1949-07-28 MEMBIR W 9.0050000
1949-07-24 MEMBIR W 7.0610000
1949-07-17 MEMLCB W 9.0320000
1949-07-03 MEMBIR W 7.0820520
1949-06-21 MEMKCM SV 1.0100000
1949-06-19 MEMKCM L 2.1543210
1949-06-13 MEMHOE W 9.0940000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Verdell Mathis — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 16 10 100 6 3 4
OF 75 54 124 4 7 1
P 68 51 34 118 10 5

Season-by-Season Fielding

Verdell Mathis — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1940 MRS 1B 5 1 15 0 2 0
1940 MRS OF 31 24 53 2 1 0
1940 MRS P 9 4 3 14 1 0
1941 MRS OF 4 3 9 0 0 0
1941 MRS P 5 3 2 12 0 0
1941 CAG P 1 1 0 2 0 0
1942 MRS 1B 1 0 1 0 0 0
1942 MRS OF 6 2 5 1 2 0
1942 MRS P 13 10 6 20 3 0
1943 MRS 1B 6 6 51 4 1 1
1943 MRS OF 9 8 23 0 2 0
1943 MRS P 10 6 9 20 1 1
1943 PS P 4 4 2 4 0 1
1944 MRS 1B 3 3 32 2 0 3
1944 MRS OF 7 5 12 1 1 1
1944 MRS P 12 10 8 25 0 3
1945 MRS 1B 1 0 1 0 0 0
1945 MRS OF 8 6 12 0 0 0
1945 MRS P 5 5 0 9 1 0
1946 MRS OF 9 6 9 0 1 0
1946 MRS P 2 2 1 4 1 0
1947 MRS P 3 3 3 4 3 0
1948 MRS OF 1 0 1 0 0 0
1948 MRS P 4 3 0 4 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Verdell Mathis Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 68
First Base 16
Left Field 28
Center Field 38
Right Field 9

Most Similar Players

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

  1. 98
    Patricio Scantlebury
    27-20, 3.84 ERA
  2. 97
    Rich Nye
    26-31, 3.71 ERA
  3. 93
    Johnny Markham
    26-19, 3.66 ERA
  4. 92
    Lee Wade
    25-27, 3.77 ERA
  5. 92
    Terris McDuffie
    44-35, 3.86 ERA
  6. 90
    Henderson Alvarez
    27-35, 3.82 ERA

Verdell Mathis: the record in brief

The season rows for Verdell Mathis begin in 1940. By club, Mathis's seasons break down as the Memphis Red Sox (1940 through 1948), the Chicago American Giants (1941), and the Philadelphia Stars (1943). Mathis, born on November 18, 1913, in Crawfordsville, AR, USA, is listed as a pitcher and batted and threw left-handed. The bio gives 5 feet, 11 inches and 155 pounds. The bio records the death on October 30, 1998, in Memphis, TN, USA. Mathis's full given name, per the bio, is Verdell Jackson Mathis.

The pitching table credits Mathis with a 27-24 record and a 3.75 ERA in 68 games. Mathis had 245 strikeouts and 36 complete games. Mathis's 3.75 ERA was close to the 3.79 league figure for those seasons. 1944 brought Mathis a season-high 8 wins. 1943 was Mathis's sharpest full season, a 2.87 ERA against the league's 3.50. By Pitcher PIV, Baseball Data Hub's measure of run prevention relative to each season's league, Mathis's career adds up to 8,218.7.

Frequently Asked Questions about Verdell Mathis

Was Verdell Mathis a pitcher?
Yes. Verdell Mathis pitched in the major leagues, recording 27 wins and 245 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Verdell Mathis hit?
Verdell Mathis hit 1 career home runs with 116 hits.
What was Verdell Mathis's career batting average?
Verdell Mathis batted .265 over his career, with 116 hits in 437 at bats.
How many RBI did Verdell Mathis have?
Verdell Mathis drove in 39 runs in his career.
What was Verdell Mathis's career ERA?
Verdell Mathis finished with a 3.75 career ERA, going 27-24 with 245 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Verdell Mathis have?
Verdell Mathis recorded 245 career strikeouts.