What years did Jim McDonald play?

Jim McDonald played in Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1958.

Was Jim McDonald a pitcher?

Yes. Jim McDonald pitched in the major leagues, recording 24 wins and 158 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Jim McDonald hit?

Jim McDonald hit 0 career home runs with 23 hits.

What teams did Jim McDonald play for?

Jim McDonald played for 4 teams: the Boston Red Sox (1950), the Baltimore Orioles (1951, 1955), the New York Yankees (1952–1954), and the Chicago White Sox (1956–1958).

What were Jim McDonald's career stats?

In 136 games, Jim McDonald went 24-27 with a 4.27 ERA, 158 strikeouts, 468.0 innings pitched, and 1 saves.

What position did Jim McDonald play?

Jim McDonald played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Jim McDonald and how much did he weigh?

Jim McDonald was listed at 5 feet 10 inches and 185 pounds.

What was Jim McDonald's career ERA?

Jim McDonald finished with a 4.27 career ERA, going 24-27 with 158 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Jim McDonald have?

Jim McDonald recorded 158 career strikeouts.

Is Jim McDonald in the Hall of Fame?

No. Jim McDonald has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Jim McDonald

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1950-1958)

Jim McDonald was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1958 for 5 teams, including the Boston Red Sox, a span of 9 seasons. Across 136 career appearances, he went 24-27 with a 4.27 ERA and 158 strikeouts. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 566.9.

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 October 15, 2026

W–L 24–27

ERA 4.27

WHIP 1.54

SO 158

Pitcher PIV 566.9

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 5'10" / 185 lb
Born: 5/17/1927 in Grants Pass, OR, USA
Died: 10/23/2004 in Kingman, AZ, USA
MLB Debut: 1950-07-27
Last Game: 1958-04-26

Full name: Jimmie LeRoy McDonald

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Career Pitching Statistics

Jim McDonald — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
24	27	136	55	15	3	1	468.0	489	222	24	231	158	4.27	566.9

Career ERA 4.27 vs. league average 3.98 across their career seasons — 7.4% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Jim McDonald (b. 1927) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1950	BOS	AL	1	0	9	0	0	0	0	19.0	23	8	10	5	3.79	4.36 (+13%)	-57.0
1951	SLA	AL	4	7	16	11	5	0	1	84.0	84	38	46	28	4.07	4.04 (-1%)	-547.8
1952	NYA	AL	3	4	26	5	1	0	0	69.1	71	27	40	20	3.50	3.70 (+5%)	-200.8
1953	NYA	AL	9	7	27	18	6	2	0	129.2	128	55	39	43	3.82	4.14 (+8%)	2942.5
1954	NYA	AL	4	1	16	10	3	1	0	71.0	54	25	45	20	3.17	3.90 (+19%)	-763.9
1955	BAL	AL	3	5	21	8	0	0	0	51.2	76	41	30	20	7.14	4.00 (-79%)	-769.0
1956	CHA	AL	0	2	8	3	0	0	0	18.2	29	18	7	10	8.68	3.96 (-119%)	-5.6
1957	CHA	AL	0	1	10	0	0	0	0	22.1	18	5	10	12	2.01	3.83 (+47%)	-31.5
1958	CHA	AL	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	2.1	6	5	4	0	19.29	—	0.0
Career · 9 seasons			24	27	136	55	15	3	1	468.0	489	222	231	158	4.27	—	567

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

Jim McDonald — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
139	128	14	23	5	1	0	10	0	18	48	.180	.281	.234	.515	0

Career AVG .180 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — 30.8% below league average.

Career OBP .281 vs. league average .332 across their career seasons — 15.5% below league average.

Career SLG .234 vs. league average .391 across their career seasons — 40.1% below league average.

Career OPS .515 vs. league average .724 across their career seasons — 28.8% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Jim McDonald (b. 1927) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1950	BOS	AL	9	3	0	1	0	0	0	2	1	.333	—	—	—	—	0.0
1951	SLA	AL	17	29	1	6	1	1	3	1	7	.207	—	—	—	—	0.0
1952	NYA	AL	26	19	3	6	3	0	3	3	6	.316	—	—	—	—	0.0
1953	NYA	AL	29	41	2	4	0	0	4	2	18	.098	—	—	—	—	0.0
1954	NYA	AL	16	19	6	4	1	0	0	5	9	.211	—	—	—	—	0.0
1955	BAL	AL	21	11	1	2	0	0	0	3	3	.182	—	—	—	—	0.0
1956	CHA	AL	8	5	1	0	0	0	0	1	3	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1957	CHA	AL	10	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1958	CHA	AL	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 9 seasons			139	128	14	23	5	1	10	18	48	.180	—	—	—	—	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

Jim McDonald — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1	2	0	1	1	0	0	1	1	1	.500

Playoff Batting by Year

Jim McDonald — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1953	WS	NYA	1	2	0	1	1	0	0	1	1	1	.500

Playoff Career Pitching

Jim McDonald — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1	0	1	1	0	7.2	12	5	0	3	5.87

Playoff Pitching by Year

Jim McDonald — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1953	WS	NYA	1	0	1	1	0	7.2	12	5	0	3	5.87

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (275 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Jim McDonald — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	62	54	7	9	0	3	.167
Away	77	74	7	14	0	7	.189

Pitching — Home / Away

Jim McDonald — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	61	212.0	215	104	108	93	4.42
Away	75	256.0	274	124	123	65	4.36

Last 10 Games — Batting

Jim McDonald — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	BB	SO
1958-04-26	CHW	KC1	L	0	0	0
1958-04-20	CHW	KC1	L	0	0	0
1958-04-18	CHW	KC1	W	0	0	0
1957-09-29	CHW	CLE	L	0	0	0
1957-09-25	CHW	DET	L	0	0	0
1957-09-23	CHW	KC1	L	1	0	1
1957-09-21	CHW	CLE	W	0	1	0
1957-09-19	CHW	MIN	W	0	0	0
1957-09-13	CHW	NYY	L	0	0	0
1957-09-10	CHW	BOS	L	0	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Jim McDonald — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1958-04-26	CHW	KC1	—	0.1	1	3	0	2	0	0
1958-04-20	CHW	KC1	—	1.0	1	1	1	2	0	0
1958-04-18	CHW	KC1	—	1.0	4	4	4	0	0	1
1957-09-29	CHW	CLE	—	2.0	3	1	0	1	1	0
1957-09-25	CHW	DET	—	3.0	2	1	1	1	3	1
1957-09-23	CHW	KC1	L	2.1	4	1	1	1	0	0
1957-09-21	CHW	CLE	—	4.0	3	2	2	1	2	1
1957-09-19	CHW	MIN	—	2.0	0	0	0	0	1	0
1957-09-13	CHW	NYY	—	2.0	0	0	0	1	1	0
1957-09-10	CHW	BOS	—	2.0	1	0	0	1	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Jim McDonald — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	136	21	39	113	6	13

Season-by-Season Fielding

Jim McDonald — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1950	BOS	P	9	0	3	7	0	0
1951	SLA	P	16	0	9	16	2	1
1952	NYA	P	26	0	7	24	0	1
1953	NYA	P	27	0	7	30	1	6
1954	NYA	P	16	10	7	14	0	2
1955	BAL	P	21	8	2	15	1	2
1956	CHA	P	8	3	1	3	1	0
1957	CHA	P	10	0	3	3	1	0
1958	CHA	P	3	0	0	1	0	1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Jim McDonald (b. 1927) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	136

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Jim McDonald (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Jim McDonald: the record in brief

The profile opens with Jim McDonald's first major league game on July 27, 1950; the last one listed came on April 26, 1958. The season rows list, in order, the Boston Red Sox (1950), the St. Louis Browns (1951), the New York Yankees (1952 through 1954), the Baltimore Orioles (1955), and the Chicago White Sox (1956 through 1958). McDonald played primarily as a pitcher and threw and hit right-handed. The bio adds a birth date on May 17, 1927, in Grants Pass, OR, USA and a listed size of 185 pounds on a 5-foot-10 frame. McDonald's death is recorded on October 23, 2004, in Kingman, AZ, USA. The given name on file is Jimmie LeRoy McDonald.

McDonald's career pitching line is 24 wins, 27 losses and a 4.27 ERA over 136 appearances. The totals include 158 strikeouts and 15 complete games. Against a 3.98 league ERA for the same seasons, the 4.27 mark was 7.4% worse. 1953 brought McDonald a season-high 9 wins.

Frequently Asked Questions about Jim McDonald

What years did Jim McDonald play?: Jim McDonald played in Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1958.
Was Jim McDonald a pitcher?: Yes. Jim McDonald pitched in the major leagues, recording 24 wins and 158 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Jim McDonald hit?: Jim McDonald hit 0 career home runs with 23 hits.
What teams did Jim McDonald play for?: Jim McDonald played for 4 teams: the Boston Red Sox (1950), the Baltimore Orioles (1951, 1955), the New York Yankees (1952–1954), and the Chicago White Sox (1956–1958).
What were Jim McDonald's career stats?: In 136 games, Jim McDonald went 24-27 with a 4.27 ERA, 158 strikeouts, 468.0 innings pitched, and 1 saves.
What position did Jim McDonald play?: Jim McDonald played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Jim McDonald and how much did he weigh?: Jim McDonald was listed at 5 feet 10 inches and 185 pounds.
What was Jim McDonald's career ERA?: Jim McDonald finished with a 4.27 career ERA, going 24-27 with 158 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Jim McDonald have?: Jim McDonald recorded 158 career strikeouts.
Is Jim McDonald in the Hall of Fame?: No. Jim McDonald has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.