José Méndez
Pitcher · Career Stats, Hall of Fame Bio & Records (1912-1926)
José Méndez was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1912 to 1926 for 5 teams, including the Cuban Stars of Havana, a span of 15 seasons. Across 117 career appearances, he went 57-18 with a 2.80 ERA and 402 strikeouts. He also batted .229 with 6 home runs. José Méndez was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. 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 16503.4.
- 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
- Position
- Pitcher
- Bats / Throws
- R / R
- Height / Weight
- 5'10" / 152 lb
- Died
- 10/31/1928 in Havana, La Habana, Cuba
- MLB Debut
- 1912-08-24
- Last Game
- 1926-09-21
- Hall of Fame
- Inducted 2006 (Veterans)
Full name: Jose Colmenar Méndez
Season-by-Season Pitching
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1908 | CSH | NAC | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 30.3 | 36 | 18 | 11 | 26 | 5.34 | 2.40 (-123%) | 533.1 |
| 1909 | CSH | INT | 6 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 75.0 | 53 | 9 | 17 | 74 | 1.08 | 2.55 (+58%) | 2643.6 |
| 1910 | SC1 | WES | 2 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 58.0 | 72 | 28 | 6 | 34 | 4.34 | 2.79 (-56%) | 1250.0 |
| 1910 | CSH | EAS | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9.0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3.00 | 2.79 (-8%) | 0.0 |
| 1911 | CSH | EAS | 9 | 0 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 87.0 | 69 | 14 | 16 | 77 | 1.45 | 3.37 (+57%) | 3414.2 |
| 1912 | CSH | WES | 4 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 52.7 | 44 | 6 | 11 | 23 | 1.03 | 3.36 (+70%) | 912.2 |
| 1918 | CAG | WES | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0.00 | 2.83 (+100%) | 0.0 |
| 1919 | DS | WES | 3 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 46.3 | 33 | 12 | 4 | 21 | 2.33 | 3.09 (+24%) | 1032.3 |
| 1920 | KCM | NNL | 3 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 47.0 | 46 | 14 | 9 | 10 | 2.68 | 3.45 (+22%) | -459.1 |
| 1921 | KCM | NNL | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15.7 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 4.60 | 4.02 (-14%) | -140.4 |
| 1922 | KCM | NNL | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19.3 | 34 | 11 | 5 | 14 | 5.12 | 4.18 (-22%) | 804.1 |
| 1923 | KCM | NNL | 12 | 4 | 24 | 16 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 138.7 | 138 | 49 | 30 | 60 | 3.18 | 4.03 (+21%) | 2614.0 |
| 1924 | KCM | NNL | 6 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 45.3 | 46 | 17 | 8 | 31 | 3.38 | 4.13 (+18%) | 1861.9 |
| 1925 | KCM | NNL | 3 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23.0 | 28 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 6.26 | 4.55 (-38%) | 850.3 |
| 1926 | KCM | NNL | 3 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 31.0 | 33 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 2.61 | 4.11 (+36%) | 1187.1 |
| Career · 15 seasons | 57 | 18 | 117 | 72 | 51 | 7 | 10 | 687.1 | 655 | 214 | 128 | 402 | 2.80 | — | 16,503 | ||
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 365 | 1,037 | 138 | 237 | 48 | 12 | 6 | 107 | 41 | 122 | 2 | .229 | .313 | .315 | .628 | -1,131 |
Career AVG .229 vs. league average .271 across their career seasons — 15.7% below league average.
Career OBP .313 vs. league average .334 across their career seasons — 6.3% below league average.
Career SLG .315 vs. league average .367 across their career seasons — 14.0% below league average.
Career OPS .628 vs. league average .700 across their career seasons — 10.3% below league average.
Season-by-Season Batting
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1908 | CSH | NAC | 19 | 62 | 9 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 0 | .274 | .240 (+14%) | .298 (+10%) | .306 (+10%) | .605 (+10%) | 88.7 |
| 1909 | CSH | INT | 27 | 75 | 6 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 8 | 0 | .213 | .244 (-13%) | .306 (-6%) | .312 (-15%) | .618 (-10%) | -98.5 |
| 1910 | SC1 | WES | 13 | 47 | 5 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .234 | — | — | — | — | 28.8 |
| 1910 | CSH | EAS | 2 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .111 | — | — | — | — | 28.8 |
| 1911 | CSH | EAS | 15 | 42 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | .190 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1912 | CSH | WES | 17 | 60 | 7 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .250 | .268 (-7%) | .335 (-22%) | .358 (-16%) | .694 (-19%) | -189.9 |
| 1918 | CAG | WES | 15 | 52 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .192 | .255 (-25%) | .318 (-17%) | .326 (-12%) | .645 (-15%) | -120.0 |
| 1919 | DS | WES | 33 | 101 | 15 | 22 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 12 | 0 | .218 | .262 (-17%) | .322 (-7%) | .347 (+5%) | .670 (-1%) | -12.8 |
| 1920 | KCM | NNL | 56 | 180 | 21 | 38 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 5 | 28 | 0 | .211 | .271 (-22%) | .331 (-2%) | .363 (-30%) | .694 (-17%) | -370.6 |
| 1921 | KCM | NNL | 56 | 178 | 23 | 52 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 17 | 24 | 0 | .292 | .286 (+2%) | .344 (+9%) | .395 (-9%) | .739 (-1%) | 67.7 |
| 1922 | KCM | NNL | 40 | 104 | 15 | 19 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 9 | 15 | 2 | .183 | .285 (-36%) | .345 (-14%) | .397 (-32%) | .743 (-24%) | -390.2 |
| 1923 | KCM | NNL | 39 | 88 | 16 | 21 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 5 | 0 | .239 | .282 (-16%) | .344 (-19%) | .390 (+5%) | .734 (-6%) | -134.1 |
| 1924 | KCM | NNL | 16 | 24 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .208 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1925 | KCM | NNL | 10 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .222 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1926 | KCM | NNL | 7 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| Career · 15 seasons | 365 | 1,037 | 138 | 237 | 48 | 12 | 6 | 107 | 41 | 122 | 2 | .229 | — | — | — | — | -1,102 | ||
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
Playoff Batting by Year
| Year | Round | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1926 | NNC | KCM | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 1925 | NNC | KCM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1925 | NWS | KCM | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| 1924 | NWS | KCM | 4 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .111 |
Playoff Career Pitching
Playoff Pitching by Year
Game Log & Splits
Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).
Batting — Home / Away
| Split | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 5 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
Pitching — Home / Away
| Split | G | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 2 | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.00 |
Last 5 Games — Batting
| Date | Tm | Opp | Res | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1924-04-27 | KCM | SSN | W | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1923-08-05 | KCM | MIL | W | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1921-07-25 | KCM | DT1 | W | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1921-06-12 | KCM | CNN | W | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1920-08-01 | KCM | CAG | W | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Last 2 Games — Pitching
| Date | Tm | Opp | Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1924-04-27 | KCM | SSN | — | 4.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1923-08-05 | KCM | MIL | W | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | 3 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2B | 40 | 36 | 60 | 86 | 18 | 4 |
| 3B | 64 | 44 | 56 | 110 | 8 | 8 |
| OF | 76 | 32 | 88 | 10 | 5 | 0 |
| P | 118 | 39 | 50 | 262 | 22 | 3 |
| SS | 79 | 64 | 162 | 219 | 37 | 27 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1908 | CSH | 2B | 7 | 6 | 16 | 16 | 6 | 0 |
| 1908 | CSH | 3B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 1908 | CSH | OF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1908 | CSH | P | 4 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| 1908 | CSH | SS | 4 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 0 |
| 1909 | CSH | 2B | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 1909 | CSH | 3B | 3 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 1909 | CSH | OF | 14 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 1909 | CSH | P | 11 | 0 | 4 | 31 | 3 | 0 |
| 1910 | SC1 | 3B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 1910 | SC1 | OF | 6 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1910 | SC1 | P | 7 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 2 | 1 |
| 1910 | CSH | OF | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1910 | CSH | P | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 1911 | CSH | 3B | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1911 | CSH | OF | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1911 | CSH | P | 11 | 0 | 6 | 31 | 2 | 1 |
| 1912 | CSH | 3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1912 | CSH | OF | 11 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1912 | CSH | P | 7 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 3 | 0 |
| 1918 | CAG | OF | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1918 | CAG | P | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1918 | CAG | SS | 13 | 0 | 25 | 32 | 3 | 7 |
| 1919 | DS | 2B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 1919 | DS | 3B | 7 | 7 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 3 |
| 1919 | DS | OF | 9 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1919 | DS | P | 7 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 1919 | DS | SS | 9 | 9 | 14 | 24 | 6 | 5 |
| 1920 | KCM | 1B | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1920 | KCM | 2B | 23 | 23 | 37 | 57 | 9 | 3 |
| 1920 | KCM | 3B | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1920 | KCM | OF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1920 | KCM | P | 9 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 3 | 0 |
| 1920 | KCM | SS | 23 | 22 | 42 | 57 | 9 | 5 |
| 1921 | KCM | 2B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1921 | KCM | 3B | 11 | 10 | 11 | 24 | 1 | 2 |
| 1921 | KCM | OF | 15 | 15 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1921 | KCM | P | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 1921 | KCM | SS | 26 | 26 | 69 | 88 | 14 | 8 |
| 1922 | KCM | 2B | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 1922 | KCM | 3B | 28 | 20 | 23 | 51 | 5 | 2 |
| 1922 | KCM | OF | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1922 | KCM | P | 5 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 0 |
| 1922 | KCM | SS | 4 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 2 |
| 1923 | KCM | 1B | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1923 | KCM | 2B | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1923 | KCM | 3B | 7 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| 1923 | KCM | OF | 7 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 1923 | KCM | P | 24 | 15 | 12 | 41 | 5 | 0 |
| 1924 | KCM | OF | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1924 | KCM | P | 13 | 2 | 4 | 32 | 1 | 0 |
| 1925 | KCM | 1B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1925 | KCM | OF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1925 | KCM | P | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1926 | KCM | P | 7 | 3 | 6 | 18 | 0 | 1 |
Career Games by Position
Circle size = games played at each position.
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | 118 |
| First Base | 3 |
| Second Base | 40 |
| Third Base | 64 |
| Shortstop | 79 |
| Left Field | 13 |
| Center Field | 13 |
| Right Field | 50 |
Most Similar Players
Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.
José Méndez (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.
Frequently Asked Questions about José Méndez
- What years did José Méndez play?
- José Méndez played in Major League Baseball from 1912 to 1926.
- Was José Méndez a pitcher?
- Yes. José Méndez pitched in the major leagues, recording 57 wins and 402 strikeouts.
- How many home runs did José Méndez hit?
- José Méndez hit 6 career home runs with 237 hits.
- Is José Méndez in the Hall of Fame?
- Yes. José Méndez was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.
- What was José Méndez's career batting average?
- José Méndez batted .229 over his career, with 237 hits in 1,037 at bats.
- How many RBI did José Méndez have?
- José Méndez drove in 107 runs in his career.