What years did Sam Mertes play?

Sam Mertes played in Major League Baseball from 1896 to 1906.

Was Sam Mertes a pitcher?

No. Sam Mertes was a position player (Outfielder), though he did pitch in 1 career game.

How many home runs did Sam Mertes hit?

Sam Mertes hit 40 career home runs with 1227 hits.

Sam Mertes

Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1896-1906)

AVG .279

HR 40

RBI 721

H 1,227

OPS .744

PIV 9,719

Position: Outfielder
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 5'10" / 185 lb
Born: 8/6/1872 in San Francisco, CA, USA
Died: 3/11/1945 in Villa Grande, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 1896-06-30
Last Game: 1906-09-15

Full name: Samuel Blair Mertes

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Batting Statistics

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
1,190	4,405	695	1,227	188	108	40	721	396	422	378	.279	.346	.398	.744	9,719

Career AVG .279 vs. league average .264 across their career seasons — +5.4% above league average.

Career OBP .346 vs. league average .322 across their career seasons — +7.3% above league average.

Career SLG .398 vs. league average .344 across their career seasons — +15.5% above league average.

Career OPS .744 vs. league average .667 across their career seasons — +11.5% above 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
1896	PHI	NL	37	143	20	34	4	4	0	14	19	8	10	.238	.290 (-18%)	.354 (-19%)	.387 (-17%)	.741 (-18%)	-448.4
1898	CHN	NL	83	269	45	80	4	8	1	47	27	34	28	.297	.270 (+10%)	.333 (+16%)	.347 (+10%)	.680 (+13%)	747.8
1899	CHN	NL	117	426	83	127	13	16	9	81	45	33	35	.298	.282 (+6%)	.343 (+1%)	.366 (+27%)	.710 (+15%)	1040.2
1900	CHN	NL	127	481	72	142	25	4	7	60	38	42	26	.295	.279 (+6%)	.338 (+5%)	.366 (+11%)	.705 (+8%)	780.6
1901	CHA	AL	137	545	94	151	16	17	5	98	46	52	34	.277	.271 (+2%)	.326 (+6%)	.359 (+10%)	.686 (+8%)	892.7
1902	CHA	AL	129	497	60	140	23	7	1	79	46	37	43	.282	.266 (+6%)	.321 (+4%)	.343 (+5%)	.665 (+5%)	410.5
1903	NY1	NL	138	517	100	145	32	14	7	104	45	61	45	.280	.261 (+7%)	.316 (+14%)	.345 (+26%)	.662 (+20%)	2019.9
1904	NY1	NL	148	532	83	147	28	11	4	78	47	54	48	.276	.246 (+12%)	.300 (+15%)	.321 (+22%)	.622 (+19%)	1848.8
1905	NY1	NL	150	551	81	154	27	17	5	108	52	56	51	.279	.248 (+13%)	.307 (+14%)	.322 (+29%)	.629 (+22%)	2174.3
1906	NY1	NL	71	253	37	60	9	6	1	33	21	29	32	.237	.247 (-4%)	.307 (+5%)	.315 (+5%)	.622 (+5%)	246.3
1906	SLN	NL	53	191	20	47	7	4	0	19	10	16	26	.246	.247 (-1%)	.307 (-1%)	.315 (+3%)	.622 (+1%)	246.3
Career · 11 seasons			1,190	4,405	695	1,227	188	108	40	721	396	422	378	.279	—	—	—	—	9,959

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 Pitching Statistics

W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
1	0	1	1	0	0	0	4.7	6	1	0	0	0	1.93	0.0

Career ERA 1.93 vs. league average 3.17 across their career seasons — 39.2% 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
1902	CHA	AL	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	4.7	6	1	0	0	1.93	—	0.0
Career · 1 season			1	0	1	1	0	0	0	4.2	6	1	0	0	1.93	—	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

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
5	17	2	3	1	0	0	2	2	5	.176

Playoff Batting by Year

Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1905	WS	NY1	5	17	2	3	1	0	0	2	2	5	.176

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1155 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	602	2166	373	624	19	377	.288
Away	552	2095	303	569	21	305	.272

Pitching — Home / Away

Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Away	1	7.2	6	1	0	0	1.17

Last 10 Games — Batting

Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	SO
1906-09-15	STL	CHC	L	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
1906-09-14	STL	CHC	L	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
1906-09-13	STL	CHC	L	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	0
1906-09-09	STL	CIN	L	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
1906-09-09	STL	CIN	L	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
1906-09-07	STL	CIN	L	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
1906-09-06	STL	CIN	L	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
1906-09-06	STL	CIN	W	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
1906-09-05	STL	PIT	W	5	1	2	0	2	2	0	1
1906-09-04	STL	PIT	L	3	0	1	1	0	0	1	0

Last 1 Games — Pitching

Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1902-09-28	CHW	SLA	W	7.2	6	2	1	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1B	40	0	384	22	13	21
2B	138	0	349	419	54	61
3B	1	0	4	1	1	0
C	3	0	3	1	1	0
OF	974	422	1737	140	123	28
P	1	0	0	0	0	0
SS	29	1	55	64	10	10

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1896	PHI	2B	1	0	0	0	0	0
1896	PHI	OF	35	0	85	3	9	0
1896	PHI	SS	1	0	1	2	0	1
1898	CHN	1B	2	0	1	0	0	0
1898	CHN	2B	4	0	11	17	5	6
1898	CHN	OF	60	0	97	13	15	6
1898	CHN	SS	14	0	19	23	7	4
1899	CHN	1B	3	0	24	4	2	4
1899	CHN	OF	108	0	197	20	18	4
1899	CHN	SS	1	0	2	3	1	1
1900	CHN	1B	33	0	340	17	10	16
1900	CHN	OF	88	0	180	13	16	4
1900	CHN	SS	7	0	12	19	2	2
1901	CHA	2B	132	0	337	396	47	54
1901	CHA	OF	5	0	20	0	0	0
1902	CHA	1B	1	0	10	1	0	1
1902	CHA	2B	1	0	1	6	2	1
1902	CHA	3B	1	0	4	1	1	0
1902	CHA	C	2	0	3	0	1	0
1902	CHA	OF	120	0	223	26	21	5
1902	CHA	P	1	0	0	0	0	0
1902	CHA	SS	5	0	17	15	0	2
1903	NY1	1B	1	0	9	0	1	0
1903	NY1	C	1	0	0	1	0	0
1903	NY1	OF	137	0	265	24	8	5
1904	NY1	OF	147	147	244	17	12	1
1904	NY1	SS	1	1	4	2	0	0
1905	NY1	OF	150	150	230	10	10	3
1906	NY1	OF	71	72	119	10	4	0
1906	SLN	OF	53	53	77	4	10	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position	Games
Pitcher	1
Catcher	3
First Base	40
Second Base	138
Third Base	1
Shortstop	29
Left Field	688
Center Field	182
Right Field	110

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Sam Mertes (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Frequently Asked Questions about Sam Mertes

What years did Sam Mertes play?: Sam Mertes played in Major League Baseball from 1896 to 1906.
Was Sam Mertes a pitcher?: No. Sam Mertes was a position player (Outfielder), though he did pitch in 1 career game.
How many home runs did Sam Mertes hit?: Sam Mertes hit 40 career home runs with 1227 hits.