Johnny Murphy

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1932-1947)

Johnny Murphy was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1932 to 1947 for the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, a span of 16 seasons. Across 415 career appearances, he went 93-53 with a 3.50 ERA, 378 strikeouts, and 107 saves. He also batted .154 with 0 home runs. Johnny Murphy was a 3-time All-Star.

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 93–53
ERA 3.50
WHIP 1.37
SO 378
Pitcher PIV -2163.2
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'2" / 190 lb
Born
7/14/1908 in New York, NY, USA
Died
1/14/1970 in New York, NY, USA
MLB Debut
1932-05-19
Last Game
1947-09-16
Awards
3× All-Star

Full name: John Joseph Murphy

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Career Pitching Statistics

Johnny Murphy — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
93 53 415 40 17 0 107 1045.0 985 406 52 444 378 3.50 -2163.2

Career ERA 3.50 vs. league average 4.08 across their career seasons — 14.3% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Johnny Murphy Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1932 NYA AL 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3.1 7 6 3 2 16.20 — 0.0
1934 NYA AL 14 10 40 20 10 0 4 207.2 193 72 76 70 3.12 4.29 (+27%) -215.4
1935 NYA AL 10 5 40 8 4 0 5 117.0 110 53 55 28 4.08 4.35 (+6%) -1616.3
1936 NYA AL 9 3 27 5 2 0 5 88.0 90 33 36 34 3.38 4.59 (+26%) 4.1
1937 NYA AL 13 4 39 4 0 0 10 110.0 121 51 50 36 4.17 4.34 (+4%) -1176.3
1938 NYA AL 8 2 32 2 1 0 11 91.1 90 43 41 43 4.24 4.35 (+3%) 244.5
1939 NYA AL 3 6 38 0 0 0 19 61.1 57 30 28 30 4.40 4.28 (-3%) 622.0
1940 NYA AL 8 4 35 1 0 0 9 63.1 58 26 15 23 3.69 4.21 (+12%) 320.0
1941 NYA AL 8 3 35 0 0 0 15 77.1 68 17 40 29 1.98 3.94 (+50%) 317.7
1942 NYA AL 4 10 31 0 0 0 11 58.0 66 22 23 24 3.41 3.57 (+4%) 114.1
1943 NYA AL 12 4 37 0 0 0 8 68.0 44 19 30 31 2.51 3.50 (+28%) 98.9
1946 NYA AL 4 2 27 0 0 0 7 45.0 40 17 19 19 3.40 3.59 (+5%) -644.9
1947 BOS AL 0 0 32 0 0 0 3 54.2 41 17 28 9 2.80 3.97 (+30%) -231.7
Career · 13 seasons 93 53 415 40 17 0 107 1,045.0 985 406 444 378 3.50 — -2,163

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

Johnny Murphy — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
415 298 30 46 13 0 0 20 1 29 103 .154 .232 .198 .430 -690

Career AVG .154 vs. league average .269 across their career seasons — 42.6% below league average.

Career OBP .232 vs. league average .337 across their career seasons — 31.2% below league average.

Career SLG .198 vs. league average .382 across their career seasons — 48.1% below league average.

Career OPS .430 vs. league average .718 across their career seasons — 40.2% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Johnny Murphy 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
1932 NYA AL 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 — — — — 0.0
1934 NYA AL 40 71 7 7 3 0 0 2 0 5 30 .099 .278 (-65%) .340 (-54%) .392 (-64%) .733 (-59%) -690.1
1935 NYA AL 40 32 6 5 3 0 0 1 0 9 7 .156 — — — — 0.0
1936 NYA AL 27 36 4 13 1 0 0 7 0 1 4 .361 — — — — 0.0
1937 NYA AL 39 35 2 8 3 0 0 6 0 2 14 .229 — — — — 0.0
1938 NYA AL 32 32 4 2 1 0 0 2 1 1 13 .062 — — — — 0.0
1939 NYA AL 38 11 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 3 1 .182 — — — — 0.0
1940 NYA AL 35 13 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 .077 — — — — 0.0
1941 NYA AL 35 18 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 .056 — — — — 0.0
1942 NYA AL 31 13 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 8 .154 — — — — 0.0
1943 NYA AL 37 19 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 .053 — — — — 0.0
1946 NYA AL 27 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000 — — — — 0.0
1947 BOS AL 32 11 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 4 .273 — — — — 0.0
Career · 13 seasons 415 298 30 46 13 0 0 20 1 29 103 .154 — — — — -690

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

Johnny Murphy — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
8 6 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 .167

Playoff Batting by Year

Johnny Murphy — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1943 WS NYA 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1941 WS NYA 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000
1939 WS NYA 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000
1938 WS NYA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1937 WS NYA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1936 WS NYA 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 .500

Playoff Career Pitching

Johnny Murphy — Playoff Career Pitching
W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
2 0 8 0 4 16.1 11 2 4 8 1.10

Playoff Pitching by Year

Johnny Murphy — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1943 WS NYA 0 0 2 0 1 2.0 1 0 1 1 0.00
1941 WS NYA 1 0 2 0 0 6.0 2 0 1 3 0.00
1939 WS NYA 1 0 1 0 0 3.1 5 1 0 2 2.70
1938 WS NYA 0 0 1 0 1 2.0 2 0 1 1 0.00
1937 WS NYA 0 0 1 0 1 0.1 0 0 0 0 0.00
1936 WS NYA 0 0 1 0 1 2.2 1 1 1 1 3.38

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (830 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Johnny Murphy — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home1941241422011.177
Away221175162409.137

Pitching — Home / Away

Johnny Murphy — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home194456.14221801751683.55
Away221588.25622272692113.47

Last 10 Games — Batting

Johnny Murphy — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1947-09-16 BOSCHWL 000000000
1947-09-15 BOSCHWW 101000000
1947-09-11 BOSCLEL 100000001
1947-09-09 BOSDETW 000000000
1947-09-07 BOSPHAL 100000001
1947-09-05 BOSPHAL 000000000
1947-09-03 BOSNYYL 100000001
1947-08-28 BOSDETW 212000100
1947-08-26 BOSDETL 000000000
1947-08-25 BOSCLEL 000000000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Johnny Murphy — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1947-09-16 BOSCHW — 0.0222000
1947-09-15 BOSCHW SV 1.1200000
1947-09-11 BOSCLE — 0.2100400
1947-09-09 BOSDET SV 0.2000000
1947-09-07 BOSPHA — 3.2300300
1947-09-05 BOSPHA — 1.0000210
1947-09-03 BOSNYY — 1.2533300
1947-08-28 BOSDET SV 4.0000010
1947-08-26 BOSDET — 2.0000100
1947-08-25 BOSCLE — 1.0211100

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Johnny Murphy — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
P 415 0 77 226 22 17

Season-by-Season Fielding

Johnny Murphy — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1932 NYA P 2 0 0 1 0 0
1934 NYA P 40 0 19 41 3 6
1935 NYA P 40 0 6 21 2 0
1936 NYA P 27 0 9 19 3 4
1937 NYA P 39 0 9 39 3 1
1938 NYA P 32 0 7 21 1 0
1939 NYA P 38 0 3 12 1 1
1940 NYA P 35 0 2 15 0 0
1941 NYA P 35 0 3 11 1 1
1942 NYA P 31 0 4 13 3 1
1943 NYA P 37 0 4 12 2 1
1946 NYA P 27 0 6 11 2 2
1947 BOS P 32 0 5 10 1 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Johnny Murphy Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 415

College History

Johnny Murphy — College History
School Name City State Years Attended
Fordham University New York NY 1929

Award Voting History

Johnny Murphy — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1943 Most Valuable Player AL 33th 1.0 336 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Johnny Murphy (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Mace Brown
    76-57, 3.46 ERA
  2. 97
    Clem Labine
    77-56, 3.63 ERA
  3. 93
    Hugh Casey
    75-42, 3.45 ERA
  4. 89
    Rick Camp
    56-49, 3.37 ERA
  5. 89
    Al Brazle
    97-64, 3.31 ERA
  6. 87
    Joe Heving
    76-48, 3.90 ERA

Johnny Murphy: the record in brief

The profile opens with Johnny Murphy's first major league game on May 19, 1932; the last one listed came on September 16, 1947. The team column moves through the New York Yankees (1932 through 1946) and the Boston Red Sox (1947). Murphy played primarily as a pitcher and batted and threw right-handed. Born on July 14, 1908, in New York, NY, USA, Murphy was listed at 6 feet, 2 inches and 190 pounds. The bio records the death on January 14, 1970, in New York, NY, USA. Murphy's full given name, per the bio, is John Joseph Murphy.

Murphy pitched in 415 games, starting 40, and finished with a 93-53 record and 3.50 ERA. Also on Murphy's record: 378 strikeouts, 17 complete games, and 107 saves. That 3.50 ERA compares with a 4.08 league average across the same seasons, 14.3% better. No season topped the 14 wins of 1934. The most saves in one season was 19, in 1939.

Frequently Asked Questions about Johnny Murphy

What years did Johnny Murphy play?
Johnny Murphy played in Major League Baseball from 1932 to 1947.
Was Johnny Murphy a pitcher?
Yes. Johnny Murphy pitched in the major leagues, recording 93 wins and 378 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Johnny Murphy hit?
Johnny Murphy hit 0 career home runs with 46 hits.
What was Johnny Murphy's career batting average?
Johnny Murphy batted .154 over his career, with 46 hits in 298 at bats.
How many RBI did Johnny Murphy have?
Johnny Murphy drove in 20 runs in his career.
What was Johnny Murphy's career ERA?
Johnny Murphy finished with a 3.50 career ERA, going 93-53 with 378 strikeouts.