Tom Needham
Catcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1904-1914)
Tom Needham was a catcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1904 to 1914 for the Boston Braves, the New York Giants, and the Chicago Cubs, a span of 11 seasons. In 523 career games, he hit .209 with 311 hits, 8 home runs, and 117 RBI.
- AVG (Batting Average):
- Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
- HR (Home Runs):
- Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
- RBI (Runs Batted In):
- Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
- OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
- On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.
Data updated
- Position
- Catcher
- Bats / Throws
- R / R
- Height / Weight
- 5'10" / 180 lb
- Died
- 12/14/1926 in Steubenville, OH, USA
- MLB Debut
- 1904-05-12
- Last Game
- 1914-07-08
Full name: Thomas Joseph Needham
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 523 | 1,491 | 113 | 311 | 50 | 10 | 8 | 117 | 20 | 109 | 187 | .209 | .274 | .272 | .546 | -2,400 |
Career AVG .209 vs. league average .252 across their career seasons — 17.3% below league average.
Career OBP .274 vs. league average .315 across their career seasons — 13.0% below league average.
Career SLG .272 vs. league average .329 across their career seasons — 17.5% below league average.
Career OPS .546 vs. league average .645 across their career seasons — 15.3% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1904 | BSN | NL | 84 | 269 | 18 | 70 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 19 | 3 | 11 | 32 | .260 | .246 (+5%) | .300 (-3%) | .321 (+16%) | .622 (+7%) | 203.6 |
| 1905 | BSN | NL | 83 | 271 | 21 | 59 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 3 | 24 | 36 | .218 | .248 (-12%) | .307 (-5%) | .322 (-17%) | .629 (-11%) | -339.6 |
| 1906 | BSN | NL | 83 | 285 | 11 | 54 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 13 | 25 | .189 | .247 (-23%) | .307 (-25%) | .315 (-23%) | .622 (-24%) | -1000.7 |
| 1907 | BSN | NL | 86 | 260 | 19 | 51 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 4 | 18 | 29 | .196 | .245 (-20%) | .304 (-13%) | .308 (-20%) | .613 (-17%) | -577.4 |
| 1908 | NY1 | NL | 54 | 91 | 8 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 12 | 11 | .209 | .240 (-13%) | .298 (+14%) | .306 (-21%) | .605 (-4%) | 52.6 |
| 1909 | CHN | NL | 13 | 28 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .143 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1910 | CHN | NL | 31 | 76 | 9 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 10 | 10 | .184 | .249 (-26%) | .317 (-10%) | .326 (-24%) | .644 (-17%) | -167.1 |
| 1911 | CHN | NL | 27 | 62 | 4 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 14 | .194 | .266 (-27%) | .336 (-6%) | .356 (-37%) | .693 (-22%) | -176.2 |
| 1912 | CHN | NL | 33 | 90 | 12 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 13 | .178 | .268 (-34%) | .335 (-23%) | .358 (-35%) | .694 (-29%) | -394.9 |
| 1913 | CHN | NL | 20 | 42 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 8 | .238 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1914 | CHN | NL | 9 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | .118 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| Career · 11 seasons | 523 | 1,491 | 113 | 311 | 50 | 10 | 8 | 117 | 20 | 109 | 187 | .209 | — | — | — | — | -2,400 | ||
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 (529 games) →Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).
Batting — Home / Away
| Split | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 256 | 673 | 48 | 136 | 4 | 49 | .202 |
| Away | 273 | 820 | 65 | 175 | 4 | 58 | .213 |
Last 10 Games — Batting
| Date | Tm | Opp | Res | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1914-07-08 | CHC | BSN | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1914-06-24 | CHC | CIN | W | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1914-06-20 | CHC | PHI | W | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1914-06-19 | CHC | PHI | W | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1914-06-18 | CHC | PHI | L | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1914-06-17 | CHC | BSN | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1914-06-12 | CHC | NY1 | W | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1914-06-09 | CHC | BRO | L | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1914-06-06 | CHC | BRO | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1913-10-04 | CHC | PIT | W | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | 7 | 5 | 48 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2B | 5 | 5 | 6 | 16 | 2 | 0 |
| 3B | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| C | 465 | 342 | 1841 | 661 | 97 | 43 |
| OF | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1904 | BSN | C | 77 | 75 | 326 | 140 | 27 | 8 |
| 1904 | BSN | OF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1905 | BSN | 1B | 2 | 2 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1905 | BSN | C | 77 | 76 | 292 | 134 | 23 | 6 |
| 1905 | BSN | OF | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1906 | BSN | 1B | 2 | 2 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1906 | BSN | 2B | 5 | 5 | 6 | 16 | 2 | 0 |
| 1906 | BSN | 3B | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1906 | BSN | C | 76 | 70 | 317 | 114 | 17 | 9 |
| 1906 | BSN | OF | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1907 | BSN | 1B | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1907 | BSN | C | 78 | 75 | 281 | 101 | 13 | 9 |
| 1908 | NY1 | C | 47 | 18 | 168 | 30 | 5 | 2 |
| 1909 | CHN | C | 7 | 6 | 43 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 1910 | CHN | 1B | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1910 | CHN | C | 27 | 22 | 131 | 31 | 3 | 0 |
| 1911 | CHN | C | 23 | 0 | 94 | 32 | 2 | 2 |
| 1912 | CHN | C | 32 | 0 | 116 | 39 | 1 | 3 |
| 1913 | CHN | 1B | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1913 | CHN | C | 14 | 0 | 51 | 24 | 3 | 4 |
| 1914 | CHN | C | 7 | 0 | 22 | 11 | 2 | 0 |
Career Games by Position
Circle size = games played at each position.
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Catcher | 463 |
| First Base | 7 |
| Second Base | 5 |
| Third Base | 1 |
| Left Field | 1 |
| Center Field | 5 |
| Right Field | 1 |
Most Similar Players
Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.
Tom Needham (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.
Tom Needham: the record in brief
Tom Needham played a first major league game on May 12, 1904 and a last one on July 8, 1914. By club, Needham's seasons break down as the Boston Beaneaters (1904 through 1906), the Boston Doves (1907), the New York Giants (1908), and the Chicago Cubs (1909 through 1914). Needham played primarily as a catcher and both batted and threw right-handed. Born on April 17, 1879, in Ireland, Needham was listed at 5'10" and 180 pounds. Needham's death is recorded on December 14, 1926, in Steubenville, OH, USA. Tom Needham was the playing name; the full given name is Thomas Joseph.
Needham finished with 311 hits from 1,491 at bats in 523 games, which works out to .209, adding 8 home runs, 117 runs batted in, and 20 stolen bases. Reaching base at a .274 clip and slugging .272, Needham finished with a .546 OPS. Over the seasons Needham played, league hitters batted .252; the .209 career figure is 17.3% below that. The highest hit total in a season was 70, in 1904.
Frequently Asked Questions about Tom Needham
- What years did Tom Needham play?
- Tom Needham played in Major League Baseball from 1904 to 1914.
- Was Tom Needham a pitcher?
- No. Tom Needham was a position player (Catcher).
- How many home runs did Tom Needham hit?
- Tom Needham hit 8 career home runs with 311 hits.
- What was Tom Needham's career batting average?
- Tom Needham batted .209 over his career, with 311 hits in 1,491 at bats.
- How many RBI did Tom Needham have?
- Tom Needham drove in 117 runs in his career.
- Is Tom Needham in the Hall of Fame?
- No. Tom Needham has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.