What years did Gene Nelson play?

Gene Nelson played in Major League Baseball from 1981 to 1993.

Was Gene Nelson a pitcher?

Yes. Gene Nelson pitched in the major leagues, recording 53 wins and 655 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Gene Nelson hit?

Gene Nelson hit 0 career home runs.

What teams did Gene Nelson play for?

Gene Nelson played for 6 teams: the New York Yankees (1981), the Seattle Mariners (1982–1983), the Chicago White Sox (1984–1986), the Oakland Athletics (1987–1992), the California Angels (1993), and the Texas Rangers (1993).

What were Gene Nelson's career stats?

In 493 games, Gene Nelson went 53-64 with a 4.13 ERA, 655 strikeouts, 1,080.0 innings pitched, and 28 saves.

What was Gene Nelson's salary?

Gene Nelson's last recorded salary was $1,250,000, in 1992. His highest recorded salary was $1,250,000, in 1992, and his lowest was $110,000, in 1985. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1992.

What position did Gene Nelson play?

Gene Nelson played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Gene Nelson and how much did he weigh?

Gene Nelson was listed at 6 feet and 172 pounds.

What was Gene Nelson's career ERA?

Gene Nelson finished with a 4.13 career ERA, going 53-64 with 655 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Gene Nelson have?

Gene Nelson recorded 655 career strikeouts.

Is Gene Nelson in the Hall of Fame?

No. Gene Nelson has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Gene Nelson

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1981-1993)

Gene Nelson was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1981 to 1993 for 6 teams, including the New York Yankees, a span of 13 seasons. Across 493 career appearances, he went 53-64 with a 4.13 ERA, 655 strikeouts, and 28 saves.

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 24, 2026

W–L 53–64

ERA 4.13

WHIP 1.37

SO 655

Pitcher PIV -8867.0

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'0" / 172 lb
Born: 12/3/1960 in Tampa, FL, USA
MLB Debut: 1981-05-04
Last Game: 1993-09-29

Full name: Wayland Eugene Nelson

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Career Pitching Statistics

Gene Nelson — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
53	64	493	68	6	1	28	1080.0	1,061	496	117	418	655	4.13	-8867.0

Career ERA 4.13 vs. league average 3.89 across their career seasons — 6.3% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Gene Nelson Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1981	NYA	AL	3	1	8	7	0	0	0	39.1	40	21	23	16	4.81	3.58 (-34%)	-1658.1
1982	SEA	AL	6	9	22	19	2	1	0	122.2	133	63	60	71	4.62	3.86 (-20%)	-2784.5
1983	SEA	AL	0	3	10	5	1	0	0	32.0	38	28	21	11	7.88	3.87 (-103%)	-2156.1
1984	CHA	AL	3	5	20	9	2	0	1	74.2	72	37	17	36	4.46	3.81 (-17%)	-528.5
1985	CHA	AL	10	10	46	18	1	0	2	145.2	144	69	67	101	4.26	3.89 (-9%)	-3571.7
1986	CHA	AL	6	6	54	1	0	0	6	114.2	118	49	41	70	3.85	3.97 (+3%)	1401.5
1987	OAK	AL	6	5	54	6	0	0	3	123.2	120	54	35	94	3.93	4.29 (+8%)	2253.7
1988	OAK	AL	9	6	54	1	0	0	3	111.2	93	38	38	67	3.06	3.73 (+18%)	44.0
1989	OAK	AL	3	5	50	0	0	0	3	80.0	60	29	30	70	3.26	3.71 (+12%)	1392.5
1990	OAK	AL	3	3	51	0	0	0	5	74.2	55	13	17	38	1.57	3.86 (+59%)	752.0
1991	OAK	AL	1	5	44	0	0	0	0	48.2	60	37	23	23	6.84	3.91 (-75%)	-3415.8
1992	OAK	AL	3	1	28	2	0	0	0	51.2	68	37	22	23	6.45	3.75 (-72%)	-882.0
1993	CAL	AL	0	5	46	0	0	0	4	52.2	50	18	23	31	3.08	4.19 (+27%)	286.0
1993	TEX	AL	0	0	6	0	0	0	1	8.0	10	3	1	4	3.38	—	0.0
Career · 14 seasons			53	64	493	68	6	1	28	1,080.0	1,061	496	418	655	4.13	—	-8,867

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

Gene Nelson — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
500	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	0

Career AVG .000 vs. league average .258 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Career OBP .000 vs. league average .324 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Career SLG .000 vs. league average .388 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Career OPS .000 vs. league average .712 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Gene Nelson Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	SB	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1981	NYA	AL	8	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1982	SEA	AL	22	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1983	SEA	AL	10	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1984	CHA	AL	20	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1985	CHA	AL	47	1	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1986	CHA	AL	54	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1987	OAK	AL	55	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1988	OAK	AL	57	0	1	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1989	OAK	AL	51	0	1	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1990	OAK	AL	51	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1991	OAK	AL	44	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1992	OAK	AL	29	0	1	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1993	CAL	AL	46	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1993	TEX	AL	6	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 14 seasons			500	1	3	1	.000	—	—	—	—	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

Gene Nelson — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Gene Nelson — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AVG
1990	ALCS	OAK	1	.000
1990	WS	OAK	2	.000
1989	ALCS	OAK	1	.000
1989	WS	OAK	2	.000
1988	ALCS	OAK	2	.000
1988	WS	OAK	3	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Gene Nelson — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
2	0	11	0	0	20.0	20	7	8	6	3.15

Playoff Pitching by Year

Gene Nelson — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1990	ALCS	OAK	0	1	1.2	3	0	0	0	0.00
1990	WS	OAK	0	2	5.0	3	0	2	0	0.00
1989	ALCS	OAK	0	1	1.1	1	0	0	2	0.00
1989	WS	OAK	0	2	1.0	4	6	2	1	54.00
1988	ALCS	OAK	2	2	4.2	5	0	1	0	0.00
1988	WS	OAK	0	3	6.1	4	1	3	3	1.42

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (993 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Gene Nelson — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	238	0	1	0	0	0	—
Away	262	1	2	0	0	0	.000

Pitching — Home / Away

Gene Nelson — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	235	536.0	517	246	211	361	4.13
Away	258	544.0	544	250	207	294	4.14

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Gene Nelson — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
1993-09-29	TEX	OAK	—	2.1	0	0	0	0	3
1993-09-28	TEX	OAK	—	1.1	2	0	0	0	1
1993-09-26	TEX	CHW	—	0.1	2	2	2	1	0
1993-09-20	TEX	SEA	—	0.2	2	0	0	0	0
1993-09-15	TEX	CLE	—	0.2	3	1	1	0	0
1993-09-11	TEX	MIN	SV	2.2	1	0	0	0	0
1993-09-01	LAA	BAL	—	2.0	1	0	0	0	3
1993-08-29	LAA	MIL	—	1.2	2	0	0	2	0
1993-08-27	LAA	MIL	L	0.2	3	2	2	1	1
1993-08-26	LAA	BAL	L	0.2	0	1	1	1	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Gene Nelson — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	493	68	80	127	7	10

Season-by-Season Fielding

Gene Nelson — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1981	NYA	P	8	7	3	6	1	0
1982	SEA	P	22	19	10	20	1	4
1983	SEA	P	10	5	5	6	1	0
1984	CHA	P	20	9	11	8	0	1
1985	CHA	P	46	18	10	19	1	0
1986	CHA	P	54	1	8	17	0	3
1987	OAK	P	54	6	8	13	2	0
1988	OAK	P	54	1	4	11	0	1
1989	OAK	P	50	0	6	3	0	0
1990	OAK	P	51	0	4	8	1	0
1991	OAK	P	44	0	4	4	0	0
1992	OAK	P	28	2	3	4	0	0
1993	CAL	P	46	0	4	7	0	1
1993	TEX	P	6	0	0	1	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Gene Nelson Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	493
Designated Hitter	3

Awards & Honors

Gene Nelson — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1982	Player of the Week	Week of 1982-06-11

Salary History

Gene Nelson's recorded salaries total $4,780,000 over 8 seasons, 1985 to 1992. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Nelson's career ran from 1981 to 1993. His seasons before 1985 are not included, and no salary is recorded for 1993.

Gene Nelson — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1992	OAK	AL	$1,250,000
1991	OAK	AL	$1,100,000
1990	OAK	AL	$650,000
1989	OAK	AL	$615,000
1988	OAK	AL	$450,000
1987	OAK	AL	$365,000
1986	CHA	AL	$240,000
1985	CHA	AL	$110,000
Total recorded salary (partial)			$4,780,000

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Gene Nelson (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Gene Nelson: the record in brief

The profile opens with Gene Nelson's first major league game on May 4, 1981; the last one listed came on September 29, 1993. The team column moves through the New York Yankees (1981), the Seattle Mariners (1982 to 1983), the Chicago White Sox (1984 through 1986), the Oakland Athletics (1987 through 1992), the California Angels (1993), and the Texas Rangers (1993). Nelson played primarily as a pitcher and batted and threw right-handed. The bio adds a birth date on December 3, 1960, in Tampa, FL, USA and a listed size of 6-foot-0 and 172 pounds. On the record, Gene Nelson was born Wayland Eugene Nelson.

Nelson went 53-64 with a 4.13 ERA in 493 games, 68 of them starts. The same table counts 655 strikeouts and 28 saves. The league ERA over Nelson's seasons was 3.89, so the 4.13 figure ran 6.3% worse than average. 1985 brought Nelson a season-high 10 wins. 1988 was Nelson's sharpest full season, a 3.06 ERA against the league's 3.73.

The awards table records Player of the Week, in 1982.

Frequently Asked Questions about Gene Nelson

What years did Gene Nelson play?: Gene Nelson played in Major League Baseball from 1981 to 1993.
Was Gene Nelson a pitcher?: Yes. Gene Nelson pitched in the major leagues, recording 53 wins and 655 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Gene Nelson hit?: Gene Nelson hit 0 career home runs.
What teams did Gene Nelson play for?: Gene Nelson played for 6 teams: the New York Yankees (1981), the Seattle Mariners (1982–1983), the Chicago White Sox (1984–1986), the Oakland Athletics (1987–1992), the California Angels (1993), and the Texas Rangers (1993).
What were Gene Nelson's career stats?: In 493 games, Gene Nelson went 53-64 with a 4.13 ERA, 655 strikeouts, 1,080.0 innings pitched, and 28 saves.
How much did Gene Nelson earn in his career?: Gene Nelson's recorded salaries total $4,780,000 over 8 seasons, 1985 to 1992. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Nelson's career ran from 1981 to 1993. His seasons before 1985 are not included, and no salary is recorded for 1993.
What was Gene Nelson's salary?: Gene Nelson's last recorded salary was $1,250,000, in 1992. His highest recorded salary was $1,250,000, in 1992, and his lowest was $110,000, in 1985. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1992.
What position did Gene Nelson play?: Gene Nelson played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Gene Nelson and how much did he weigh?: Gene Nelson was listed at 6 feet and 172 pounds.
What was Gene Nelson's career ERA?: Gene Nelson finished with a 4.13 career ERA, going 53-64 with 655 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Gene Nelson have?: Gene Nelson recorded 655 career strikeouts.
Is Gene Nelson in the Hall of Fame?: No. Gene Nelson has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.