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 was Gene Nelson's career batting average?

Gene Nelson batted .000 over his career, with 0 hits in 1 at bats.

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.

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 September 9, 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	39.3	40	21	23	16	4.81	3.58 (-34%)	-1658.1
1982	SEA	AL	6	9	22	19	2	1	0	122.7	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	74.7	72	37	17	36	4.46	3.81 (-17%)	-528.5
1985	CHA	AL	10	10	46	18	1	0	2	145.7	144	69	67	101	4.26	3.89 (-9%)	-3571.7
1986	CHA	AL	6	6	54	1	0	0	6	114.7	118	49	41	70	3.85	3.97 (+3%)	1401.5
1987	OAK	AL	6	5	54	6	0	0	3	123.7	120	54	35	94	3.93	4.29 (+8%)	2253.7
1988	OAK	AL	9	6	54	1	0	0	3	111.7	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	74.7	55	13	17	38	1.57	3.86 (+59%)	752.0
1991	OAK	AL	1	5	44	0	0	0	0	48.7	60	37	23	23	6.84	3.91 (-75%)	-3415.8
1992	OAK	AL	3	1	28	2	0	0	0	51.7	68	37	22	23	6.45	3.75 (-72%)	-882.0
1993	CAL	AL	0	5	46	0	0	0	4	52.7	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	1.7	3	0	0	0	0.00
1990	WS	OAK	0	2	5.0	3	0	2	0	0.00
1989	ALCS	OAK	0	1	1.3	1	0	0	2	0.00
1989	WS	OAK	0	2	1.0	4	6	2	1	54.00
1988	ALCS	OAK	2	2	4.7	5	0	1	0	0.00
1988	WS	OAK	0	3	6.3	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 — 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 Career Earnings			$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.

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 was Gene Nelson's career batting average?: Gene Nelson batted .000 over his career, with 0 hits in 1 at bats.
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.