What years did Tom Niedenfuer play?

Tom Niedenfuer played in Major League Baseball from 1981 to 1990.

Was Tom Niedenfuer a pitcher?

Yes. Tom Niedenfuer pitched in the major leagues, recording 36 wins and 474 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Tom Niedenfuer hit?

Tom Niedenfuer hit 0 career home runs with 3 hits.

What teams did Tom Niedenfuer play for?

Tom Niedenfuer played for 4 teams: the Los Angeles Dodgers (1981–1987), the Baltimore Orioles (1987–1988), the Seattle Mariners (1989), and the St. Louis Cardinals (1990).

What were Tom Niedenfuer's career stats?

In 484 games, Tom Niedenfuer went 36-46 with a 3.29 ERA, 474 strikeouts, 653.0 innings pitched, and 97 saves.

What was Tom Niedenfuer's salary?

Tom Niedenfuer's last recorded salary was $800,000, in 1990. His highest recorded salary was $850,000, in 1988, and his lowest was $370,000, in 1985. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1990.

What position did Tom Niedenfuer play?

Tom Niedenfuer played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Tom Niedenfuer and how much did he weigh?

Tom Niedenfuer was listed at 6 feet 5 inches and 225 pounds.

What was Tom Niedenfuer's career ERA?

Tom Niedenfuer finished with a 3.29 career ERA, going 36-46 with 474 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Tom Niedenfuer have?

Tom Niedenfuer recorded 474 career strikeouts.

Is Tom Niedenfuer in the Hall of Fame?

No. Tom Niedenfuer has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Tom Niedenfuer

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1981-1990)

Tom Niedenfuer was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1981 to 1990 for 4 teams, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, a span of 10 seasons. Across 484 career appearances, he went 36-46 with a 3.29 ERA, 474 strikeouts, and 97 saves. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 5018.0.

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 17, 2026

W–L 36–46

ERA 3.29

WHIP 1.27

SO 474

Pitcher PIV 5018.0

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'5" / 225 lb
Born: 8/13/1959 in St. Louis Park, MN, USA
MLB Debut: 1981-08-15
Last Game: 1990-09-20

Full name: Thomas Edward Niedenfuer

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Career Pitching Statistics

Tom Niedenfuer — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
36	46	484	0	0	0	97	653.0	601	239	60	226	474	3.29	5018.0

Career ERA 3.29 vs. league average 3.87 across their career seasons — 14.9% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Tom Niedenfuer Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1981	LAN	NL	3	1	17	2	26.0	25	11	6	12	3.81	3.58 (-6%)	391.2
1982	LAN	NL	3	4	55	9	69.2	71	21	25	60	2.71	3.86 (+30%)	2025.2
1983	LAN	NL	8	3	66	11	94.2	55	20	29	66	1.90	3.87 (+51%)	1778.3
1984	LAN	NL	2	5	33	11	47.1	39	13	23	45	2.47	3.81 (+35%)	640.1
1985	LAN	NL	7	9	64	19	106.1	86	32	24	102	2.71	3.89 (+30%)	4587.6
1986	LAN	NL	6	6	60	11	80.0	86	33	29	55	3.71	3.97 (+7%)	-672.0
1987	LAN	NL	1	0	15	1	16.1	13	5	9	10	2.76	4.29 (+36%)	5.9
1987	BAL	AL	3	5	45	13	52.1	55	29	22	37	4.99	4.29 (-16%)	-1588.9
1988	BAL	AL	3	4	52	18	59.0	59	23	19	40	3.51	3.73 (+6%)	-752.1
1989	SEA	AL	0	3	25	0	36.1	46	27	15	15	6.69	3.71 (-80%)	-1864.4
1990	SLN	NL	0	6	52	2	65.0	66	25	25	32	3.46	3.86 (+10%)	467.3
Career · 11 seasons			36	46	484	97	653.0	601	239	226	474	3.29	—	5,018

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

Tom Niedenfuer — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
484	26	2	3	0	0	0	2	0	1	9	.115	.148	.115	.264	0

Career AVG .115 vs. league average .258 across their career seasons — 55.3% below league average.

Career OBP .148 vs. league average .324 across their career seasons — 54.2% below league average.

Career SLG .115 vs. league average .388 across their career seasons — 70.2% below league average.

Career OPS .264 vs. league average .711 across their career seasons — 63.0% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Tom Niedenfuer Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1981	LAN	NL	17	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1982	LAN	NL	55	3	0	0	0	1	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1983	LAN	NL	66	4	1	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1984	LAN	NL	33	3	0	0	0	0	3	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1985	LAN	NL	64	9	0	1	0	0	3	.111	—	—	—	—	0.0
1986	LAN	NL	60	4	1	2	2	0	1	.500	—	—	—	—	0.0
1987	LAN	NL	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1987	BAL	AL	45	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1988	BAL	AL	52	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1989	SEA	AL	25	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1990	SLN	NL	52	3	0	0	0	0	2	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 11 seasons			484	26	2	3	2	1	9	.115	—	—	—	—	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

Tom Niedenfuer — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
9	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Tom Niedenfuer — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	SO	AVG
1985	NLCS	LAN	3	1	1	.000
1983	NLCS	LAN	2	0	0	.000
1981	NLCS	LAN	1	0	0	.000
1981	NWDIV	LAN	1	0	0	.000
1981	WS	LAN	2	0	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Tom Niedenfuer — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	2	9	0	2	13.1	11	4	5	9	2.70

Playoff Pitching by Year

Tom Niedenfuer — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	L	G	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1985	NLCS	LAN	2	3	1	5.2	5	4	2	5	6.35
1983	NLCS	LAN	0	2	1	2.0	0	0	1	3	0.00
1981	NLCS	LAN	0	1	0	0.1	2	0	0	0	0.00
1981	NWDIV	LAN	0	1	0	0.1	1	0	1	1	0.00
1981	WS	LAN	0	2	0	5.0	3	0	1	0	0.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (968 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Tom Niedenfuer — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	263	16	1	1	0	2	.062
Away	221	10	1	2	0	0	.200

Pitching — Home / Away

Tom Niedenfuer — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	263	369.0	356	132	99	250	3.22
Away	221	284.0	245	107	127	224	3.39

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Tom Niedenfuer — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1990-09-20	STL	PHI	—	0.2	0	0	0	1	2	0
1990-09-16	STL	CHC	—	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0
1990-09-10	STL	NYN	—	0.2	1	0	0	0	0	0
1990-09-03	STL	NYN	—	2.0	2	3	3	1	0	1
1990-08-30	STL	ATL	SV	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	0
1990-08-25	STL	HOU	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0
1990-08-21	STL	ATL	—	2.0	3	1	1	1	0	0
1990-08-15	STL	CIN	L	2.2	4	2	2	1	1	0
1990-08-14	STL	CIN	—	2.0	1	0	0	1	0	0
1990-08-08	STL	CHC	L	2.2	7	2	2	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Tom Niedenfuer — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	484	0	50	62	9	4

Season-by-Season Fielding

Tom Niedenfuer — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	PO	A	E	DP
1981	LAN	P	17	4	2	0	0
1982	LAN	P	55	1	7	0	0
1983	LAN	P	66	8	8	1	0
1984	LAN	P	33	1	5	1	0
1985	LAN	P	64	8	7	0	0
1986	LAN	P	60	9	10	1	1
1987	LAN	P	15	2	3	0	1
1987	BAL	P	45	5	3	1	1
1988	BAL	P	52	3	5	1	1
1989	SEA	P	25	6	5	2	0
1990	SLN	P	52	3	7	2	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Tom Niedenfuer Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	484

Salary History

Tom Niedenfuer's recorded salaries total $4,082,500 over 6 seasons, 1985 to 1990. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Niedenfuer's career ran from 1981 to 1990. His seasons before 1985 are not included.

Tom Niedenfuer — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1990	SEA	AL	$800,000
1989	SEA	AL	$800,000
1988	BAL	AL	$850,000
1987	LAN	NL	$731,250
1986	LAN	NL	$531,250
1985	LAN	NL	$370,000
Total recorded salary (partial)			$4,082,500

College History

Tom Niedenfuer — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
Washington State University	Pullman	WA	1979, 1980

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Tom Niedenfuer (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Tom Niedenfuer: the record in brief

Tom Niedenfuer's major league career runs from a debut on August 15, 1981 to a final game on September 20, 1990. Club by club, the record runs the Los Angeles Dodgers (1981 through 1987), the Baltimore Orioles (1987 through 1988), the Seattle Mariners (1989), and the St. Louis Cardinals (1990). Niedenfuer is listed as a pitcher at 225 pounds on a 6-foot-5 frame. Niedenfuer threw and hit right-handed, per the bio block. The recorded birth is August 13, 1959, in St. Louis Park, MN, USA. Niedenfuer's full given name, per the bio, is Thomas Edward Niedenfuer.

Across 484 games (0 starts), Niedenfuer recorded 36 wins against 46 losses with a 3.29 ERA. Also on Niedenfuer's record: 474 strikeouts and 97 saves. The leagues Niedenfuer pitched in allowed 3.87 earned runs per nine over those seasons, so the career ERA was 14.9% better than average. No season topped the 8 wins of 1983. Niedenfuer struck out 102 batters in 1985, a career high.

Frequently Asked Questions about Tom Niedenfuer

What years did Tom Niedenfuer play?: Tom Niedenfuer played in Major League Baseball from 1981 to 1990.
Was Tom Niedenfuer a pitcher?: Yes. Tom Niedenfuer pitched in the major leagues, recording 36 wins and 474 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Tom Niedenfuer hit?: Tom Niedenfuer hit 0 career home runs with 3 hits.
What teams did Tom Niedenfuer play for?: Tom Niedenfuer played for 4 teams: the Los Angeles Dodgers (1981–1987), the Baltimore Orioles (1987–1988), the Seattle Mariners (1989), and the St. Louis Cardinals (1990).
What were Tom Niedenfuer's career stats?: In 484 games, Tom Niedenfuer went 36-46 with a 3.29 ERA, 474 strikeouts, 653.0 innings pitched, and 97 saves.
How much did Tom Niedenfuer earn in his career?: Tom Niedenfuer's recorded salaries total $4,082,500 over 6 seasons, 1985 to 1990. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Niedenfuer's career ran from 1981 to 1990. His seasons before 1985 are not included.
What was Tom Niedenfuer's salary?: Tom Niedenfuer's last recorded salary was $800,000, in 1990. His highest recorded salary was $850,000, in 1988, and his lowest was $370,000, in 1985. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1990.
What position did Tom Niedenfuer play?: Tom Niedenfuer played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Tom Niedenfuer and how much did he weigh?: Tom Niedenfuer was listed at 6 feet 5 inches and 225 pounds.
What was Tom Niedenfuer's career ERA?: Tom Niedenfuer finished with a 3.29 career ERA, going 36-46 with 474 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Tom Niedenfuer have?: Tom Niedenfuer recorded 474 career strikeouts.
Is Tom Niedenfuer in the Hall of Fame?: No. Tom Niedenfuer has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.