Bob Nieman
Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1951-1962)
Bob Nieman was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1951 to 1962 for 7 teams, including the St. Louis Browns, a span of 12 seasons. In 1,113 career games, he hit .295 with 1,018 hits, 125 home runs, and 544 RBI. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 11,563.
- 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
- Outfielder
- Bats / Throws
- R / R
- Height / Weight
- 5'11" / 195 lb
- Died
- 3/10/1985 in Corona, CA, USA
- MLB Debut
- 1951-09-14
- Last Game
- 1962-10-03
Full name: Robert Charles Nieman
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,113 | 3,452 | 455 | 1,018 | 180 | 32 | 125 | 544 | 10 | 435 | 512 | .295 | .373 | .474 | .847 | 11,563 |
Career AVG .295 vs. league average .258 across their career seasons — +14.2% above league average.
Career OBP .373 vs. league average .329 across their career seasons — +13.4% above league average.
Career SLG .474 vs. league average .391 across their career seasons — +21.2% above league average.
Career OPS .847 vs. league average .720 across their career seasons — +17.7% above 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | SLA | AL | 12 | 43 | 6 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 | .372 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1952 | SLA | AL | 131 | 478 | 66 | 138 | 22 | 2 | 18 | 74 | 0 | 46 | 73 | .289 | .252 (+14%) | .326 (+8%) | .369 (+23%) | .696 (+16%) | 1427.4 |
| 1953 | DET | AL | 142 | 508 | 72 | 143 | 32 | 5 | 15 | 69 | 0 | 57 | 57 | .281 | .264 (+7%) | .335 (+5%) | .397 (+14%) | .733 (+10%) | 1002.8 |
| 1954 | DET | AL | 91 | 251 | 24 | 66 | 14 | 1 | 8 | 35 | 0 | 22 | 32 | .263 | .261 (+1%) | .333 (-4%) | .390 (+8%) | .723 (+2%) | 51.9 |
| 1955 | CHA | AL | 99 | 272 | 36 | 77 | 11 | 2 | 11 | 53 | 1 | 36 | 37 | .283 | .258 (+10%) | .332 (+10%) | .393 (+17%) | .726 (+14%) | 738.8 |
| 1956 | CHA | AL | 14 | 40 | 3 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | .300 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1956 | BAL | AL | 114 | 388 | 60 | 125 | 20 | 6 | 12 | 64 | 1 | 86 | 59 | .322 | .258 (+25%) | .331 (+34%) | .397 (+25%) | .728 (+29%) | 0.0 |
| 1957 | BAL | AL | 129 | 445 | 61 | 123 | 17 | 6 | 13 | 70 | 4 | 63 | 86 | .276 | .257 (+7%) | .323 (+12%) | .391 (+10%) | .715 (+11%) | 1031.7 |
| 1958 | BAL | AL | 105 | 366 | 56 | 119 | 20 | 2 | 16 | 60 | 2 | 44 | 57 | .325 | .257 (+26%) | .324 (+21%) | .394 (+32%) | .719 (+27%) | 1966.2 |
| 1959 | BAL | AL | 118 | 360 | 49 | 105 | 18 | 2 | 21 | 60 | 1 | 42 | 55 | .292 | .256 (+14%) | .323 (+13%) | .392 (+35%) | .715 (+25%) | 1742.2 |
| 1960 | SLN | NL | 81 | 188 | 19 | 54 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 31 | 0 | 24 | 31 | .287 | .255 (+13%) | .323 (+15%) | .387 (+22%) | .711 (+19%) | 649.7 |
| 1961 | SLN | NL | 6 | 17 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .471 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1961 | CLE | AL | 39 | 65 | 2 | 23 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 4 | .354 | .258 (+37%) | .328 (+27%) | .399 (+35%) | .727 (+31%) | 0.0 |
| 1962 | CLE | AL | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1962 | SFN | NL | 30 | 30 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | .300 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| Career · 15 seasons | 1,113 | 3,452 | 455 | 1,018 | 180 | 32 | 125 | 544 | 10 | 435 | 512 | .295 | — | — | — | — | 8,610 | ||
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 (1111 games) →Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).
Batting — Home / Away
| Split | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 557 | 1671 | 231 | 524 | 62 | 290 | .314 |
| Away | 554 | 1779 | 224 | 494 | 63 | 252 | .278 |
Last 10 Games — Batting
| Date | Tm | Opp | Res | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962-09-06 | SFG | LAD | W | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1962-09-02 | SFG | CIN | W | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1962-09-01 | SFG | CIN | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1962-08-29 | SFG | ATL | L | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1962-08-20 | SFG | ATL | L | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1962-08-03 | SFG | PIT | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1962-07-28 | SFG | LAD | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1962-07-27 | SFG | LAD | L | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1962-07-21 | SFG | PIT | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1962-07-20 | SFG | PIT | W | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | SLA | OF | 11 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1952 | SLA | OF | 125 | 0 | 230 | 10 | 6 | 5 |
| 1953 | DET | OF | 135 | 0 | 271 | 10 | 6 | 1 |
| 1954 | DET | OF | 62 | 60 | 119 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 1955 | CHA | OF | 78 | 72 | 118 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 1956 | CHA | OF | 10 | 10 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1956 | BAL | OF | 114 | 114 | 243 | 4 | 5 | 1 |
| 1957 | BAL | OF | 120 | 117 | 237 | 6 | 5 | 0 |
| 1958 | BAL | OF | 100 | 97 | 145 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| 1959 | BAL | OF | 97 | 94 | 171 | 6 | 5 | 0 |
| 1960 | SLN | OF | 55 | 52 | 63 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 1961 | SLN | OF | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1961 | CLE | OF | 12 | 11 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1962 | SFN | OF | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Career Games by Position
Circle size = games played at each position.
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Left Field | 699 |
| Right Field | 230 |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 7th | 55.0 | 336 | 0 |
Most Similar Players
Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.
Bob Nieman (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.
Bob Nieman: the record in brief
Between the debut on September 14, 1951 and the final game on October 3, 1962, Bob Nieman built the record summarized on this page. Club by club, the record runs the St. Louis Browns (1951 through 1952), the Detroit Tigers (1953 through 1954), the Chicago White Sox (1955 through 1956), the Baltimore Orioles (1956 through 1959), the St. Louis Cardinals (1960 to 1961), the Cleveland Indians (1961 to 1962), and the San Francisco Giants (1962). At 5'11" and 195 pounds, Nieman is listed as an outfielder. Nieman both batted and threw right-handed, per the bio block. Nieman was born on January 26, 1927, in Cincinnati, OH, USA. Nieman's death is recorded on March 10, 1985, in Corona, CA, USA. Nieman's full given name, per the bio, is Robert Charles Nieman.
Nieman collected 1,018 hits in 3,452 at bats across 1,113 games, good for a .295 batting average, plus 125 homers and 544 RBI. Reaching base at a .373 clip and slugging .474, Nieman finished with a .847 OPS.
Frequently Asked Questions about Bob Nieman
- What years did Bob Nieman play?
- Bob Nieman played in Major League Baseball from 1951 to 1962.
- Was Bob Nieman a pitcher?
- No. Bob Nieman was a position player (Outfielder).
- How many home runs did Bob Nieman hit?
- Bob Nieman hit 125 career home runs with 1,018 hits.
- What teams did Bob Nieman play for?
- Bob Nieman played for 6 teams: the Baltimore Orioles (1951–1952, 1956–1959), the Detroit Tigers (1953–1954), the Chicago White Sox (1955–1956), the St. Louis Cardinals (1960–1961), the Cleveland Indians (1961–1962), and the San Francisco Giants (1962).
- What were Bob Nieman's career stats?
- In 1,113 games, Bob Nieman had 1,018 hits, 125 home runs, 544 RBI, 455 runs, and 10 stolen bases, with a .295 batting average.
- What position did Bob Nieman play?
- Bob Nieman played primarily as an outfielder, the position where he appeared in the most games.
- How tall was Bob Nieman and how much did he weigh?
- Bob Nieman was listed at 5 feet 11 inches and 195 pounds.
- How many home runs did Bob Nieman hit each season?
- Bob Nieman's home runs by season: 2 in 1951, 18 in 1952, 15 in 1953, 8 in 1954, 11 in 1955, 14 in 1956, 13 in 1957, 16 in 1958, 21 in 1959, 4 in 1960, 2 in 1961, and 1 in 1962. His most in one season was 21, in 1959.
- What was Bob Nieman's career batting average?
- Bob Nieman batted .295 over his career, with 1,018 hits in 3,452 at bats.
- How many RBI did Bob Nieman have?
- Bob Nieman drove in 544 runs in his career.
- Is Bob Nieman in the Hall of Fame?
- No. Bob Nieman has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.