What years did Johnny O'Brien play?

Johnny O'Brien played in Major League Baseball from 1953 to 1959.

Was Johnny O'Brien a pitcher?

Both. Johnny O'Brien pitched in 25 games, going 1-3 with a 5.61 ERA, but spent most of his career as a Second Baseman.

How many home runs did Johnny O'Brien hit?

Johnny O'Brien hit 4 career home runs with 204 hits.

Johnny O'Brien

Second Baseman · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1953-1959)

AVG .250

HR 4

RBI 59

H 204

OPS .626

PIV -1,848

Position: Second Baseman
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 5'9" / 170 lb
Born: 12/11/1930 in South Amboy, NJ, USA
Died: 6/13/2025 in Seattle, WA, USA
MLB Debut: 1953-04-19
Last Game: 1959-07-19

Full name: John Thomas O'Brien

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Batting Statistics

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
339	815	90	204	35	5	4	59	2	59	82	.250	.306	.320	.626	-1,848

Career AVG .250 vs. league average .259 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .306 vs. league average .329 across their career seasons — 6.9% below league average.

Career SLG .320 vs. league average .394 across their career seasons — 18.8% below league average.

Career OPS .626 vs. league average .723 across their career seasons — 13.4% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

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
1953	PIT	NL	89	279	28	69	13	2	2	22	1	21	36	.247	.264 (-6%)	.335 (-8%)	.397 (-17%)	.733 (-13%)	-580.0
1955	PIT	NL	84	278	22	83	15	2	1	25	1	20	19	.299	.258 (+15%)	.332 (+4%)	.393 (-4%)	.726 (avg)	-25.3
1956	PIT	NL	73	104	13	18	1	0	0	3	0	5	7	.173	.258 (-33%)	.331 (-37%)	.397 (-54%)	.728 (-46%)	-776.5
1957	PIT	NL	34	35	7	11	2	1	0	1	0	1	4	.314	—	—	—	—	0.0
1958	PIT	NL	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1958	SLN	NL	12	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1959	ML1	NL	44	116	16	23	4	0	1	8	0	11	15	.198	.256 (-23%)	.323 (-16%)	.392 (-34%)	.715 (-26%)	-466.5
Career · 7 seasons			339	815	90	204	35	5	4	59	2	59	82	.250	—	—	—	—	-1,848

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 Pitching Statistics

W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
1	3	25	1	0	0	0	61.0	61	38	9	35	30	5.61	-2090.8

Career ERA 5.61 vs. league average 3.89 across their career seasons — 44.3% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1956	PIT	NL	1	0	8	0	19.0	8	6	9	9	2.84	3.96 (+28%)	-267.3
1957	PIT	NL	0	3	16	1	40.0	46	27	24	19	6.08	3.83 (-58%)	-1823.5
1958	SLN	NL	0	0	1	0	2.0	7	5	2	2	22.50	—	0.0
Career · 3 seasons			1	3	25	1	61.0	61	38	35	30	5.61	—	-2,091

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 (364 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	170	402	51	103	3	33	.256
Away	169	413	39	101	1	26	.245

Pitching — Home / Away

Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	11	28.0	33	18	17	17	5.79
Away	14	33.0	28	20	18	13	5.45

Last 10 Games — Batting

Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO
1959-07-19	ATL	STL	L	0	1	0	0	1	0
1959-07-18	ATL	STL	L	2	0	0	0	0	0
1959-07-17	ATL	STL	L	2	1	0	0	0	0
1959-07-16	ATL	CHC	L	3	0	0	0	0	0
1959-07-15	ATL	CHC	L	4	0	0	0	0	1
1959-07-14	ATL	CHC	L	4	0	2	1	0	1
1959-07-13	ATL	SFG	W	2	1	0	0	1	0
1959-07-12	ATL	SFG	W	3	1	1	0	0	0
1959-07-11	ATL	LAD	L	1	1	0	0	1	1
1959-07-09	ATL	LAD	L	4	0	0	1	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1958-07-10	STL	PHI	—	2.0	7	5	5	2	2	0
1957-09-15	PIT	STL	—	2.1	2	1	1	0	1	1
1957-09-15	PIT	STL	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1957-09-14	PIT	CHC	L	1.0	2	3	3	2	0	1
1957-09-02	PIT	NY1	L	6.0	8	4	4	4	1	2
1957-08-23	PIT	CIN	—	3.0	3	2	2	2	1	0
1957-08-08	PIT	PHI	—	3.0	2	0	0	0	4	0
1957-07-29	PIT	STL	—	3.0	2	2	2	3	2	0
1957-07-21	PIT	STL	—	5.0	7	5	4	6	2	0
1957-07-14	PIT	CIN	—	4.0	7	4	3	2	1	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
2B	248	137	497	611	29	142
P	25	1	2	4	3	0
SS	15	7	12	14	3	2

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1953	PIT	2B	77	0	172	210	7	48
1953	PIT	SS	1	0	0	0	0	0
1955	PIT	2B	78	75	185	220	13	53
1956	PIT	2B	53	28	67	98	7	17
1956	PIT	P	8	0	0	0	2	0
1956	PIT	SS	1	0	0	1	0	0
1957	PIT	2B	2	0	1	0	0	0
1957	PIT	P	16	1	2	4	1	0
1957	PIT	SS	8	7	11	12	3	2
1958	SLN	2B	1	0	2	0	0	0
1958	SLN	P	1	0	0	0	0	0
1958	SLN	SS	5	0	1	1	0	0
1959	ML1	2B	37	34	70	83	2	24

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position	Games
Pitcher	25
Second Base	248
Shortstop	15

College History

School Name	City	State	Years Attended
Seattle University	Seattle	WA	1950, 1951, 1952, 1953

Frequently Asked Questions about Johnny O'Brien

What years did Johnny O'Brien play?: Johnny O'Brien played in Major League Baseball from 1953 to 1959.
Was Johnny O'Brien a pitcher?: Both. Johnny O'Brien pitched in 25 games, going 1-3 with a 5.61 ERA, but spent most of his career as a Second Baseman.
How many home runs did Johnny O'Brien hit?: Johnny O'Brien hit 4 career home runs with 204 hits.