Steve O'Neill
Catcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1911-1928)
Steve O'Neill was a catcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1911 to 1928 for 4 teams, including the Cleveland Guardians, a span of 18 seasons. In 1,590 career games, he hit .263 with 1,259 hits, 13 home runs, and 537 RBI. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 2,259.
- 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
- Catcher
- Bats / Throws
- R / R
- Height / Weight
- 5'10" / 165 lb
- Died
- 1/26/1962 in Cleveland, OH, USA
- MLB Debut
- 1911-09-18
- Last Game
- 1928-09-14
Full name: Stephen Francis O'Neill
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,590 | 4,795 | 448 | 1,259 | 248 | 34 | 13 | 537 | 30 | 592 | 414 | .263 | .349 | .337 | .685 | 2,259 |
Career AVG .263 vs. league average .270 across their career seasons — near league average.
Career OBP .349 vs. league average .334 across their career seasons — near league average.
Career SLG .337 vs. league average .366 across their career seasons — 8.1% below league average.
Career OPS .685 vs. league average .700 across their career seasons — near 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1911 | CLE | AL | 9 | 27 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | .148 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1912 | CLE | AL | 69 | 215 | 17 | 49 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 12 | 28 | .228 | .268 (-15%) | .335 (-19%) | .358 (-31%) | .694 (-25%) | -829.5 |
| 1913 | CLE | AL | 80 | 234 | 19 | 69 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 5 | 10 | 24 | .295 | .259 (+14%) | .325 (+1%) | .345 (+9%) | .670 (+5%) | 146.2 |
| 1914 | CLE | AL | 87 | 269 | 28 | 68 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 15 | 35 | .253 | .255 (-1%) | .322 (-9%) | .339 (-8%) | .661 (-9%) | -386.4 |
| 1915 | CLE | AL | 121 | 386 | 32 | 91 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 34 | 2 | 26 | 41 | .236 | .250 (-6%) | .318 (-8%) | .332 (-10%) | .651 (-9%) | -529.9 |
| 1916 | CLE | AL | 130 | 378 | 30 | 89 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 2 | 24 | 33 | .235 | .248 (-5%) | .314 (-8%) | .326 (-9%) | .640 (-9%) | -497.5 |
| 1917 | CLE | AL | 129 | 370 | 21 | 68 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 2 | 41 | 55 | .184 | .248 (-26%) | .312 (-13%) | .323 (-31%) | .635 (-22%) | -1085.6 |
| 1918 | CLE | AL | 114 | 359 | 34 | 87 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 35 | 5 | 48 | 22 | .242 | .255 (-5%) | .318 (+8%) | .326 (-4%) | .645 (+2%) | 272.3 |
| 1919 | CLE | AL | 125 | 398 | 46 | 115 | 35 | 7 | 2 | 47 | 4 | 48 | 21 | .289 | .262 (+10%) | .322 (+15%) | .347 (+23%) | .670 (+19%) | 1501.0 |
| 1920 | CLE | AL | 149 | 489 | 63 | 157 | 39 | 5 | 3 | 55 | 3 | 69 | 39 | .321 | .271 (+18%) | .331 (+23%) | .363 (+21%) | .694 (+22%) | 2373.6 |
| 1921 | CLE | AL | 106 | 335 | 39 | 108 | 22 | 1 | 1 | 50 | 0 | 57 | 22 | .322 | .286 (+13%) | .344 (+23%) | .395 (+2%) | .739 (+12%) | 1072.3 |
| 1922 | CLE | AL | 133 | 392 | 33 | 122 | 27 | 4 | 2 | 65 | 2 | 73 | 25 | .311 | .285 (+9%) | .345 (+22%) | .397 (+5%) | .743 (+13%) | 1388.5 |
| 1923 | CLE | AL | 113 | 330 | 31 | 82 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 0 | 64 | 34 | .248 | .282 (-12%) | .344 (+8%) | .390 (-27%) | .734 (-10%) | -294.1 |
| 1924 | BOS | AL | 106 | 307 | 29 | 73 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 63 | 23 | .238 | .283 (-16%) | .345 (+7%) | .389 (-25%) | .734 (-10%) | -250.7 |
| 1925 | NYA | AL | 35 | 91 | 7 | 26 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 10 | 3 | .286 | .288 (-1%) | .349 (+4%) | .407 (-8%) | .756 (-3%) | -16.0 |
| 1927 | SLA | AL | 74 | 191 | 14 | 44 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 0 | 20 | 6 | .230 | .282 (-18%) | .344 (-12%) | .392 (-28%) | .736 (-20%) | -605.0 |
| 1928 | SLA | AL | 10 | 24 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 0 | .292 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| Career · 17 seasons | 1,590 | 4,795 | 448 | 1,259 | 248 | 34 | 13 | 537 | 30 | 592 | 414 | .263 | — | — | — | — | 2,259 | ||
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 (1590 games) →Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).
Batting — Home / Away
| Split | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 795 | 2329 | 232 | 662 | 5 | 284 | .284 |
| Away | 795 | 2470 | 213 | 600 | 8 | 254 | .243 |
Last 10 Games — Batting
| Date | Tm | Opp | Res | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1928-09-14 | SLA | CHW | L | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1928-09-11 | SLA | CLE | W | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 1928-05-27 | SLA | CLE | W | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 1928-05-26 | SLA | CLE | L | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1928-05-22 | SLA | DET | L | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1928-05-11 | SLA | PHA | L | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1928-05-07 | SLA | MIN | W | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 1928-05-05 | SLA | MIN | L | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 1928-04-25 | SLA | CLE | L | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1928-04-17 | SLA | CHW | L | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| C | 1532 | 0 | 5967 | 1698 | 217 | 193 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1911 | CLE | C | 9 | 0 | 55 | 17 | 1 | 1 |
| 1912 | CLE | C | 68 | 0 | 316 | 108 | 17 | 9 |
| 1913 | CLE | C | 80 | 0 | 353 | 119 | 13 | 9 |
| 1914 | CLE | 1B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1914 | CLE | C | 82 | 0 | 393 | 134 | 24 | 22 |
| 1915 | CLE | C | 115 | 0 | 556 | 175 | 24 | 17 |
| 1916 | CLE | C | 128 | 0 | 540 | 154 | 21 | 36 |
| 1917 | CLE | C | 127 | 0 | 446 | 145 | 12 | 19 |
| 1918 | CLE | C | 113 | 0 | 409 | 154 | 10 | 10 |
| 1919 | CLE | C | 123 | 0 | 472 | 125 | 14 | 13 |
| 1920 | CLE | C | 148 | 0 | 576 | 128 | 17 | 19 |
| 1921 | CLE | C | 105 | 0 | 393 | 92 | 9 | 8 |
| 1922 | CLE | C | 130 | 0 | 450 | 116 | 15 | 9 |
| 1923 | CLE | C | 111 | 0 | 354 | 68 | 14 | 3 |
| 1924 | BOS | C | 92 | 0 | 342 | 75 | 13 | 2 |
| 1925 | NYA | C | 31 | 0 | 113 | 27 | 8 | 8 |
| 1927 | SLA | C | 60 | 0 | 180 | 57 | 4 | 8 |
| 1928 | SLA | C | 10 | 0 | 19 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
Career Games by Position
Circle size = games played at each position.
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Catcher | 1533 |
| First Base | 1 |
Awards & Honors
| Year | Award | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1922 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | C |
| 1921 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | C |
| 1920 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | C |
| 1919 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | C |
| 1918 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | C |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1922 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 6th | 13.0 | 64 | 0 |
| 1913 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 24th | 1.0 | 64 | 0 |
Most Similar Players
Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.
Steve O'Neill (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.
Steve O'Neill: the record in brief
Steve O'Neill played a first major league game on September 18, 1911 and a last one on September 14, 1928. O'Neill played for the Cleveland Naps (1911 to 1914), the Cleveland Indians (1915 to 1923), the Boston Red Sox (1924), the New York Yankees (1925), and the St. Louis Browns (1927 through 1928). O'Neill played primarily as a catcher and batted and threw right-handed. The bio adds a birth date on July 6, 1891, in Minooka, PA, USA and a listed size of 5'10" and 165 pounds. The bio records the death on January 26, 1962, in Cleveland, OH, USA. Steve O'Neill was the playing name; the full given name is Stephen Francis.
O'Neill collected 1,259 hits in 4,795 at bats across 1,590 games, good for a .263 batting average, plus 13 home runs, 537 runs batted in, and 30 stolen bases. O'Neill's career OPS of .685 combines a .349 on-base mark with .337 slugging. O'Neill hit .263 while the league hit .270 over the same span, a figure close to average.
Frequently Asked Questions about Steve O'Neill
- What years did Steve O'Neill play?
- Steve O'Neill played in Major League Baseball from 1911 to 1928.
- Was Steve O'Neill a pitcher?
- No. Steve O'Neill was a position player (Catcher).
- How many home runs did Steve O'Neill hit?
- Steve O'Neill hit 13 career home runs with 1259 hits.
- What was Steve O'Neill's career batting average?
- Steve O'Neill batted .263 over his career, with 1,259 hits in 4,795 at bats.
- How many RBI did Steve O'Neill have?
- Steve O'Neill drove in 537 runs in his career.
- Is Steve O'Neill in the Hall of Fame?
- No. Steve O'Neill has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.