What years did Ben Oglivie play?

Ben Oglivie played in Major League Baseball from 1971 to 1986.

Was Ben Oglivie a pitcher?

No. Ben Oglivie was a position player (Outfielder).

How many home runs did Ben Oglivie hit?

Ben Oglivie hit 235 career home runs with 1,615 hits.

What teams did Ben Oglivie play for?

Ben Oglivie played for 3 teams: the Boston Red Sox (1971–1973), the Detroit Tigers (1974–1977), and the Milwaukee Brewers (1978–1986).

Did Ben Oglivie win an MVP award?

No. Ben Oglivie did not win the MVP award.

What awards did Ben Oglivie win?

Ben Oglivie won the Silver Slugger award (1980). He was selected to 3 All-Star Games.

What were Ben Oglivie's career stats?

In 1,754 games, Ben Oglivie had 1,615 hits, 235 home runs, 901 RBI, 784 runs, and 87 stolen bases, with a .273 batting average.

What was Ben Oglivie's salary?

Ben Oglivie's last recorded salary was $766,593, in 1986. His highest recorded salary was $766,593, in 1986, and his lowest was $560,000, in 1985. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1986.

What position did Ben Oglivie play?

Ben Oglivie played primarily as an outfielder, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Ben Oglivie and how much did he weigh?

Ben Oglivie was listed at 6 feet 2 inches and 160 pounds.

How many home runs did Ben Oglivie hit each season?

Ben Oglivie's home runs by season: 0 in 1971, 8 in 1972, 2 in 1973, 4 in 1974, 9 in 1975, 15 in 1976, 21 in 1977, 18 in 1978, 29 in 1979, 41 in 1980, 14 in 1981, 34 in 1982, 13 in 1983, 12 in 1984, 10 in 1985, and 5 in 1986. His most in one season was 41, in 1980.

What was Ben Oglivie's career batting average?

Ben Oglivie batted .273 over his career, with 1,615 hits in 5,913 at bats.

How many RBI did Ben Oglivie have?

Ben Oglivie drove in 901 runs in his career.

Ben Oglivie

Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1971-1986)

Ben Oglivie was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1971 to 1986 for the Boston Red Sox, the Detroit Tigers, and the Milwaukee Brewers, a span of 16 seasons. In 1,754 career games, he hit .273 with 1,615 hits, 235 home runs, and 901 RBI. Ben Oglivie was a 3-time All-Star and a Silver Slugger. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 12,243.

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 October 15, 2026

AVG .273

HR 235

RBI 901

H 1,615

OPS .786

PIV 12,243

Position: Outfielder
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 6'2" / 160 lb
Born: 2/11/1949 in Colon, Colón, Panama
MLB Debut: 1971-09-04
Last Game: 1986-10-05
Awards: 3× All-Star · Silver Slugger

Full name: Benjamin Ambrosio Oglivie

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Career Batting Statistics

Ben Oglivie — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
1,754	5,913	784	1,615	277	33	235	901	87	560	852	.273	.336	.450	.786	12,243

Career AVG .273 vs. league average .258 across their career seasons — +5.9% above league average.

Career OBP .336 vs. league average .324 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .450 vs. league average .381 across their career seasons — +18.2% above league average.

Career OPS .786 vs. league average .705 across their career seasons — +11.6% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Ben Oglivie Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1971	BOS	AL	14	38	2	10	3	0	0	4	0	0	5	.263	—	—	—	—	0.0
1972	BOS	AL	94	253	27	61	10	2	8	30	1	18	61	.241	.243 (-1%)	.310 (-6%)	.353 (+11%)	.664 (+3%)	64.5
1973	BOS	AL	58	147	16	32	9	1	2	9	1	9	32	.218	.256 (-15%)	.325 (-17%)	.378 (-12%)	.703 (-14%)	-374.1
1974	DET	AL	92	252	28	68	11	3	4	29	12	34	38	.270	.256 (+5%)	.324 (+9%)	.369 (+4%)	.693 (+6%)	330.2
1975	DET	AL	100	332	45	95	14	1	9	36	11	16	62	.286	.257 (+11%)	.327 (-2%)	.374 (+11%)	.701 (+5%)	182.2
1976	DET	AL	115	305	36	87	12	3	15	47	9	11	44	.285	.255 (+12%)	.320 (-2%)	.360 (+36%)	.681 (+18%)	821.8
1977	DET	AL	132	450	63	118	24	2	21	61	9	40	80	.262	.264 (-1%)	.329 (-1%)	.401 (+16%)	.730 (+8%)	646.5
1978	ML4	AL	128	469	71	142	29	4	18	72	11	52	69	.303	.257 (+17%)	.323 (+14%)	.378 (+31%)	.702 (+23%)	2095.2
1979	ML4	AL	139	514	88	145	30	4	29	81	12	48	56	.282	.265 (+6%)	.329 (+4%)	.397 (+32%)	.727 (+19%)	1865.2
1980	ML4	AL	156	592	94	180	26	2	41	118	11	54	71	.304	.264 (+15%)	.326 (+11%)	.387 (+45%)	.714 (+29%)	3390.0
1981	ML4	AL	107	400	53	97	15	2	14	72	2	37	49	.242	.255 (-5%)	.320 (-3%)	.368 (+7%)	.688 (+2%)	118.0
1982	ML4	AL	159	602	92	147	22	1	34	102	3	70	81	.244	.261 (-7%)	.324 (+1%)	.388 (+17%)	.712 (+9%)	1193.2
1983	ML4	AL	125	411	49	115	19	3	13	66	4	60	64	.280	.260 (+7%)	.324 (+14%)	.389 (+12%)	.714 (+13%)	1155.0
1984	ML4	AL	131	461	49	121	16	2	12	60	0	44	56	.262	.259 (+1%)	.322 (+1%)	.384 (avg)	.707 (avg)	87.3
1985	ML4	AL	101	341	40	99	17	2	10	61	0	37	51	.290	.257 (+13%)	.323 (+9%)	.390 (+13%)	.714 (+11%)	680.2
1986	ML4	AL	103	346	31	98	20	1	5	53	1	30	33	.283	.257 (+10%)	.325 (+3%)	.395 (-1%)	.720 (avg)	-11.8
Career · 16 seasons			1,754	5,913	784	1,615	277	33	235	901	87	560	852	.273	—	—	—	—	12,243

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

Ben Oglivie — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
16	60	5	11	1	1	2	3	2	14	.183

Playoff Batting by Year

Ben Oglivie — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1982	ALCS	ML4	4	15	1	2	0	0	1	1	0	3	.133
1982	WS	ML4	7	27	4	6	0	1	1	1	2	4	.222
1981	AEDIV	ML4	5	18	0	3	1	0	0	1	0	7	.167

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1754 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Ben Oglivie — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	854	2796	382	785	107	427	.281
Away	900	3117	402	830	128	474	.266

Last 10 Games — Batting

Ben Oglivie — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	SO
1986-10-05	MIL	TOR	W	3	0	0	0	0	1	2
1986-10-03	MIL	TOR	W	4	0	1	0	0	1	1
1986-10-02	MIL	DET	L	4	1	1	0	1	1	0
1986-09-30	MIL	DET	W	4	1	1	1	0	1	1
1986-09-26	MIL	BAL	W	3	0	1	0	0	0	0
1986-09-16	MIL	BOS	L	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1986-09-15	MIL	TOR	L	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
1986-09-13	MIL	TOR	L	3	0	0	0	0	1	0
1986-09-11	MIL	DET	L	4	0	1	0	0	0	0
1986-09-07	MIL	CLE	W	4	0	1	0	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Ben Oglivie — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1B	44	36	369	19	4	37
OF	1439	1364	3030	102	70	17

Season-by-Season Fielding

Ben Oglivie — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1971	BOS	OF	11	7	22	1	1	1
1972	BOS	OF	65	58	98	5	2	2
1973	BOS	OF	32	28	56	2	1	0
1974	DET	1B	10	9	75	8	0	13
1974	DET	OF	63	51	87	3	5	0
1975	DET	1B	5	4	40	4	0	4
1975	DET	OF	86	85	192	4	5	1
1976	DET	1B	9	9	98	1	1	13
1976	DET	OF	64	58	136	7	2	0
1977	DET	OF	118	113	236	10	6	3
1978	ML4	1B	11	9	88	3	2	4
1978	ML4	OF	89	84	187	5	4	0
1979	ML4	1B	9	5	68	3	1	3
1979	ML4	OF	120	113	252	7	4	0
1980	ML4	OF	152	150	384	18	9	3
1981	ML4	OF	101	100	211	3	4	1
1982	ML4	OF	159	156	359	15	7	3
1983	ML4	OF	113	108	259	8	4	1
1984	ML4	OF	125	117	256	6	8	1
1985	ML4	OF	91	87	190	4	7	0
1986	ML4	OF	50	49	105	4	1	1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Ben Oglivie Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
First Base	44
Left Field	1100
Center Field	16
Right Field	358
Designated Hitter	131

Awards & Honors

Ben Oglivie — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1983	Player of the Week	Week of 1983-04-29
1980	Player of the Month	May
1980	Silver Slugger	OF
1980	TSN All-Star	OF
1979	Player of the Week	Week of 1979-09-21
1976	Player of the Week	Week of 1976-06-04

Salary History

Ben Oglivie's recorded salaries total $1,326,593 over 2 seasons, 1985 to 1986. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Oglivie's career ran from 1971 to 1986. His seasons before 1985 are not included.

Ben Oglivie — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1986	ML4	AL	$766,593
1985	ML4	AL	$560,000
Total recorded salary (partial)			$1,326,593

Award Voting History

Ben Oglivie — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1980	Most Valuable Player	AL	13th	27.0	392	0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Ben Oglivie (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Compare Ben Oglivie

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Ben Oglivie: the record in brief

Ben Oglivie's major league career runs from a debut on September 4, 1971 to a final game on October 5, 1986. Oglivie played for the Boston Red Sox (1971 to 1973), the Detroit Tigers (1974 to 1977), and the Milwaukee Brewers (1978 to 1986). Oglivie played primarily as an outfielder and threw and hit left-handed. The bio adds a birth date on February 11, 1949, in Colon, Colón, Panama and a listed size of 160 pounds on a 6-foot-2 frame. On the record, Ben Oglivie was born Benjamin Ambrosio Oglivie.

Oglivie collected 1,615 hits in 5,913 at bats across 1,754 games, good for a .273 batting average, adding 235 home runs, 901 runs batted in, and 87 stolen bases. Oglivie's career OPS of .786 combines a .336 on-base mark with .450 slugging. Set against a .258 league average for the same years, Oglivie's .273 average sits 5.9% above it. 1980 was Oglivie's biggest home run year, with 41. The highest hit total in a season was 180, in 1980.

Frequently Asked Questions about Ben Oglivie

What years did Ben Oglivie play?: Ben Oglivie played in Major League Baseball from 1971 to 1986.
Was Ben Oglivie a pitcher?: No. Ben Oglivie was a position player (Outfielder).
How many home runs did Ben Oglivie hit?: Ben Oglivie hit 235 career home runs with 1,615 hits.
What teams did Ben Oglivie play for?: Ben Oglivie played for 3 teams: the Boston Red Sox (1971–1973), the Detroit Tigers (1974–1977), and the Milwaukee Brewers (1978–1986).
Did Ben Oglivie win an MVP award?: No. Ben Oglivie did not win the MVP award.
What awards did Ben Oglivie win?: Ben Oglivie won the Silver Slugger award (1980). He was selected to 3 All-Star Games.
What were Ben Oglivie's career stats?: In 1,754 games, Ben Oglivie had 1,615 hits, 235 home runs, 901 RBI, 784 runs, and 87 stolen bases, with a .273 batting average.
How much did Ben Oglivie earn in his career?: Ben Oglivie's recorded salaries total $1,326,593 over 2 seasons, 1985 to 1986. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Oglivie's career ran from 1971 to 1986. His seasons before 1985 are not included.
What was Ben Oglivie's salary?: Ben Oglivie's last recorded salary was $766,593, in 1986. His highest recorded salary was $766,593, in 1986, and his lowest was $560,000, in 1985. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1986.
What position did Ben Oglivie play?: Ben Oglivie played primarily as an outfielder, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Ben Oglivie and how much did he weigh?: Ben Oglivie was listed at 6 feet 2 inches and 160 pounds.
How many home runs did Ben Oglivie hit each season?: Ben Oglivie's home runs by season: 0 in 1971, 8 in 1972, 2 in 1973, 4 in 1974, 9 in 1975, 15 in 1976, 21 in 1977, 18 in 1978, 29 in 1979, 41 in 1980, 14 in 1981, 34 in 1982, 13 in 1983, 12 in 1984, 10 in 1985, and 5 in 1986. His most in one season was 41, in 1980.
What was Ben Oglivie's career batting average?: Ben Oglivie batted .273 over his career, with 1,615 hits in 5,913 at bats.
How many RBI did Ben Oglivie have?: Ben Oglivie drove in 901 runs in his career.