What years did Mike Paxton play?

Mike Paxton played in Major League Baseball from 1977 to 1980.

Was Mike Paxton a pitcher?

Yes. Mike Paxton pitched in the major leagues, recording 30 wins and 230 strikeouts.

What was Mike Paxton's career ERA?

Mike Paxton finished with a 4.71 career ERA, going 30-24 with 230 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Mike Paxton have?

Mike Paxton recorded 230 career strikeouts.

Is Mike Paxton in the Hall of Fame?

No. Mike Paxton has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

What teams did Mike Paxton play for?

Mike Paxton played for the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Guardians.

Mike Paxton

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1977-1980)

Mike Paxton was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1977 to 1980 for the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Guardians, a span of 4 seasons. Across 99 career appearances, he went 30-24 with a 4.71 ERA and 230 strikeouts. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 2472.8.

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 12, 2026

W–L 30–24

ERA 4.71

WHIP 1.46

SO 230

Pitcher PIV 2472.8

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 5'11" / 190 lb
Born: 9/3/1953 in Memphis, TN, USA
MLB Debut: 1977-05-25
Last Game: 1980-05-03

Full name: Michael DeWayne Paxton

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Career Pitching Statistics

Mike Paxton — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
30	24	99	63	10	3	1	466.1	536	244	38	146	230	4.71	2472.8

Career ERA 4.71 vs. league average 3.88 across their career seasons — 21.3% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Mike Paxton — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1977	BOS	AL	10	5	29	12	2	1	0	108.0	134	46	25	58	3.83	4.00 (+4%)	1971.1
1978	CLE	AL	12	11	33	27	5	2	1	191.0	179	82	63	96	3.86	3.69 (-5%)	532.8
1979	CLE	AL	8	8	33	24	3	0	0	159.2	210	105	52	70	5.92	4.00 (-48%)	-31.2
1980	CLE	AL	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	7.2	13	11	6	6	12.91	—	0.0
Career · 4 seasons			30	24	99	63	10	3	1	466.1	536	244	146	230	4.71	—	2,473

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

Mike Paxton — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
99	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	0

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Mike Paxton — Season-by-Season Batting
Year	Team	Lg	G	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1977	BOS	AL	29	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1978	CLE	AL	33	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1979	CLE	AL	33	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1980	CLE	AL	4	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 4 seasons			99	—	—	—	—	—	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.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (198 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Mike Paxton — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	55	0	0	0	0	0	—
Away	44	0	0	0	0	0	—

Pitching — Home / Away

Mike Paxton — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	55	279.0	291	118	72	132	3.81
Away	44	187.1	245	126	74	98	6.05

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Mike Paxton — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1980-05-03	CLE	TOR	—	1.2	3	3	3	1	2	1
1980-04-29	CLE	MIL	—	2.0	3	4	4	2	2	2
1980-04-22	CLE	MIL	—	0.1	2	1	1	2	0	0
1980-04-11	CLE	LAA	—	3.2	5	3	3	1	2	1
1979-09-26	CLE	NYY	L	4.0	9	6	6	0	2	1
1979-09-18	CLE	NYY	W	7.0	5	3	3	2	3	1
1979-09-09	CLE	TOR	—	5.1	6	4	4	1	2	0
1979-08-31	CLE	LAA	—	6.1	8	3	3	1	2	0
1979-08-27	CLE	SEA	—	4.1	4	0	0	0	1	0
1979-08-21	CLE	LAA	—	4.1	11	5	5	2	2	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Mike Paxton — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	99	63	39	55	1	6

Season-by-Season Fielding

Mike Paxton — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1977	BOS	P	29	12	4	15	0	1
1978	CLE	P	33	27	17	20	1	2
1979	CLE	P	33	24	16	20	0	3
1980	CLE	P	4	0	2	0	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Mike Paxton — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Pitcher	99

College History

Mike Paxton — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
University of Memphis	Memphis	TN	1972, 1973, 1974, 1975

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Mike Paxton (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Mike Paxton: the record in brief

Mike Paxton played a first major league game on May 25, 1977 and a last one on May 3, 1980. Club by club, the record runs the Boston Red Sox (1977) and the Cleveland Indians (1978 to 1980). Paxton played primarily as a pitcher and batted and threw right-handed. The bio adds a birth date on September 3, 1953, in Memphis, TN, USA and a listed size of 190 pounds on a 5-foot-11 frame. On the record, Mike Paxton was born Michael DeWayne Paxton.

The pitching table credits Paxton with a 30-24 record and a 4.71 ERA in 99 games. Paxton had 230 strikeouts and 10 complete games. Against a 3.88 league ERA for the same seasons, the 4.71 mark was 21.3% worse. Paxton won 12 games in 1978, the most of any season listed. Among the heaviest workloads, the lowest ERA was 3.86 in 1978, when the league's was 3.69. Pitcher PIV, the site's era-adjusted run-prevention measure, totals 2,472.8 for Paxton's career.

The college table lists University of Memphis in 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1975. The game-log section draws on 198 games of Retrosheet box scores for Paxton.

Every defensive appearance on record for Paxton, 99 games, came at pitcher. On the mound, Paxton's fielding totals are 39 putouts, 55 assists and 1 errors.

Frequently Asked Questions about Mike Paxton

What years did Mike Paxton play?: Mike Paxton played in Major League Baseball from 1977 to 1980.
Was Mike Paxton a pitcher?: Yes. Mike Paxton pitched in the major leagues, recording 30 wins and 230 strikeouts.
What was Mike Paxton's career ERA?: Mike Paxton finished with a 4.71 career ERA, going 30-24 with 230 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Mike Paxton have?: Mike Paxton recorded 230 career strikeouts.
Is Mike Paxton in the Hall of Fame?: No. Mike Paxton has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
What teams did Mike Paxton play for?: Mike Paxton played for the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Guardians.