What years did Johnny Podres play?

Johnny Podres played in Major League Baseball from 1953 to 1969.

Was Johnny Podres a pitcher?

Yes. Johnny Podres pitched in the major leagues, recording 148 wins and 1435 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Johnny Podres hit?

Johnny Podres hit 2 career home runs with 145 hits.

What teams did Johnny Podres play for?

Johnny Podres played for 3 teams: the Los Angeles Dodgers (1953–1955, 1957–1966), the Detroit Tigers (1966–1967), and the San Diego Padres (1969).

Did Johnny Podres win a Cy Young Award?

No. Johnny Podres did not win the Cy Young Award.

What awards did Johnny Podres win?

Johnny Podres won the World Series MVP award (1955). He was selected to 3 All-Star Games.

What were Johnny Podres's career stats?

In 440 games, Johnny Podres went 148-116 with a 3.68 ERA, 1,435 strikeouts, 2,265.0 innings pitched, and 11 saves. At the plate he had 145 hits and 2 home runs.

What position did Johnny Podres play?

Johnny Podres played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Johnny Podres and how much did he weigh?

Johnny Podres was listed at 5 feet 11 inches and 170 pounds.

What was Johnny Podres's career ERA?

Johnny Podres finished with a 3.68 career ERA, going 148-116 with 1,435 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Johnny Podres have?

Johnny Podres recorded 1,435 career strikeouts.

Is Johnny Podres in the Hall of Fame?

No. Johnny Podres has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

How many All-Star Games did Johnny Podres make?

Johnny Podres was selected to 3 All-Star Games.

Johnny Podres

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1953-1969)

Johnny Podres was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1953 to 1969 for 4 teams, including the Brooklyn Dodgers, a span of 17 seasons. Across 440 career appearances, he went 148-116 with a 3.68 ERA and 1,435 strikeouts. He also batted .190 with 2 home runs. Johnny Podres was a 3-time All-Star, a World Series MVP, and a Babe Ruth Award. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 10143.4.

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 15, 2026

W–L 148–116

ERA 3.68

WHIP 1.32

SO 1,435

Pitcher PIV 10143.4

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 5'11" / 170 lb
Born: 9/30/1932 in Witherbee, NY, USA
Died: 1/13/2008 in Glens Falls, NY, USA
MLB Debut: 1953-04-17
Last Game: 1969-06-21
Awards: 3× All-Star · World Series MVP · Babe Ruth Award

Full name: John Joseph Podres

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Career Pitching Statistics

Johnny Podres — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
148	116	440	340	77	24	11	2265.0	2,239	925	242	743	1,435	3.68	10143.4

Career ERA 3.68 vs. league average 3.74 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Johnny Podres Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1953	BRO	NL	9	4	33	18	3	1	0	115.0	126	54	64	82	4.23	4.14 (-2%)	-229.8
1954	BRO	NL	11	7	29	21	6	2	0	151.2	147	72	53	79	4.27	3.90 (-10%)	1404.2
1955	BRO	NL	9	10	27	24	5	2	0	159.1	160	70	57	114	3.95	4.00 (+1%)	2839.1
1957	BRO	NL	12	9	31	27	10	6	3	196.0	168	58	44	109	2.66	3.83 (+31%)	4112.0
1958	LAN	NL	13	15	39	31	10	2	1	210.1	208	87	78	143	3.72	3.86 (+4%)	-341.4
1959	LAN	NL	14	9	34	29	6	2	0	195.0	192	89	74	145	4.11	3.90 (-5%)	661.5
1960	LAN	NL	14	12	34	33	8	1	0	227.2	217	78	71	159	3.08	3.82 (+19%)	1855.3
1961	LAN	NL	18	5	32	29	6	1	0	182.2	192	76	51	124	3.74	4.03 (+7%)	-67.5
1962	LAN	NL	15	13	40	40	8	0	0	255.0	270	108	71	178	3.81	3.96 (+4%)	5662.6
1963	LAN	NL	14	12	37	34	10	5	1	198.1	196	78	64	134	3.54	3.46 (-2%)	1388.2
1964	LAN	NL	0	2	2	2	0	0	0	2.2	5	5	3	0	16.88	—	0.0
1965	LAN	NL	7	6	27	22	2	1	1	134.0	126	51	39	63	3.43	3.50 (+2%)	-2161.6
1966	LAN	NL	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1.2	2	0	1	1	0.00	—	0.0
1966	DET	AL	4	5	36	13	2	1	4	107.2	106	41	34	53	3.43	3.52 (+3%)	-1274.9
1967	DET	AL	3	1	21	8	0	0	1	63.1	58	27	11	34	3.84	3.30 (-16%)	-1889.7
1969	SDN	NL	5	6	17	9	1	0	0	64.2	66	31	28	17	4.31	3.61 (-19%)	-1814.8
Career · 16 seasons			148	116	440	340	77	24	11	2,265.0	2,239	925	743	1,435	3.68	—	10,143

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

Johnny Podres — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
462	762	61	145	19	1	2	50	1	32	108	.190	.224	.226	.449	-3,683

Career AVG .190 vs. league average .253 across their career seasons — 24.8% below league average.

Career OBP .224 vs. league average .321 across their career seasons — 30.2% below league average.

Career SLG .226 vs. league average .383 across their career seasons — 41.1% below league average.

Career OPS .449 vs. league average .703 across their career seasons — 36.1% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Johnny Podres 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
1953	BRO	NL	34	36	5	11	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	.306	—	—	—	—	0.0
1954	BRO	NL	38	60	7	17	3	1	0	4	0	5	5	.283	.261 (+9%)	.333 (-1%)	.390 (-6%)	.723 (-4%)	-56.0
1955	BRO	NL	32	60	9	11	2	0	0	5	0	4	5	.183	.258 (-29%)	.332 (-29%)	.393 (-45%)	.726 (-38%)	-362.9
1957	BRO	NL	35	72	6	15	4	0	0	4	0	2	5	.208	.257 (-19%)	.323 (-29%)	.391 (-33%)	.715 (-31%)	-359.4
1958	LAN	NL	42	71	5	9	0	0	0	4	0	2	17	.127	.257 (-51%)	.324 (-55%)	.394 (-68%)	.719 (-62%)	-717.1
1959	LAN	NL	34	65	4	16	1	0	0	4	0	6	13	.246	.256 (-4%)	.323 (-6%)	.392 (-33%)	.715 (-21%)	-201.8
1960	LAN	NL	34	66	3	9	0	0	0	3	0	5	15	.136	.255 (-47%)	.323 (-37%)	.387 (-65%)	.711 (-52%)	-535.9
1961	LAN	NL	32	69	3	16	2	0	0	7	0	2	8	.232	.258 (-10%)	.328 (-24%)	.399 (-35%)	.727 (-30%)	-338.9
1962	LAN	NL	40	88	6	14	2	0	1	5	0	2	8	.159	.257 (-38%)	.326 (-43%)	.393 (-45%)	.719 (-44%)	-619.5
1963	LAN	NL	37	64	6	9	2	0	1	8	0	1	11	.141	.246 (-43%)	.308 (-52%)	.371 (-41%)	.680 (-46%)	-491.3
1964	LAN	NL	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1965	LAN	NL	27	45	1	8	0	0	0	2	0	1	8	.178	—	—	—	—	0.0
1966	LAN	NL	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1966	DET	AL	36	30	5	7	3	0	0	2	0	2	5	.233	—	—	—	—	0.0
1967	DET	AL	21	20	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	.100	—	—	—	—	0.0
1969	SDN	NL	17	16	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	.062	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 16 seasons			462	762	61	145	19	1	2	50	1	32	108	.190	—	—	—	—	-3,683

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

Johnny Podres — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
7	16	2	5	1	0	0	1	0	1	.312

Playoff Batting by Year

Johnny Podres — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	SO	AVG
1963	WS	LAN	1	4	0	1	0	0	0	.250
1959	WS	LAN	3	4	1	2	1	1	0	.500
1955	WS	BRO	2	7	1	1	0	0	1	.143
1953	WS	BRO	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	1.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Johnny Podres — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
4	1	6	6	0	38.1	29	9	13	18	2.11

Playoff Pitching by Year

Johnny Podres — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1963	WS	LAN	1	0	1	1	8.1	6	1	1	4	1.08
1959	WS	LAN	1	0	2	2	9.1	7	5	6	4	4.82
1955	WS	BRO	2	0	2	2	18.0	15	2	4	10	1.00
1953	WS	BRO	0	1	1	1	2.2	1	1	2	0	3.38

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (898 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Johnny Podres — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	232	355	29	61	0	25	.172
Away	228	404	32	84	2	25	.208

Pitching — Home / Away

Johnny Podres — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	219	1142.1	1159	465	364	754	3.66
Away	219	1115.1	1068	459	377	680	3.70

Last 10 Games — Batting

Johnny Podres — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	SO
1969-06-21	SDP	HOU	L	0	0
1969-06-18	SDP	LAD	L	1	0
1969-06-13	SDP	PHI	L	1	1
1969-06-07	SDP	NYN	L	2	1
1969-06-01	SDP	WSN	W	3	0
1969-05-25	SDP	CHC	W	3	1
1969-05-21	SDP	PIT	L	0	0
1969-05-18	SDP	STL	L	0	0
1969-05-14	SDP	CHC	L	0	0
1969-05-10	SDP	STL	W	2	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Johnny Podres — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1969-06-21	SDP	HOU	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0
1969-06-18	SDP	LAD	L	2.1	5	5	5	1	0	1
1969-06-13	SDP	PHI	L	3.0	6	5	4	0	2	2
1969-06-07	SDP	NYN	L	6.2	8	3	3	3	2	0
1969-06-01	SDP	WSN	W	7.0	5	1	1	3	1	1
1969-05-25	SDP	CHC	W	9.0	9	2	1	5	1	0
1969-05-21	SDP	PIT	—	1.2	3	1	1	0	1	0
1969-05-18	SDP	STL	—	2.0	2	1	1	1	0	0
1969-05-14	SDP	CHC	L	2.1	3	2	2	2	0	1
1969-05-10	SDP	STL	W	4.2	1	0	0	1	3	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Johnny Podres — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	440	322	80	313	18	24

Season-by-Season Fielding

Johnny Podres — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1953	BRO	P	33	0	6	17	1	0
1954	BRO	P	29	21	11	15	1	0
1955	BRO	P	27	24	7	21	1	2
1957	BRO	P	31	27	9	32	1	3
1958	LAN	P	39	31	7	25	2	3
1959	LAN	P	34	29	6	37	2	5
1960	LAN	P	34	33	8	30	1	4
1961	LAN	P	32	29	6	26	1	2
1962	LAN	P	40	40	4	31	6	1
1963	LAN	P	37	34	2	33	0	1
1964	LAN	P	2	2	0	0	0	0
1965	LAN	P	27	22	3	15	1	1
1966	LAN	P	1	0	0	1	0	0
1966	DET	P	36	13	7	14	1	1
1967	DET	P	21	8	3	7	0	1
1969	SDN	P	17	9	1	9	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Johnny Podres Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	440

Awards & Honors

Johnny Podres — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1955	Babe Ruth Award	P
1955	World Series MVP

Award Voting History

Johnny Podres — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1961	Most Valuable Player	NL	14th	9.0	224	0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Johnny Podres (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Compare Johnny Podres

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Johnny Podres: the record in brief

Between the debut on April 17, 1953 and the final game on June 21, 1969, Johnny Podres built the record summarized on this page. Podres played for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1953 through 1957), the Los Angeles Dodgers (1958 to 1966), the Detroit Tigers (1966 through 1967), and the San Diego Padres (1969). Born on September 30, 1932, in Witherbee, NY, USA, Podres is listed as a pitcher and threw and hit left-handed. Podres's listed size is 170 pounds on a 5-foot-11 frame. Podres died on January 13, 2008, in Glens Falls, NY, USA. The bio lists the given name John Joseph.

Podres pitched in 440 games, starting 340, and finished with a 148-116 record and 3.68 ERA. Podres had 1,435 strikeouts, 77 complete games, 24 shutouts, and 11 saves. Podres's 3.68 ERA was close to the 3.74 league figure for those seasons. No season topped the 18 wins of 1961. The strikeout high was 178 in 1962.

Frequently Asked Questions about Johnny Podres

What years did Johnny Podres play?: Johnny Podres played in Major League Baseball from 1953 to 1969.
Was Johnny Podres a pitcher?: Yes. Johnny Podres pitched in the major leagues, recording 148 wins and 1435 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Johnny Podres hit?: Johnny Podres hit 2 career home runs with 145 hits.
What teams did Johnny Podres play for?: Johnny Podres played for 3 teams: the Los Angeles Dodgers (1953–1955, 1957–1966), the Detroit Tigers (1966–1967), and the San Diego Padres (1969).
Did Johnny Podres win a Cy Young Award?: No. Johnny Podres did not win the Cy Young Award.
What awards did Johnny Podres win?: Johnny Podres won the World Series MVP award (1955). He was selected to 3 All-Star Games.
What were Johnny Podres's career stats?: In 440 games, Johnny Podres went 148-116 with a 3.68 ERA, 1,435 strikeouts, 2,265.0 innings pitched, and 11 saves. At the plate he had 145 hits and 2 home runs.
What position did Johnny Podres play?: Johnny Podres played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Johnny Podres and how much did he weigh?: Johnny Podres was listed at 5 feet 11 inches and 170 pounds.
What was Johnny Podres's career ERA?: Johnny Podres finished with a 3.68 career ERA, going 148-116 with 1,435 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Johnny Podres have?: Johnny Podres recorded 1,435 career strikeouts.
Is Johnny Podres in the Hall of Fame?: No. Johnny Podres has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
How many All-Star Games did Johnny Podres make?: Johnny Podres was selected to 3 All-Star Games.