Bob Porterfield

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1948-1959)

Bob Porterfield was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1948 to 1959 for 5 teams, including the New York Yankees, a span of 12 seasons. Across 318 career appearances, he went 87-97 with a 3.79 ERA and 572 strikeouts. He also batted .184 with 6 home runs. Bob Porterfield was an All-Star. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 8968.8.

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

W–L 87–97
ERA 3.79
WHIP 1.35
SO 572
Pitcher PIV 8968.8
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'0" / 190 lb
Born
8/10/1923 in Newport, VA, USA
Died
4/28/1980 in Charlotte, NC, USA
MLB Debut
1948-08-08
Last Game
1959-09-21
Awards
All-Star

Full name: Erwin Cooledge Porterfield

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Career Pitching Statistics

Bob Porterfield — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
87 97 318 193 92 23 8 1567.2 1,571 660 113 552 572 3.79 8968.8

Career ERA 3.79 vs. league average 3.99 across their career seasons — 5.1% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bob Porterfield Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1948 NYA AL 5 3 16 12 2 1 0 78.0 85 39 34 30 4.50 4.10 (-10%) -82.1
1949 NYA AL 2 5 12 8 3 0 0 57.2 53 26 29 25 4.06 4.12 (+1%) 345.9
1950 NYA AL 1 1 10 2 0 0 1 19.2 28 19 8 9 8.69 4.36 (-99%) 72.9
1951 NYA AL 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3.0 5 5 3 2 15.00 — 0.0
1951 WS1 AL 9 8 19 19 10 3 0 133.1 109 48 54 53 3.24 4.04 (+20%) 1236.6
1952 WS1 AL 13 14 31 29 15 3 0 231.1 222 70 85 80 2.72 3.70 (+26%) 2770.0
1953 WS1 AL 22 10 34 32 24 9 0 255.0 243 95 73 77 3.35 4.14 (+19%) 2091.2
1954 WS1 AL 13 15 32 31 21 2 0 244.0 249 90 77 82 3.32 3.90 (+15%) 2837.7
1955 WS1 AL 10 17 30 27 8 2 0 178.0 197 88 54 74 4.45 4.00 (-11%) 2290.3
1956 BOS AL 3 12 25 18 4 1 0 126.0 127 72 64 53 5.14 3.96 (-30%) -4025.2
1957 BOS AL 4 4 28 9 3 1 1 102.1 107 46 30 28 4.05 3.83 (-6%) -3.6
1958 BOS AL 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4.0 3 2 0 1 4.50 — 0.0
1958 PIT NL 4 6 37 6 2 1 5 87.2 78 32 19 39 3.29 3.86 (+15%) 1233.8
1959 PIT NL 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 5.1 6 1 2 1 1.69 — 0.0
1959 CHN NL 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 6.1 14 8 3 0 11.37 — 0.0
1959 PIT NL 1 2 30 0 0 0 1 36.0 45 19 17 18 4.75 3.90 (-22%) 0.0
Career · 16 seasons 87 97 318 193 92 23 8 1,567.2 1,571 660 552 572 3.79 — 8,767

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

Bob Porterfield — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
322 516 34 95 15 1 6 43 1 20 123 .184 .218 .252 .470 -1,817

Career AVG .184 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — 29.2% below league average.

Career OBP .218 vs. league average .333 across their career seasons — 34.5% below league average.

Career SLG .252 vs. league average .390 across their career seasons — 35.3% below league average.

Career OPS .470 vs. league average .723 across their career seasons — 34.9% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bob Porterfield 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
1948 NYA AL 16 24 4 6 0 0 0 1 0 1 4 .250 — — — — 0.0
1949 NYA AL 12 19 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 .053 — — — — 0.0
1950 NYA AL 11 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 — — — — 0.0
1951 NYA AL 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1951 WS1 AL 19 46 3 6 0 0 0 2 0 2 12 .130 — — — — 0.0
1952 WS1 AL 31 79 5 15 3 0 0 3 0 2 18 .190 .252 (-25%) .326 (-36%) .369 (-38%) .696 (-37%) -467.0
1953 WS1 AL 37 98 8 25 7 0 3 16 1 6 20 .255 .264 (-3%) .335 (-11%) .397 (+5%) .733 (-2%) -65.5
1954 WS1 AL 32 88 3 9 0 0 1 5 0 4 24 .102 .261 (-61%) .333 (-55%) .390 (-65%) .723 (-61%) -863.4
1955 WS1 AL 30 63 3 12 3 1 0 7 0 0 15 .190 .258 (-26%) .332 (-44%) .393 (-32%) .726 (-37%) -420.8
1956 BOS AL 25 43 4 14 0 0 1 5 0 1 10 .326 — — — — 0.0
1957 BOS AL 28 29 2 5 1 0 0 2 0 2 8 .172 — — — — 0.0
1958 BOS AL 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1958 PIT NL 37 20 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 1 7 .050 — — — — 0.0
1959 PIT NL 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1959 CHN NL 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1959 PIT NL 30 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 16 seasons 322 516 34 95 15 1 6 43 1 20 123 .184 — — — — -1,817

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 (640 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Bob Porterfield — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home1552271345015.198
Away1672882250628.174

Pitching — Home / Away

Bob Porterfield — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home153782.17503002372933.45
Away165784.28213613152804.14

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Bob Porterfield — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1959-09-21 PITATL — 0.2000010
1959-09-11 PITLAD — 1.1000100
1959-09-09 PITSFG — 0.0000200
1959-09-07 PITATL — 2.0300010
1959-09-05 PITPHI W 0.2000010
1959-09-04 PITPHI — 0.2000000
1959-08-30 PITPHI — 1.1000210
1959-08-25 PITSFG — 1.2122201
1959-08-16 PITATL — 1.1211110
1959-08-16 PITATL SV 0.1000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Bob Porterfield — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
P 318 91 80 280 15 15

Season-by-Season Fielding

Bob Porterfield — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1948 NYA P 16 0 4 8 0 0
1949 NYA P 12 0 1 10 3 1
1950 NYA P 10 0 1 3 0 0
1951 NYA P 2 0 0 1 0 0
1951 WS1 P 19 0 8 23 2 0
1952 WS1 P 31 0 4 34 0 0
1953 WS1 P 34 0 16 50 0 4
1954 WS1 P 32 31 10 61 3 4
1955 WS1 P 30 27 8 28 1 2
1956 BOS P 25 18 8 14 2 1
1957 BOS P 28 9 7 23 3 1
1958 BOS P 2 0 0 0 0 0
1958 PIT P 37 6 8 13 0 0
1959 PIT P 6 0 0 0 0 0
1959 CHN P 4 0 0 2 0 1
1959 PIT P 30 0 5 10 1 1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Bob Porterfield Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 318

Awards & Honors

Bob Porterfield — Awards & Honors
Year Award Notes
1953 TSN All-Star P
1953 TSN Pitcher of the Year

Award Voting History

Bob Porterfield — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1953 Most Valuable Player AL 7th 64.0 336 0
1952 Most Valuable Player AL 34th 1.0 336 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Bob Porterfield (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Vic Aldridge
    97-80, 3.76 ERA
  2. 93
    Cal McLish
    92-92, 4.00 ERA
  3. 91
    Jim Hearn
    109-89, 3.81 ERA
  4. 89
    Hank Borowy
    108-82, 3.50 ERA
  5. 88
    Jim Colborn
    83-88, 3.80 ERA
  6. 86
    Max Butcher
    95-106, 3.73 ERA

Bob Porterfield: the record in brief

August 8, 1948 and September 21, 1959 bracket Bob Porterfield's time in the majors: the debut and the last game on record. Club by club, the record runs the New York Yankees (1948 through 1951), the Washington Senators (1951 through 1955), the Boston Red Sox (1956 to 1958), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1958 to 1959), and the Chicago Cubs (1959). The bio lists Porterfield as a pitcher who both batted and threw right-handed. Height and weight on file: 190 pounds on a 6-foot-0 frame. Porterfield was born on August 10, 1923, in Newport, VA, USA. Porterfield died on April 28, 1980, in Charlotte, NC, USA. The given name on file is Erwin Cooledge Porterfield.

Porterfield went 87-97 with a 3.79 ERA in 318 games, 193 of them starts. The totals include 572 strikeouts, 92 complete games, and 23 shutouts. That 3.79 ERA compares with a 3.99 league average across the same seasons, 5.1% better. No season topped the 22 wins of 1953. 1954 produced Porterfield's most strikeouts, 82.

Frequently Asked Questions about Bob Porterfield

What years did Bob Porterfield play?
Bob Porterfield played in Major League Baseball from 1948 to 1959.
Was Bob Porterfield a pitcher?
Yes. Bob Porterfield pitched in the major leagues, recording 87 wins and 572 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Bob Porterfield hit?
Bob Porterfield hit 6 career home runs with 95 hits.
What teams did Bob Porterfield play for?
Bob Porterfield played for 5 teams: the New York Yankees (1948–1951), the Washington Senators (1951–1955), the Boston Red Sox (1956–1958), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1958–1959), and the Chicago Cubs (1959).
Did Bob Porterfield win a Cy Young Award?
No. Bob Porterfield did not win the Cy Young Award.
What awards did Bob Porterfield win?
Bob Porterfield was selected to 1 All-Star Game.
What were Bob Porterfield's career stats?
In 318 games, Bob Porterfield went 87-97 with a 3.79 ERA, 572 strikeouts, 1,567.2 innings pitched, and 8 saves. At the plate he had 95 hits and 6 home runs.
What position did Bob Porterfield play?
Bob Porterfield played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Bob Porterfield and how much did he weigh?
Bob Porterfield was listed at 6 feet and 190 pounds.
What was Bob Porterfield's career ERA?
Bob Porterfield finished with a 3.79 career ERA, going 87-97 with 572 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Bob Porterfield have?
Bob Porterfield recorded 572 career strikeouts.
Is Bob Porterfield in the Hall of Fame?
No. Bob Porterfield has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
How many All-Star Games did Bob Porterfield make?
Bob Porterfield was selected to 1 All-Star Game.