Nels Potter

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1936-1949)

W–L 92–97
ERA 3.99
WHIP 1.37
SO 747
Pitcher PIV -583.0
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
L / R
Height / Weight
5'11" / 180 lb
Born
8/23/1911 in Mount Morris, IL, USA
Died
9/30/1990 in Mount Morris, IL, USA
MLB Debut
1936-04-25
Last Game
1949-09-18

Full name: Nelson Thomas Potter

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Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
92 97 349 177 89 6 22 1686.0 1,721 748 123 582 747 3.99 -583.0

Career ERA 3.99 vs. league average 3.99 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1936 SLN NL 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0.00 — 0.0
1938 PHA AL 2 12 35 9 4 0 5 111.3 139 80 49 43 6.47 4.35 (-49%) -3057.9
1939 PHA AL 8 12 41 25 9 0 2 196.3 258 144 88 60 6.60 4.28 (-54%) -6458.5
1940 PHA AL 9 14 31 25 13 0 0 200.7 213 99 71 73 4.44 4.21 (-5%) -1530.3
1941 PHA AL 1 1 10 3 1 0 2 23.3 35 24 16 7 9.26 3.94 (-135%) -1165.0
1941 BOS AL 2 0 10 0 0 0 0 20.0 21 10 16 6 4.50 3.94 (-14%) -334.3
1943 SLA AL 10 5 33 13 8 0 1 168.3 146 52 54 80 2.78 3.50 (+21%) -266.8
1944 SLA AL 19 7 32 29 16 3 0 232.0 211 73 70 91 2.83 3.57 (+21%) 2598.5
1945 SLA AL 15 11 32 32 21 3 0 255.3 212 70 68 129 2.47 3.67 (+33%) 4313.3
1946 SLA AL 8 9 23 19 10 0 0 145.0 152 60 59 72 3.72 3.59 (-4%) -333.6
1947 SLA AL 4 10 32 10 3 0 2 122.7 130 55 44 65 4.04 3.97 (-2%) -513.2
1948 SLA AL 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 10.3 11 6 4 4 5.23 4.10 (-27%) -231.5
1948 PHA AL 2 2 8 0 0 0 1 18.0 17 8 5 13 4.00 4.10 (+3%) 550.5
1948 BSN NL 5 2 18 7 3 0 2 85.0 77 22 8 47 2.33 4.10 (+43%) 3335.9
1949 BSN NL 6 11 41 3 1 0 7 96.7 99 45 30 57 4.19 4.12 (-2%) 2509.8
Career · 15 seasons 92 97 349 177 89 6 22 1,686.0 1,721 748 582 747 3.99 — -583

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

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
352 562 25 128 15 0 0 37 0 35 50 .228 .274 .254 .529 -1,825

Career AVG .228 vs. league average .265 across their career seasons — 14.2% below league average.

Career OBP .274 vs. league average .336 across their career seasons — 18.3% below league average.

Career SLG .254 vs. league average .375 across their career seasons — 32.2% below league average.

Career OPS .529 vs. league average .711 across their career seasons — 25.7% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

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
1936 SLN NL 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1938 PHA AL 38 39 1 10 1 0 0 6 0 1 3 .256 — — — — 0.0
1939 PHA AL 41 67 6 12 2 0 0 4 0 5 6 .179 .274 (-35%) .342 (-31%) .393 (-47%) .735 (-39%) -428.2
1940 PHA AL 31 71 4 18 2 0 0 4 0 3 7 .254 .267 (-5%) .335 (-15%) .387 (-27%) .722 (-22%) -246.4
1941 PHA AL 10 6 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 2 .167 — — — — 0.0
1941 BOS AL 10 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 .000 — — — — 0.0
1943 SLA AL 33 55 0 8 1 0 0 4 0 4 2 .145 .255 (-43%) .324 (-37%) .346 (-53%) .671 (-45%) -373.1
1944 SLA AL 32 82 4 13 1 0 0 5 0 4 4 .159 .261 (-39%) .325 (-37%) .357 (-52%) .683 (-45%) -553.1
1945 SLA AL 32 92 3 28 2 0 0 5 0 2 7 .304 .260 (+17%) .328 (-3%) .354 (-8%) .683 (-6%) -89.8
1946 SLA AL 23 52 2 12 3 0 0 1 0 4 4 .231 .256 (-10%) .328 (-13%) .358 (-20%) .687 (-16%) -134.9
1947 SLA AL 32 35 3 9 1 0 0 2 0 7 2 .257 — — — — 0.0
1948 SLA AL 2 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .500 — — — — 0.0
1948 PHA AL 8 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .250 — — — — 0.0
1948 BSN NL 18 29 0 11 1 0 0 3 0 0 3 .379 — — — — 0.0
1949 BSN NL 41 23 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 2 7 .130 — — — — 0.0
Career · 15 seasons 352 562 25 128 15 0 0 37 0 35 50 .228 — — — — -1,825

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

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
4 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .167

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1948 WS BSN 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .500
1944 WS SLA 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
0 1 4 3 0 15.0 16 6 5 7 3.60

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1948 WS BSN 0 0 2 1 0 5.3 6 5 2 1 8.44
1944 WS SLA 0 1 2 2 0 9.7 10 1 3 6 0.93

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (701 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home1872761366018.239
Away1652881262019.215

Pitching — Home / Away

SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home185903.29084063004404.04
Away164781.28133402893073.91

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1949-09-18 BSNCINL 000000000
1949-09-16 BSNSTLL 000000000
1949-09-14 BSNCHCL 000000000
1949-09-07 BSNBROL 000000000
1949-09-04 BSNPHIL 101000000
1949-08-28 BSNSTLL 000000000
1949-08-25 BSNCINL 100000001
1949-08-22 BSNBROW 100000000
1949-08-19 BSNBROL 200000001
1949-08-12 BSNBROW 400000002

Last 10 Games — Pitching

DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1949-09-18 BSNCIN L 1.1411130
1949-09-16 BSNSTL — 1.2000000
1949-09-14 BSNCHC — 0.1100010
1949-09-07 BSNBRO L 2.2122221
1949-09-04 BSNPHI L 2.1222211
1949-08-28 BSNSTL — 2.1322001
1949-08-25 BSNCIN L 3.0211030
1949-08-22 BSNBRO — 1.0222100
1949-08-19 BSNBRO — 6.11044420
1949-08-12 BSNBRO W 9.0731330

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 349 0 98 307 18 18

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1936 SLN P 1 0 0 0 0 0
1938 PHA P 35 0 8 16 1 0
1939 PHA P 41 0 8 34 1 0
1940 PHA P 31 0 17 30 0 2
1941 PHA P 10 0 3 4 1 1
1941 BOS P 10 0 2 2 0 0
1943 SLA P 33 0 10 36 1 2
1944 SLA P 32 0 11 52 3 3
1945 SLA P 32 0 13 43 3 4
1946 SLA P 23 0 11 18 1 3
1947 SLA P 32 0 6 27 3 1
1948 SLA P 2 0 2 4 1 0
1948 PHA P 8 0 1 1 0 0
1948 BSN P 18 0 4 20 2 1
1949 BSN P 41 0 2 20 1 1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Pitcher 349

College History

School Name City State Years Attended
Mount Morris College Mount Morris IL 1931, 1932

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1944 Most Valuable Player AL 9th 52.0 336 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Nels Potter (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Art Houtteman
    87-91, 4.14 ERA
  2. 85
    Roger Craig
    74-98, 3.83 ERA
  3. 84
    Dave Koslo
    92-107, 3.68 ERA
  4. 82
    Bill Swift
    94-78, 3.95 ERA
  5. 78
    Al Smith
    99-101, 3.72 ERA
  6. 71
    Johnny Morrison
    103-80, 3.65 ERA

Frequently Asked Questions about Nels Potter

What years did Nels Potter play?
Nels Potter played in Major League Baseball from 1936 to 1949.
Was Nels Potter a pitcher?
Yes. Nels Potter pitched in the major leagues, recording 92 wins and 747 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Nels Potter hit?
Nels Potter hit 0 career home runs with 128 hits.