Blondie Purcell

Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1879-1890)

Blondie Purcell was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1879 to 1890 for 8 teams, including the Syracuse Stars, a span of 12 seasons. In 1,097 career games, he hit .267 with 1,217 hits, 13 home runs, and 495 RBI. He also pitched in 79 games, going 15-43 with a 3.73 ERA. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 2,382.

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

AVG .267
HR 13
RBI 495
H 1,217
OPS .654
PIV 2,382
Position
Outfielder
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
5'9" / 159 lb
Born
3/16/1854 in Paterson, NJ, USA
MLB Debut
1879-05-01
Last Game
1890-09-16

Full name: William Aloysius Purcell

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Career Batting Statistics

Blondie Purcell — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,097 4,563 767 1,217 177 60 13 495 197 284 248 .267 .314 .340 .654 2,382

Career AVG .267 vs. league average .253 across their career seasons — +5.5% above league average.

Career OBP .314 vs. league average .303 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .340 vs. league average .340 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OPS .654 vs. league average .643 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Blondie Purcell 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
1879 SR1 NL 63 277 32 72 6 3 0 25 0 3 13 .260 .255 (+2%) .270 (-1%) .328 (-8%) .599 (-5%) -157.7
1879 CN1 NL 12 50 10 11 0 0 0 4 0 0 3 .220 .255 (-14%) .270 (-19%) .328 (-33%) .599 (-27%) -157.7
1880 CN1 NL 77 325 48 95 13 6 1 24 0 5 13 .292 .244 (+19%) .267 (+13%) .319 (+18%) .586 (+16%) 743.1
1881 CL2 NL 20 80 3 14 2 1 0 4 0 5 8 .175 .260 (-33%) .290 (-23%) .338 (-33%) .628 (-29%) -307.9
1881 BFN NL 30 113 15 33 7 2 0 17 0 8 8 .292 .260 (+12%) .290 (+17%) .338 (+15%) .628 (+16%) -307.9
1882 BFN NL 84 380 79 105 18 6 2 40 0 14 27 .276 .248 (+11%) .275 (+9%) .329 (+12%) .605 (+11%) 648.1
1883 PHI NL 97 425 70 114 20 5 1 32 0 13 26 .268 .257 (+4%) .285 (+1%) .345 (avg) .631 (+1%) 48.0
1884 PHI NL 103 428 67 108 11 7 1 31 0 29 30 .252 .243 (+4%) .278 (+7%) .327 (-3%) .606 (+2%) 219.2
1885 PH4 AA 66 304 71 90 15 5 0 22 0 16 0 .296 .244 (+21%) .287 (+17%) .325 (+16%) .613 (+17%) 798.9
1885 BSN NL 21 87 9 19 1 1 0 3 0 3 15 .218 .244 (-10%) .287 (-15%) .325 (-22%) .613 (-19%) 798.9
1886 BL2 AA 26 85 17 19 0 1 0 8 13 17 0 .224 .246 (-9%) .302 (+21%) .331 (-26%) .634 (-3%) 72.6
1887 BL2 AA 140 567 101 142 25 8 4 96 88 46 38 .250 .270 (-7%) .331 (-4%) .373 (-8%) .705 (-6%) -512.3
1888 BL2 AA 101 406 53 96 9 4 2 39 16 27 34 .236 .238 (-1%) .290 (-1%) .319 (-8%) .610 (-5%) -218.5
1888 PH4 AA 18 66 10 11 3 1 0 6 10 5 6 .167 .238 (-30%) .290 (-19%) .319 (-24%) .610 (-22%) -218.5
1889 PH4 AA 129 507 72 160 19 7 0 85 22 50 27 .316 .263 (+20%) .334 (+15%) .357 (+6%) .691 (+10%) 1143.0
1890 PH4 AA 110 463 110 128 28 3 2 59 48 43 0 .276 .260 (+6%) .336 (+2%) .351 (+3%) .687 (+3%) 210.0
Career · 16 seasons 1,097 4,563 767 1,217 177 60 13 495 197 284 248 .267 — — — — 2,801

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 Pitching Statistics

Blondie Purcell — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
15 43 79 57 52 0 0 581.1 746 241 5 84 138 3.73 -2747.8

Career ERA 3.73 vs. league average 3.20 across their career seasons — 16.5% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Blondie Purcell Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1879 SR1 NL 4 15 22 17 15 0 0 179.2 245 75 19 28 3.76 2.50 (-50%) -1441.0
1879 CN1 NL 0 2 2 2 2 0 0 18.0 27 8 2 3 4.00 2.50 (-60%) -109.3
1880 CN1 NL 3 17 25 21 21 0 0 196.0 235 70 32 47 3.21 2.37 (-35%) -1150.9
1881 BFN NL 4 1 9 5 5 0 0 61.2 62 19 9 15 2.77 2.77 (avg) -439.1
1882 BFN NL 2 1 6 3 2 0 0 31.0 44 17 4 9 4.94 2.80 (-76%) -144.5
1883 PHI NL 2 6 11 9 7 0 0 80.0 110 39 12 30 4.39 3.22 (-36%) 537.0
1884 PHI NL 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4.0 3 1 0 1 2.25 — 0.0
1885 PH4 AA 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 6.0 11 4 2 3 6.00 — 0.0
1886 BL2 AA 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.0 1 1 0 0 9.00 — 0.0
1887 BL2 AA 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4.0 8 7 4 2 15.75 — 0.0
Career · 10 seasons 15 43 79 57 52 0 0 581.1 746 241 84 138 3.73 — -2,748

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.

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Blondie Purcell — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 1 0 0 0 0 0
3B 47 0 61 112 50 7
C 1 0 5 1 0 0
OF 995 0 1465 146 241 19
P 79 0 27 119 17 0
SS 4 0 1 4 1 0

Season-by-Season Fielding

Blondie Purcell — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1879 SR1 C 1 0 5 1 0 0
1879 SR1 OF 47 0 64 4 20 0
1879 SR1 P 22 0 9 28 6 0
1879 CN1 OF 10 0 18 3 7 0
1879 CN1 P 2 0 2 5 0 0
1880 CN1 OF 55 0 78 14 21 1
1880 CN1 P 25 0 10 37 3 0
1880 CN1 SS 1 0 0 3 1 0
1881 CL2 OF 20 0 40 4 12 0
1881 BFN OF 25 0 32 4 15 0
1881 BFN P 9 0 2 16 2 0
1882 BFN OF 82 0 144 11 34 0
1882 BFN P 6 0 0 10 1 0
1883 PHI 3B 46 0 60 111 49 7
1883 PHI OF 44 0 60 14 14 2
1883 PHI P 11 0 4 21 3 0
1884 PHI OF 103 0 182 12 28 1
1884 PHI P 1 0 0 0 0 0
1885 PH4 OF 66 0 78 13 15 1
1885 PH4 P 1 0 0 1 0 0
1885 BSN OF 21 0 19 2 4 0
1886 BL2 OF 26 0 35 4 6 0
1886 BL2 P 1 0 0 0 0 0
1886 BL2 SS 1 0 0 0 0 0
1887 BL2 OF 140 0 203 17 16 5
1887 BL2 P 1 0 0 1 2 0
1888 BL2 1B 1 0 0 0 0 0
1888 BL2 OF 100 0 145 9 16 3
1888 BL2 SS 2 0 1 1 0 0
1888 PH4 3B 1 0 1 1 1 0
1888 PH4 OF 17 0 25 3 3 1
1889 PH4 OF 129 0 172 15 20 3
1890 PH4 OF 110 0 170 17 10 2

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Blondie Purcell Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 79
Catcher 1
First Base 1
Third Base 47
Shortstop 4
Left Field 480
Center Field 92
Right Field 430

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Blondie Purcell (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    John Barry
    .267 avg, 10 HR
  2. 94
    George Browne
    .273 avg, 18 HR
  3. 92
    Rube Oldring
    .270 avg, 27 HR
  4. 87
    George Whitted
    .269 avg, 23 HR
  5. 86
    Jimmy Callahan
    .273 avg, 11 HR
  6. 82
    Jim Busby
    .262 avg, 48 HR

Blondie Purcell: the record in brief

Blondie Purcell played a first major league game on May 1, 1879 and a last one on September 16, 1890. The season rows list, in order, the Syracuse Stars (1879), the Cincinnati Reds (1879 through 1880), the Cleveland Blues (1881), the Buffalo Bisons (1881 through 1882), the Philadelphia Quakers (1883 to 1884), the Philadelphia Athletics (1885 to 1890), the Boston Beaneaters (1885), and the Baltimore Orioles (1886 to 1888). At 5-foot-9 and 159 pounds, Purcell is listed as an outfielder. The bio says Purcell batted and threw right-handed. Purcell was born on March 16, 1854, in Paterson, NJ, USA. On the record, Blondie Purcell was born William Aloysius Purcell.

Purcell's career batting table shows 1,097 games, 4,563 at bats and 1,217 hits, a .267 average, along with 13 homers, 495 RBI, and 197 stolen bases. Purcell got on base at a .314 rate and slugged .340 (.654 OPS). Set against a .253 league average for the same years, Purcell's .267 average sits 5.5% above it.

Frequently Asked Questions about Blondie Purcell

What years did Blondie Purcell play?
Blondie Purcell played in Major League Baseball from 1879 to 1890.
Was Blondie Purcell a pitcher?
Both. Blondie Purcell pitched in 79 games, going 15-43 with a 3.73 ERA, but spent most of his career as an Outfielder.
How many home runs did Blondie Purcell hit?
Blondie Purcell hit 13 career home runs with 1,217 hits.
What teams did Blondie Purcell play for?
Blondie Purcell played for 8 teams: the Syracuse Stars (1879), the Cincinnati Reds (1879–1880), the Cleveland Blues (1881), the Buffalo Bisons (1881–1882), the Philadelphia Quakers (1883–1884), the Philadelphia Athletics (1885, 1888–1890), the Boston Beaneaters (1885), and the Baltimore Orioles (1886–1888).
What were Blondie Purcell's career stats?
In 1,097 games, Blondie Purcell had 1,217 hits, 13 home runs, 495 RBI, 767 runs, and 197 stolen bases, with a .267 batting average. As a pitcher, in 79 games, he went 15-43 with a 3.73 ERA, 138 strikeouts, and 581.1 innings pitched.
What position did Blondie Purcell play?
Blondie Purcell played primarily as an outfielder, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Blondie Purcell and how much did he weigh?
Blondie Purcell was listed at 5 feet 9 inches and 159 pounds.
How many home runs did Blondie Purcell hit each season?
Blondie Purcell's home runs by season: 0 in 1879, 1 in 1880, 0 in 1881, 2 in 1882, 1 in 1883, 1 in 1884, 0 in 1885, 0 in 1886, 4 in 1887, 2 in 1888, 0 in 1889, and 2 in 1890. His most in one season was 4, in 1887.
What was Blondie Purcell's career batting average?
Blondie Purcell batted .267 over his career, with 1,217 hits in 4,563 at bats.
How many RBI did Blondie Purcell have?
Blondie Purcell drove in 495 runs in his career.
What was Blondie Purcell's career ERA?
Blondie Purcell finished with a 3.73 career ERA, going 15-43 with 138 strikeouts.
Is Blondie Purcell in the Hall of Fame?
No. Blondie Purcell has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.