What years did Bob Purkey play?

Bob Purkey played in Major League Baseball from 1954 to 1966.

Was Bob Purkey a pitcher?

Yes. Bob Purkey pitched in the major leagues, recording 129 wins and 793 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Bob Purkey hit?

Bob Purkey hit 6 career home runs with 71 hits.

What teams did Bob Purkey play for?

Bob Purkey played for 3 teams: the Pittsburgh Pirates (1954–1957, 1966), the Cincinnati Reds (1958–1964), and the St. Louis Cardinals (1965).

Did Bob Purkey win a Cy Young Award?

No. Bob Purkey did not win the Cy Young Award.

What awards did Bob Purkey win?

Bob Purkey was selected to 3 All-Star Games.

What were Bob Purkey's career stats?

In 386 games, Bob Purkey went 129-115 with a 3.79 ERA, 793 strikeouts, 2,114.2 innings pitched, and 9 saves. At the plate he had 71 hits and 6 home runs.

What position did Bob Purkey play?

Bob Purkey played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Bob Purkey and how much did he weigh?

Bob Purkey was listed at 6 feet 2 inches and 175 pounds.

What was Bob Purkey's career ERA?

Bob Purkey finished with a 3.79 career ERA, going 129-115 with 793 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Bob Purkey have?

Bob Purkey recorded 793 career strikeouts.

Is Bob Purkey in the Hall of Fame?

No. Bob Purkey has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

How many All-Star Games did Bob Purkey make?

Bob Purkey was selected to 3 All-Star Games.

Bob Purkey

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1954-1966)

Bob Purkey was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1954 to 1966 for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Cincinnati Reds, and the St. Louis Cardinals, a span of 13 seasons. Across 386 career appearances, he went 129-115 with a 3.79 ERA and 793 strikeouts. He also batted .110 with 6 home runs. Bob Purkey was a 3-time All-Star. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 1629.5.

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 129–115

ERA 3.79

WHIP 1.27

SO 793

Pitcher PIV 1629.5

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'2" / 175 lb
Born: 7/14/1929 in Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Died: 3/16/2008 in Allegheny County, PA, USA
MLB Debut: 1954-04-14
Last Game: 1966-07-26
Awards: 3× All-Star

Full name: Robert Thomas Purkey

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Career Pitching Statistics

Bob Purkey — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
129	115	386	276	92	13	9	2114.2	2,170	891	195	510	793	3.79	1629.5

Career ERA 3.79 vs. league average 3.78 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bob Purkey Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1954	PIT	NL	3	8	36	11	0	0	0	131.1	145	74	62	38	5.07	3.90 (-30%)	691.6
1955	PIT	NL	2	7	14	10	2	0	1	67.2	77	40	25	24	5.32	4.00 (-33%)	312.6
1956	PIT	NL	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	4.0	2	1	0	1	2.25	—	0.0
1957	PIT	NL	11	14	48	21	6	1	2	179.2	194	77	38	51	3.86	3.83 (-1%)	2189.5
1958	CIN	NL	17	11	37	34	17	3	0	250.0	259	100	49	70	3.60	3.86 (+7%)	60.2
1959	CIN	NL	13	18	38	33	9	1	1	218.0	241	103	43	78	4.25	3.90 (-9%)	-482.7
1960	CIN	NL	17	11	41	33	11	1	0	252.2	259	101	59	97	3.60	3.82 (+6%)	447.8
1961	CIN	NL	16	12	36	34	13	1	1	246.1	245	102	51	116	3.73	4.03 (+7%)	1780.1
1962	CIN	NL	23	5	37	37	18	2	0	288.1	260	90	64	141	2.81	3.96 (+29%)	1848.9
1963	CIN	NL	6	10	21	21	4	1	0	137.0	143	54	33	55	3.55	3.46 (-3%)	-418.8
1964	CIN	NL	11	9	34	25	9	2	1	195.2	181	66	49	78	3.04	3.58 (+15%)	-727.8
1965	SLN	NL	10	9	32	17	3	1	2	124.1	148	80	33	39	5.79	3.50 (-66%)	-4498.8
1966	PIT	NL	0	1	10	0	0	0	1	19.2	16	3	4	5	1.37	3.52 (+61%)	426.7
Career · 13 seasons			129	115	386	276	92	13	9	2,114.2	2,170	891	510	793	3.79	—	1,629

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 Purkey — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
387	645	53	71	9	3	6	42	0	38	325	.110	.163	.161	.325	-4,497

Career AVG .110 vs. league average .254 across their career seasons — 56.7% below league average.

Career OBP .163 vs. league average .321 across their career seasons — 49.2% below league average.

Career SLG .161 vs. league average .387 across their career seasons — 58.3% below league average.

Career OPS .325 vs. league average .708 across their career seasons — 54.2% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bob Purkey Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1954	PIT	NL	36	26	2	2	1	0	0	4	4	12	.077	—	—	—	—	0.0
1955	PIT	NL	14	19	1	6	0	0	1	4	0	4	.316	—	—	—	—	0.0
1956	PIT	NL	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1957	PIT	NL	48	45	3	5	0	2	0	6	3	22	.111	—	—	—	—	-356.6
1958	CIN	NL	37	81	9	9	2	0	1	4	6	42	.111	.257 (-57%)	.324 (-48%)	.394 (-56%)	.719 (-52%)	-688.1
1959	CIN	NL	38	66	8	11	2	1	1	6	6	34	.167	.256 (-35%)	.323 (-24%)	.392 (-30%)	.715 (-27%)	-289.5
1960	CIN	NL	41	83	6	11	0	0	0	5	7	44	.133	.255 (-48%)	.323 (-38%)	.387 (-66%)	.711 (-53%)	-680.5
1961	CIN	NL	36	80	6	8	2	0	1	4	2	32	.100	.258 (-61%)	.328 (-60%)	.399 (-59%)	.727 (-59%)	-770.2
1962	CIN	NL	37	107	9	11	2	0	2	3	4	56	.103	.257 (-60%)	.326 (-59%)	.393 (-55%)	.719 (-57%)	-990.0
1963	CIN	NL	21	41	3	4	0	0	0	2	4	22	.098	—	—	—	—	0.0
1964	CIN	NL	34	58	3	3	0	0	0	1	1	33	.052	.250 (-79%)	.312 (-74%)	.377 (-86%)	.690 (-81%)	-722.5
1965	SLN	NL	32	35	3	1	0	0	0	3	1	21	.029	—	—	—	—	0.0
1966	PIT	NL	11	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 13 seasons			387	645	53	71	9	3	6	42	38	325	.110	—	—	—	—	-4,497

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

Bob Purkey — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Bob Purkey — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1961	WS	CIN	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Bob Purkey — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	1	2	1	0	11.0	6	2	3	5	1.64

Playoff Pitching by Year

Bob Purkey — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1961	WS	CIN	0	1	2	1	0	11.0	6	2	3	5	1.64

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (773 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Bob Purkey — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	190	310	25	41	3	26	.132
Away	197	335	28	30	3	16	.090

Pitching — Home / Away

Bob Purkey — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	190	1078.1	1120	471	244	433	3.93
Away	196	1036.1	1050	420	266	361	3.65

Last 10 Games — Batting

Bob Purkey — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	SO
1966-07-26	PIT	SFG	L	0	0
1966-07-04	PIT	CHC	L	0	0
1966-07-03	PIT	NYN	L	1	1
1966-05-15	PIT	LAD	L	0	0
1966-05-10	PIT	SFG	L	1	1
1966-05-04	PIT	CIN	W	1	0
1966-05-03	PIT	CIN	W	0	0
1966-04-24	PIT	STL	L	1	1
1966-04-22	PIT	STL	L	0	0
1966-04-18	PIT	CIN	W	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Bob Purkey — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
1966-07-26	PIT	SFG	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	0
1966-07-04	PIT	CHC	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0
1966-05-15	PIT	LAD	—	2.0	2	1	1	0	0
1966-05-10	PIT	SFG	L	4.0	4	1	1	1	1
1966-05-04	PIT	CIN	SV	2.2	2	0	0	1	1
1966-05-03	PIT	CIN	—	0.1	0	0	0	0	0
1966-04-24	PIT	STL	—	4.0	4	1	1	0	0
1966-04-22	PIT	STL	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	1
1966-04-18	PIT	CIN	—	1.2	3	0	0	0	1
1966-04-15	PIT	STL	—	2.0	0	0	0	2	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Bob Purkey — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	386	276	184	464	23	32

Season-by-Season Fielding

Bob Purkey — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1954	PIT	P	36	11	16	40	0	6
1955	PIT	P	14	10	2	16	1	0
1956	PIT	P	2	0	0	1	0	0
1957	PIT	P	48	21	13	30	3	3
1958	CIN	P	37	34	10	56	1	2
1959	CIN	P	38	33	19	35	2	1
1960	CIN	P	41	33	30	47	1	5
1961	CIN	P	36	34	29	69	2	2
1962	CIN	P	37	37	25	59	4	7
1963	CIN	P	21	21	15	29	3	0
1964	CIN	P	34	25	17	44	4	4
1965	SLN	P	32	17	8	28	1	1
1966	PIT	P	10	0	0	10	1	1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Bob Purkey Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	386

Awards & Honors

Bob Purkey — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1962	TSN All-Star	P

Award Voting History

Bob Purkey — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1962	Cy Young Award	ML	3rd	1.0	20	1
1962	Most Valuable Player	NL	8th	33.0	280	0
1958	Most Valuable Player	NL	19th	4.0	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 Purkey (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Compare Bob Purkey

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Bob Purkey: the record in brief

According to the bio, Bob Purkey debuted on April 14, 1954 and played a final game on July 26, 1966. Club by club, the record runs the Pittsburgh Pirates (1954 through 1966), the Cincinnati Redlegs (1958 to 1959), the Cincinnati Reds (1960 through 1964), and the St. Louis Cardinals (1965). Purkey, a pitcher by primary position, both batted and threw right-handed. Purkey is listed at 6-foot-2 and 175 pounds. Purkey was born on July 14, 1929, in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Purkey died on March 16, 2008, in Allegheny County, PA, USA. The given name on file is Robert Thomas Purkey.

Purkey pitched in 386 games, starting 276, and finished with a 129-115 record and 3.79 ERA. Also on Purkey's record: 793 strikeouts, 92 complete games, and 13 shutouts. Purkey's 3.79 ERA was close to the 3.78 league figure for those seasons. Purkey won 23 games in 1962, the most of any season listed.

Frequently Asked Questions about Bob Purkey

What years did Bob Purkey play?: Bob Purkey played in Major League Baseball from 1954 to 1966.
Was Bob Purkey a pitcher?: Yes. Bob Purkey pitched in the major leagues, recording 129 wins and 793 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Bob Purkey hit?: Bob Purkey hit 6 career home runs with 71 hits.
What teams did Bob Purkey play for?: Bob Purkey played for 3 teams: the Pittsburgh Pirates (1954–1957, 1966), the Cincinnati Reds (1958–1964), and the St. Louis Cardinals (1965).
Did Bob Purkey win a Cy Young Award?: No. Bob Purkey did not win the Cy Young Award.
What awards did Bob Purkey win?: Bob Purkey was selected to 3 All-Star Games.
What were Bob Purkey's career stats?: In 386 games, Bob Purkey went 129-115 with a 3.79 ERA, 793 strikeouts, 2,114.2 innings pitched, and 9 saves. At the plate he had 71 hits and 6 home runs.
What position did Bob Purkey play?: Bob Purkey played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Bob Purkey and how much did he weigh?: Bob Purkey was listed at 6 feet 2 inches and 175 pounds.
What was Bob Purkey's career ERA?: Bob Purkey finished with a 3.79 career ERA, going 129-115 with 793 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Bob Purkey have?: Bob Purkey recorded 793 career strikeouts.
Is Bob Purkey in the Hall of Fame?: No. Bob Purkey has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
How many All-Star Games did Bob Purkey make?: Bob Purkey was selected to 3 All-Star Games.