What years did Dave Righetti play?

Dave Righetti played in Major League Baseball from 1979 to 1995.

Was Dave Righetti a pitcher?

Yes. Dave Righetti pitched in the major leagues, recording 82 wins and 1112 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Dave Righetti hit?

Dave Righetti hit 0 career home runs with 2 hits.

What teams did Dave Righetti play for?

Dave Righetti played for 5 teams: the New York Yankees (1979, 1981–1990), the San Francisco Giants (1991–1993), the Oakland Athletics (1994), the Toronto Blue Jays (1994), and the Chicago White Sox (1995).

Did Dave Righetti win a Cy Young Award?

No. Dave Righetti did not win the Cy Young Award.

What awards did Dave Righetti win?

Dave Righetti won the Rookie of the Year award (1981). He was selected to 2 All-Star Games.

What were Dave Righetti's career stats?

In 718 games, Dave Righetti went 82-79 with a 3.46 ERA, 1,112 strikeouts, 1,403.2 innings pitched, and 252 saves.

What was Dave Righetti's salary?

Dave Righetti's last recorded salary was $300,000, in 1995. His highest recorded salary was $3,500,000, in 1992, and his lowest was $300,000, in 1995. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1995.

What position did Dave Righetti play?

Dave Righetti played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Dave Righetti and how much did he weigh?

Dave Righetti was listed at 6 feet 4 inches and 195 pounds.

What was Dave Righetti's career ERA?

Dave Righetti finished with a 3.46 career ERA, going 82-79 with 1,112 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Dave Righetti have?

Dave Righetti recorded 1,112 career strikeouts.

Is Dave Righetti in the Hall of Fame?

No. Dave Righetti has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Dave Righetti

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1979-1995)

Dave Righetti was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1979 to 1995 for 5 teams, including the New York Yankees, a span of 17 seasons. Across 718 career appearances, he went 82-79 with a 3.46 ERA, 1,112 strikeouts, and 252 saves. Dave Righetti was a 2-time All-Star, a Rookie of the Year, and a 2-time Reliever of the Year. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 20202.1.

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 24, 2026

W–L 82–79

ERA 3.46

WHIP 1.34

SO 1,112

Pitcher PIV 20202.1

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 6'4" / 195 lb
Born: 11/28/1958 in San Jose, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 1979-09-16
Last Game: 1995-09-18
Awards: 2× All-Star · Rookie of the Year · 2× Reliever of the Year

Full name: David Allan Righetti

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Career Pitching Statistics

Dave Righetti — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
82	79	718	89	13	2	252	1403.2	1,287	540	95	591	1,112	3.46	20202.1

Career ERA 3.46 vs. league average 3.96 across their career seasons — 12.6% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Dave Righetti Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1979	NYA	AL	0	1	3	3	0	0	0	17.1	10	7	10	13	3.63	4.00 (+9%)	-199.7
1981	NYA	AL	8	4	15	15	2	0	0	105.1	75	24	38	89	2.05	3.58 (+43%)	3948.0
1982	NYA	AL	11	10	33	27	4	0	1	183.0	155	77	108	163	3.79	3.86 (+2%)	1317.4
1983	NYA	AL	14	8	31	31	7	2	0	217.0	194	83	67	169	3.44	3.87 (+11%)	5679.2
1984	NYA	AL	5	6	64	0	0	0	31	96.1	79	25	37	90	2.34	3.81 (+39%)	2663.1
1985	NYA	AL	12	7	74	0	0	0	29	107.0	96	33	45	92	2.78	3.89 (+29%)	2896.9
1986	NYA	AL	8	8	74	0	0	0	46	106.2	88	29	35	83	2.45	3.97 (+38%)	3350.9
1987	NYA	AL	8	6	60	0	0	0	31	95.0	95	37	44	77	3.51	4.29 (+18%)	870.1
1988	NYA	AL	5	4	60	0	0	0	25	87.0	86	34	37	70	3.52	3.73 (+6%)	1143.2
1989	NYA	AL	2	6	55	0	0	0	25	69.0	73	23	26	51	3.00	3.71 (+19%)	1201.2
1990	NYA	AL	1	1	53	0	0	0	36	53.0	48	21	26	43	3.57	3.86 (+8%)	-1154.8
1991	SFN	NL	2	7	61	0	0	0	24	71.2	64	27	28	51	3.39	3.91 (+13%)	828.1
1992	SFN	NL	2	7	54	4	0	0	3	78.1	79	44	36	47	5.06	3.75 (-35%)	238.3
1993	SFN	NL	1	1	51	0	0	0	1	47.1	58	30	17	31	5.70	4.19 (-36%)	-1952.3
1994	OAK	AL	0	0	7	0	0	0	0	7.0	13	13	9	4	16.71	—	0.0
1994	TOR	AL	0	1	13	0	0	0	0	13.1	9	10	10	10	6.75	4.51 (-50%)	-439.8
1995	CHA	AL	3	2	10	9	0	0	0	49.1	65	23	18	29	4.20	4.45 (+6%)	-187.7
Career · 17 seasons			82	79	718	89	13	2	252	1,403.2	1,287	540	591	1,112	3.46	—	20,202

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

Dave Righetti — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
718	11	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	6	.182	.182	.182	.364	0

Career AVG .182 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — 30.1% below league average.

Career OBP .182 vs. league average .326 across their career seasons — 44.3% below league average.

Career SLG .182 vs. league average .392 across their career seasons — 53.7% below league average.

Career OPS .364 vs. league average .718 across their career seasons — 49.4% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Dave Righetti Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	H	RBI	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1979	NYA	AL	3	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1981	NYA	AL	15	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1982	NYA	AL	33	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1983	NYA	AL	31	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1984	NYA	AL	64	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1985	NYA	AL	74	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1986	NYA	AL	74	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1987	NYA	AL	60	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1988	NYA	AL	60	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1989	NYA	AL	55	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1990	NYA	AL	53	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1991	SFN	NL	61	3	0	0	2	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1992	SFN	NL	54	7	1	0	4	.143	—	—	—	—	0.0
1993	SFN	NL	51	1	1	1	0	1.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1994	OAK	AL	7	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1994	TOR	AL	13	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1995	CHA	AL	10	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 17 seasons			718	11	2	1	6	.182	—	—	—	—	0

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

Dave Righetti — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Dave Righetti — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	SO	AVG
1981	AEDIV	NYA	2	0	0	.000
1981	ALCS	NYA	1	0	0	.000
1981	WS	NYA	1	1	1	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Dave Righetti — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
3	0	4	3	0	17.0	17	4	7	18	2.12

Playoff Pitching by Year

Dave Righetti — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	G	GS	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1981	AEDIV	NYA	2	2	1	9.0	8	1	3	13	1.00
1981	ALCS	NYA	1	1	1	6.0	4	0	2	4	0.00
1981	WS	NYA	0	1	1	2.0	5	3	2	1	13.50

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1436 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Dave Righetti — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	363	5	0	1	0	1	.200
Away	355	6	0	1	0	0	.167

Pitching — Home / Away

Dave Righetti — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	363	730.0	613	234	284	617	2.88
Away	355	673.2	674	306	307	495	4.09

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Dave Righetti — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1995-09-18	CHW	CLE	—	1.0	2	0	0	1	1	0
1995-09-01	CHW	TOR	—	2.0	3	2	2	3	1	0
1995-08-27	CHW	TOR	L	5.1	7	2	1	1	5	1
1995-08-22	CHW	DET	—	3.0	10	5	5	1	3	3
1995-08-17	CHW	TEX	—	9.0	5	1	1	2	2	0
1995-08-12	CHW	OAK	L	5.0	10	3	3	2	4	0
1995-08-06	CHW	CLE	W	5.0	6	1	1	1	5	0
1995-08-01	CHW	KCR	W	7.0	6	2	2	2	4	1
1995-07-27	CHW	BOS	—	5.1	7	4	4	2	3	0
1995-07-18	CHW	NYY	W	6.2	9	4	4	3	1	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Dave Righetti — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	718	89	35	150	12	10

Season-by-Season Fielding

Dave Righetti — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1979	NYA	P	3	3	1	3	0	1
1981	NYA	P	15	15	6	9	1	0
1982	NYA	P	33	27	5	18	3	1
1983	NYA	P	31	31	3	24	1	2
1984	NYA	P	64	0	2	13	2	0
1985	NYA	P	74	0	1	12	1	2
1986	NYA	P	74	0	1	10	0	2
1987	NYA	P	60	0	3	12	1	0
1988	NYA	P	60	0	2	8	0	0
1989	NYA	P	55	0	0	9	0	0
1990	NYA	P	53	0	3	1	1	0
1991	SFN	P	61	0	3	13	0	1
1992	SFN	P	54	4	3	5	1	0
1993	SFN	P	51	0	2	5	0	0
1994	OAK	P	7	0	0	1	0	0
1994	TOR	P	13	0	0	2	0	0
1995	CHA	P	10	9	0	5	1	1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Dave Righetti Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	718

Awards & Honors

Dave Righetti — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1987	Reliever of the Year Award
1987	TSN Fireman of the Year
1986	Player of the Week	Week of 1986-10-03
1986	Reliever of the Year Award
1986	TSN Fireman of the Year
1985	Pitcher of the Month	August
1983	Player of the Week	Week of 1983-07-08
1981	Rookie of the Year
1981	TSN Rookie Pitcher of the Year

Salary History

Dave Righetti's recorded salaries total $17,026,500 over 11 seasons, 1985 to 1995. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Righetti's career ran from 1979 to 1995. His seasons before 1985 are not included.

Dave Righetti — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1995	CHA	AL	$300,000
1994	OAK	AL	$109,000
1994	SFN	NL	$1,750,000
1993	SFN	NL	$2,250,000
1992	SFN	NL	$3,500,000
1991	SFN	NL	$2,500,000
1990	NYA	AL	$1,550,000
1989	NYA	AL	$1,450,000
1988	NYA	AL	$1,300,000
1987	NYA	AL	$800,000
1986	NYA	AL	$837,500
1985	NYA	AL	$680,000
Total recorded salary (partial)			$17,026,500

College History

Dave Righetti — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
San Jose City College	San Jose	CA	1977

Award Voting History

Dave Righetti — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1986	Cy Young Award	AL	4th	20.0	140	0
1986	Most Valuable Player	AL	10th	71.0	392	0
1981	Rookie of the Year	AL	1st	127.0	140	23

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Dave Righetti (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Compare Dave Righetti

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Dave Righetti: the record in brief

Between the debut on September 16, 1979 and the final game on September 18, 1995, Dave Righetti built the record summarized on this page. The team column moves through the New York Yankees (1979 to 1990), the San Francisco Giants (1991 to 1993), the Oakland Athletics (1994), the Toronto Blue Jays (1994), and the Chicago White Sox (1995). Born on November 28, 1958, in San Jose, CA, USA, Righetti is listed as a pitcher and batted and threw left-handed. The bio gives 6-foot-4 and 195 pounds. Dave Righetti was the playing name; the full given name is David Allan.

Across 718 games (89 starts), Righetti recorded 82 wins against 79 losses with a 3.46 ERA. Righetti had 1,112 strikeouts, 13 complete games, and 252 saves. That 3.46 ERA compares with a 3.96 league average across the same seasons, 12.6% better. The best win total was 14, in 1983. Righetti saved 46 games in 1986, the season high.

Frequently Asked Questions about Dave Righetti

What years did Dave Righetti play?: Dave Righetti played in Major League Baseball from 1979 to 1995.
Was Dave Righetti a pitcher?: Yes. Dave Righetti pitched in the major leagues, recording 82 wins and 1112 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Dave Righetti hit?: Dave Righetti hit 0 career home runs with 2 hits.
What teams did Dave Righetti play for?: Dave Righetti played for 5 teams: the New York Yankees (1979, 1981–1990), the San Francisco Giants (1991–1993), the Oakland Athletics (1994), the Toronto Blue Jays (1994), and the Chicago White Sox (1995).
Did Dave Righetti win a Cy Young Award?: No. Dave Righetti did not win the Cy Young Award.
What awards did Dave Righetti win?: Dave Righetti won the Rookie of the Year award (1981). He was selected to 2 All-Star Games.
What were Dave Righetti's career stats?: In 718 games, Dave Righetti went 82-79 with a 3.46 ERA, 1,112 strikeouts, 1,403.2 innings pitched, and 252 saves.
How much did Dave Righetti earn in his career?: Dave Righetti's recorded salaries total $17,026,500 over 11 seasons, 1985 to 1995. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Righetti's career ran from 1979 to 1995. His seasons before 1985 are not included.
What was Dave Righetti's salary?: Dave Righetti's last recorded salary was $300,000, in 1995. His highest recorded salary was $3,500,000, in 1992, and his lowest was $300,000, in 1995. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1995.
What position did Dave Righetti play?: Dave Righetti played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Dave Righetti and how much did he weigh?: Dave Righetti was listed at 6 feet 4 inches and 195 pounds.
What was Dave Righetti's career ERA?: Dave Righetti finished with a 3.46 career ERA, going 82-79 with 1,112 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Dave Righetti have?: Dave Righetti recorded 1,112 career strikeouts.
Is Dave Righetti in the Hall of Fame?: No. Dave Righetti has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.