Jim Rooker

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1968-1980)

Jim Rooker was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1968 to 1980 for the Detroit Tigers, the Kansas City Royals, and the Pittsburgh Pirates, a span of 13 seasons. Across 319 career appearances, he went 103-109 with a 3.46 ERA and 976 strikeouts. He also batted .201 with 7 home runs. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 3561.3.

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 103–109
ERA 3.46
WHIP 1.32
SO 976
Pitcher PIV 3561.3
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / L
Height / Weight
6'0" / 195 lb
Born
9/23/1942 in Lakeview, OR, USA
MLB Debut
1968-06-30
Last Game
1980-05-02

Full name: James Phillip Rooker

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Career Pitching Statistics

Jim Rooker — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
103 109 319 255 66 15 7 1810.1 1,694 696 128 703 976 3.46 3561.3

Career ERA 3.46 vs. league average 3.66 across their career seasons — 5.4% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Jim Rooker Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1968 DET AL 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4.2 4 2 1 4 3.86 — 0.0
1969 KCA AL 4 16 28 22 8 1 0 158.1 136 66 73 108 3.75 3.61 (-4%) -4.0
1970 KCA AL 10 15 38 29 6 3 1 203.2 190 80 102 117 3.54 3.89 (+9%) 939.5
1971 KCA AL 2 7 20 7 1 1 0 54.0 59 32 24 31 5.33 3.47 (-54%) 403.2
1972 KCA AL 5 6 18 10 4 2 0 72.0 78 35 24 44 4.38 3.26 (-34%) 920.4
1973 PIT NL 10 6 41 18 6 3 5 170.1 143 54 52 122 2.85 3.75 (+24%) 3287.6
1974 PIT NL 15 11 33 33 15 1 0 262.2 228 81 83 139 2.78 3.63 (+23%) 3941.2
1975 PIT NL 13 11 28 28 7 1 0 196.2 177 65 76 102 2.97 3.71 (+20%) -500.6
1976 PIT NL 15 8 30 29 10 1 1 198.2 201 74 72 92 3.35 3.51 (+5%) -471.4
1977 PIT NL 14 9 30 30 7 2 0 204.1 196 70 64 89 3.08 4.00 (+23%) -1711.1
1978 PIT NL 9 11 28 28 1 0 0 163.1 160 77 81 76 4.24 3.69 (-15%) -2224.7
1979 PIT NL 4 7 19 17 1 0 0 103.2 106 53 39 44 4.60 4.00 (-15%) -1009.0
1980 PIT NL 2 2 4 4 0 0 0 18.0 16 7 12 8 3.50 3.84 (+9%) -9.8
Career · 13 seasons 103 109 319 255 66 15 7 1,810.1 1,694 696 703 976 3.46 — 3,561

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

Jim Rooker — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
337 606 54 122 17 4 7 56 3 21 229 .201 .230 .277 .507 -2,028

Career AVG .201 vs. league average .255 across their career seasons — 21.1% below league average.

Career OBP .230 vs. league average .322 across their career seasons — 28.6% below league average.

Career SLG .277 vs. league average .375 across their career seasons — 26.1% below league average.

Career OPS .507 vs. league average .697 across their career seasons — 27.2% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Jim Rooker 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
1968 DET AL 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 — — — — 0.0
1969 KCA AL 34 57 7 16 3 0 4 8 0 1 19 .281 .248 (+13%) .320 (-5%) .369 (+47%) .689 (+23%) 180.5
1970 KCA AL 41 70 12 14 4 0 1 13 0 2 35 .200 .253 (-21%) .325 (-29%) .385 (-22%) .711 (-26%) -305.1
1971 KCA AL 21 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 .000 — — — — 0.0
1972 KCA AL 18 20 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 5 .100 — — — — 0.0
1973 PIT NL 42 49 5 12 0 0 0 5 0 2 24 .245 — — — — -173.2
1974 PIT NL 33 95 8 29 5 2 0 8 0 5 31 .305 .256 (+19%) .324 (+4%) .369 (+8%) .693 (+6%) 64.5
1975 PIT NL 28 63 4 6 0 0 0 2 0 3 20 .095 .257 (-63%) .327 (-58%) .374 (-75%) .701 (-67%) -653.5
1976 PIT NL 33 74 9 16 2 1 1 6 0 1 31 .216 .255 (-15%) .320 (-30%) .360 (-14%) .681 (-22%) -274.1
1977 PIT NL 30 70 4 13 1 0 0 5 1 4 27 .186 .264 (-30%) .329 (-30%) .401 (-50%) .730 (-41%) -453.7
1978 PIT NL 32 56 2 9 2 1 0 5 2 0 17 .161 .257 (-38%) .323 (-51%) .378 (-39%) .702 (-44%) -413.6
1979 PIT NL 19 33 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 13 .121 — — — — 0.0
1980 PIT NL 4 7 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 2 .143 — — — — 0.0
Career · 13 seasons 337 606 54 122 17 4 7 56 3 21 229 .201 — — — — -2,028

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

Jim Rooker — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
4 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .200

Playoff Batting by Year

Jim Rooker — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1979 WS PIT 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000
1975 NLCS PIT 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000
1974 NLCS PIT 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500

Playoff Career Pitching

Jim Rooker — Playoff Career Pitching
W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
0 1 4 3 0 19.2 18 7 8 12 3.20

Playoff Pitching by Year

Jim Rooker — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1979 WS PIT 0 0 2 1 0 8.2 5 1 3 4 1.04
1975 NLCS PIT 0 1 1 1 0 4.0 7 4 0 4 9.00
1974 NLCS PIT 0 0 1 1 0 7.0 6 2 5 4 2.57

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (657 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Jim Rooker — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home1702842663126.222
Away1683222859630.183

Pitching — Home / Away

Jim Rooker — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home160933.08623283514813.16
Away159877.18323683524953.78

Last 10 Games — Batting

Jim Rooker — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1980-05-02 PITATLL 000000000
1980-04-25 PITCHCL 200000001
1980-04-20 PITSTLW 200000000
1980-04-13 PITSTLW 311001201
1979-09-25 PITWSNW 300000001
1979-09-20 PITPHIL 201000000
1979-09-09 PITNYNW 000000000
1979-09-08 PITNYNL 000000000
1979-09-03 PITPHIW 010000010
1979-08-11 PITPHIW 100000000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Jim Rooker — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1980-05-02 PITATL L 0.1022210
1980-04-25 PITCHC L 6.1744400
1980-04-20 PITSTL W 5.0411210
1980-04-13 PITSTL W 6.1500460
1979-09-25 PITWSN W 5.0944221
1979-09-20 PITPHI — 6.0711140
1979-09-09 PITNYN — 1.0100110
1979-09-08 PITNYN L 0.2111000
1979-09-03 PITPHI W 6.2622341
1979-08-11 PITPHI — 2.1675311

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Jim Rooker — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
P 319 255 80 282 20 22

Season-by-Season Fielding

Jim Rooker — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1968 DET P 2 0 0 2 0 0
1969 KCA P 28 22 3 24 4 0
1970 KCA OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
1970 KCA P 38 29 6 32 2 4
1971 KCA P 20 7 1 5 1 1
1972 KCA P 18 10 3 16 0 1
1973 PIT P 41 18 6 29 2 3
1974 PIT P 33 33 14 45 1 3
1975 PIT P 28 28 10 32 4 1
1976 PIT P 30 29 8 29 2 1
1977 PIT P 30 30 6 27 2 2
1978 PIT P 28 28 14 24 0 5
1979 PIT P 19 17 8 13 2 1
1980 PIT P 4 4 1 4 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Jim Rooker Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 319
Left Field 1

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Jim Rooker (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Eric Show
    101-89, 3.66 ERA
  2. 94
    Jim Bibby
    111-101, 3.76 ERA
  3. 91
    Bruce Kison
    115-88, 3.66 ERA
  4. 91
    Bob Ojeda
    115-98, 3.65 ERA
  5. 88
    Steve Blass
    103-76, 3.63 ERA
  6. 87
    Dave Goltz
    113-109, 3.69 ERA

Jim Rooker: the record in brief

Between the debut on June 30, 1968 and the final game on May 2, 1980, Jim Rooker built the record summarized on this page. Rooker played for the Detroit Tigers (1968), the Kansas City Royals (1969 to 1972), and the Pittsburgh Pirates (1973 through 1980). Rooker played primarily as a pitcher and hit right-handed while throwing left-handed. The bio adds a birth date on September 23, 1942, in Lakeview, OR, USA and a listed size of 6-foot-0 and 195 pounds. Jim Rooker was the playing name; the full given name is James Phillip.

Rooker pitched in 319 games, starting 255, and finished with a 103-109 record and 3.46 ERA. Also on Rooker's record: 976 strikeouts, 66 complete games, and 15 shutouts. Against a 3.66 league ERA for the same years, Rooker was 5.4% better. Rooker won 15 games in 1974, the most of any season listed. In 1974, one of the busiest seasons, Rooker posted a 2.78 ERA; the league figure that year was 3.63.

Frequently Asked Questions about Jim Rooker

What years did Jim Rooker play?
Jim Rooker played in Major League Baseball from 1968 to 1980.
Was Jim Rooker a pitcher?
Yes. Jim Rooker pitched in the major leagues, recording 103 wins and 976 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Jim Rooker hit?
Jim Rooker hit 7 career home runs with 122 hits.
What teams did Jim Rooker play for?
Jim Rooker played for 3 teams: the Detroit Tigers (1968), the Kansas City Royals (1969–1972), and the Pittsburgh Pirates (1973–1980).
What were Jim Rooker's career stats?
In 319 games, Jim Rooker went 103-109 with a 3.46 ERA, 976 strikeouts, 1,810.1 innings pitched, and 7 saves. At the plate he had 122 hits and 7 home runs.
What position did Jim Rooker play?
Jim Rooker played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Jim Rooker and how much did he weigh?
Jim Rooker was listed at 6 feet and 195 pounds.
What was Jim Rooker's career ERA?
Jim Rooker finished with a 3.46 career ERA, going 103-109 with 976 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Jim Rooker have?
Jim Rooker recorded 976 career strikeouts.
Is Jim Rooker in the Hall of Fame?
No. Jim Rooker has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.