What years did Dick Ruthven play?

Dick Ruthven played in Major League Baseball from 1973 to 1986.

Was Dick Ruthven a pitcher?

Yes. Dick Ruthven pitched in the major leagues, recording 123 wins and 1145 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Dick Ruthven hit?

Dick Ruthven hit 1 career home run with 123 hits.

What teams did Dick Ruthven play for?

Dick Ruthven played for 3 teams: the Philadelphia Phillies (1973–1975, 1978–1983), the Atlanta Braves (1976–1978), and the Chicago Cubs (1983–1986).

Did Dick Ruthven win a Cy Young Award?

No. Dick Ruthven did not win the Cy Young Award.

What awards did Dick Ruthven win?

Dick Ruthven was selected to 2 All-Star Games.

What were Dick Ruthven's career stats?

In 355 games, Dick Ruthven went 123-127 with a 4.14 ERA, 1,145 strikeouts, 2,109.0 innings pitched, and 1 saves. At the plate he had 123 hits and 1 home runs.

What was Dick Ruthven's salary?

Dick Ruthven's last recorded salary was $1,050,000, in 1986. His highest recorded salary was $1,050,000, in 1986, and his lowest was $766,667, in 1985. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1986.

What position did Dick Ruthven play?

Dick Ruthven played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Dick Ruthven and how much did he weigh?

Dick Ruthven was listed at 6 feet 3 inches and 190 pounds.

What was Dick Ruthven's career ERA?

Dick Ruthven finished with a 4.14 career ERA, going 123-127 with 1,145 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Dick Ruthven have?

Dick Ruthven recorded 1,145 career strikeouts.

Is Dick Ruthven in the Hall of Fame?

No. Dick Ruthven has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Dick Ruthven

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1973-1986)

Dick Ruthven was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1973 to 1986 for the Philadelphia Phillies, the Atlanta Braves, and the Chicago Cubs, a span of 14 seasons. Across 355 career appearances, he went 123-127 with a 4.14 ERA and 1,145 strikeouts. He also batted .183 with 1 home runs. Dick Ruthven was a 2-time All-Star. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 1232.9.

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 123–127

ERA 4.14

WHIP 1.39

SO 1,145

Pitcher PIV 1232.9

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'3" / 190 lb
Born: 3/27/1951 in Sacramento, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 1973-04-17
Last Game: 1986-05-01
Awards: 2× All-Star

Full name: Richard David Ruthven

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Career Pitching Statistics

Dick Ruthven — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
123	127	355	332	61	17	1	2109.0	2,155	970	165	767	1,145	4.14	1232.9

Career ERA 4.14 vs. league average 3.80 across their career seasons — 8.8% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Dick Ruthven Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1973	PHI	NL	6	9	25	23	3	1	1	128.1	125	60	75	98	4.21	3.75 (-12%)	-413.1
1974	PHI	NL	9	13	35	35	6	0	0	212.2	182	95	116	153	4.02	3.63 (-11%)	759.6
1975	PHI	NL	2	2	11	7	0	0	0	40.2	37	19	22	26	4.20	3.71 (-13%)	67.9
1976	ATL	NL	14	17	36	36	8	4	0	240.1	255	112	90	142	4.19	3.51 (-19%)	521.4
1977	ATL	NL	7	13	25	23	6	2	0	151.0	158	71	62	84	4.23	4.00 (-6%)	-316.7
1978	ATL	NL	2	6	13	13	2	1	0	81.0	78	37	28	45	4.11	3.69 (-12%)	-218.2
1978	PHI	NL	13	5	20	20	9	2	0	150.2	136	50	28	75	2.99	3.69 (+19%)	1547.9
1979	PHI	NL	7	5	20	20	3	2	0	122.1	121	58	37	58	4.27	4.00 (-7%)	624.0
1980	PHI	NL	17	10	33	33	6	1	0	223.1	241	88	74	86	3.55	3.84 (+8%)	1760.1
1981	PHI	NL	12	7	23	22	5	0	0	146.2	162	84	54	80	5.15	3.58 (-44%)	82.7
1982	PHI	NL	11	11	33	31	8	2	0	204.1	189	86	59	115	3.79	3.86 (+2%)	918.0
1983	PHI	NL	1	3	7	7	0	0	0	33.2	46	21	10	26	5.61	3.87 (-45%)	-134.6
1983	CHN	NL	12	9	25	25	5	2	0	149.1	156	68	28	73	4.10	3.87 (-6%)	-28.7
1984	CHN	NL	6	10	23	22	0	0	0	126.2	154	71	41	55	5.04	3.81 (-32%)	-1872.8
1985	CHN	NL	4	7	20	15	0	0	0	87.1	103	44	37	26	4.53	3.89 (-16%)	-785.0
1986	CHN	NL	0	0	6	0	0	0	0	10.2	12	6	6	3	5.06	3.97 (-27%)	-1279.6
Career · 16 seasons			123	127	355	332	61	17	1	2,109.0	2,155	970	767	1,145	4.14	—	1,233

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

Dick Ruthven — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
363	671	42	123	18	5	1	44	2	16	212	.183	.205	.230	.435	-2,452

Career AVG .183 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — 29.4% below league average.

Career OBP .205 vs. league average .325 across their career seasons — 36.8% below league average.

Career SLG .230 vs. league average .384 across their career seasons — 40.2% below league average.

Career OPS .435 vs. league average .709 across their career seasons — 38.6% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Dick Ruthven 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
1973	PHI	NL	27	38	1	5	1	0	0	2	0	1	14	.132	—	—	—	—	0.0
1974	PHI	NL	35	68	1	13	1	0	0	5	1	0	19	.191	.256 (-26%)	.324 (-41%)	.369 (-44%)	.693 (-43%)	-450.7
1975	PHI	NL	12	13	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	.154	—	—	—	—	0.0
1976	ATL	NL	37	76	6	13	1	0	0	5	0	3	21	.171	.255 (-33%)	.320 (-34%)	.360 (-49%)	.681 (-42%)	-473.2
1977	ATL	NL	25	45	4	12	1	1	1	3	0	2	15	.267	—	—	—	—	0.0
1978	ATL	NL	13	24	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	.083	—	—	—	—	0.0
1978	PHI	NL	21	53	7	15	0	2	0	4	0	1	14	.283	.257 (+10%)	.323 (-8%)	.378 (-5%)	.702 (-7%)	0.0
1979	PHI	NL	21	41	2	6	0	0	0	0	0	2	11	.146	—	—	—	—	0.0
1980	PHI	NL	33	68	7	16	5	1	0	8	1	2	22	.235	.264 (-11%)	.326 (-21%)	.387 (-13%)	.714 (-17%)	-198.5
1981	PHI	NL	23	50	2	7	3	0	0	5	0	2	14	.140	.255 (-45%)	.320 (-46%)	.368 (-46%)	.688 (-46%)	-357.6
1982	PHI	NL	33	64	2	7	1	1	0	5	0	0	26	.109	.261 (-58%)	.324 (-67%)	.388 (-60%)	.712 (-63%)	-655.3
1983	PHI	NL	7	9	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	.111	—	—	—	—	0.0
1983	CHN	NL	25	53	5	12	1	0	0	3	0	2	13	.226	.260 (-13%)	.324 (-22%)	.389 (-37%)	.714 (-30%)	0.0
1984	CHN	NL	25	44	2	7	3	0	0	2	0	1	18	.159	—	—	—	—	0.0
1985	CHN	NL	20	24	1	5	0	0	0	1	0	0	7	.208	—	—	—	—	0.0
1986	CHN	NL	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 16 seasons			363	671	42	123	18	5	1	44	2	16	212	.183	—	—	—	—	-2,135

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

Dick Ruthven — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
5	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Dick Ruthven — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	SO	AVG
1981	NEDIV	PHI	1	1	0	.000
1980	NLCS	PHI	2	2	2	.000
1980	WS	PHI	1	0	0	.000
1978	NLCS	PHI	1	1	1	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Dick Ruthven — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1	2	5	4	0	26.2	21	10	6	14	3.38

Playoff Pitching by Year

Dick Ruthven — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1981	NEDIV	PHI	0	1	1	1	4.0	3	2	1	0	4.50
1980	NLCS	PHI	1	0	2	1	9.0	3	2	5	4	2.00
1980	WS	PHI	0	0	1	1	9.0	9	3	0	7	3.00
1978	NLCS	PHI	0	1	1	1	4.2	6	3	0	3	5.79

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (718 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Dick Ruthven — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	189	331	24	62	1	18	.187
Away	174	340	18	61	0	26	.179

Pitching — Home / Away

Dick Ruthven — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	186	1110.1	1121	481	405	613	3.90
Away	169	998.2	1034	489	362	532	4.41

Last 10 Games — Batting

Dick Ruthven — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	H	SO
1986-05-01	CHC	LAD	L	0	0	0
1986-04-27	CHC	WSN	W	1	0	1
1986-04-20	CHC	PIT	L	0	0	0
1986-04-19	CHC	PIT	L	0	0	0
1986-04-18	CHC	PIT	L	0	0	0
1986-04-13	CHC	PIT	L	0	0	0
1985-08-09	CHC	NYN	L	1	1	0
1985-08-03	CHC	NYN	L	1	0	0
1985-07-30	CHC	STL	L	0	0	0
1985-07-26	CHC	LAD	L	2	1	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Dick Ruthven — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1986-05-01	CHC	LAD	—	1.0	2	1	1	1	0	0
1986-04-27	CHC	WSN	—	2.0	3	3	3	1	0	1
1986-04-20	CHC	PIT	—	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0
1986-04-19	CHC	PIT	—	2.0	2	1	1	0	0	1
1986-04-18	CHC	PIT	—	2.0	2	1	1	1	1	1
1986-04-13	CHC	PIT	—	3.0	3	3	0	3	2	1
1985-08-09	CHC	NYN	—	1.0	3	1	1	0	0	0
1985-08-03	CHC	NYN	—	6.2	11	3	2	1	1	0
1985-07-30	CHC	STL	—	1.2	3	0	0	0	0	0
1985-07-26	CHC	LAD	L	5.0	10	5	5	3	3	2

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Dick Ruthven — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	355	332	149	298	41	19

Season-by-Season Fielding

Dick Ruthven — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1973	PHI	P	25	23	6	23	6	2
1974	PHI	P	35	35	7	30	7	2
1975	PHI	P	11	7	2	5	2	1
1976	ATL	P	36	36	18	44	1	2
1977	ATL	P	25	23	10	16	5	1
1978	ATL	P	13	13	9	13	7	0
1978	PHI	P	20	20	8	23	1	0
1979	PHI	P	20	20	6	9	1	1
1980	PHI	P	33	33	21	33	6	3
1981	PHI	P	23	22	11	20	1	0
1982	PHI	P	33	31	22	16	1	1
1983	PHI	P	7	7	1	4	0	2
1983	CHN	P	25	25	15	31	2	2
1984	CHN	P	23	22	8	19	0	1
1985	CHN	P	20	15	5	11	1	1
1986	CHN	P	6	0	0	1	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Dick Ruthven Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	355

Awards & Honors

Dick Ruthven — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1982	Pitcher of the Month	May

Salary History

Dick Ruthven's recorded salaries total $1,816,667 over 2 seasons, 1985 to 1986. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Ruthven's career ran from 1973 to 1986. His seasons before 1985 are not included.

Dick Ruthven — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1986	CHN	NL	$1,050,000
1985	CHN	NL	$766,667
Total recorded salary (partial)			$1,816,667

College History

Dick Ruthven — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
California State University Fresno	Fresno	CA	1971, 1972

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Dick Ruthven (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Dick Ruthven: the record in brief

The profile opens with Dick Ruthven's first major league game on April 17, 1973; the last one listed came on May 1, 1986. Ruthven played for the Philadelphia Phillies (1973 through 1983), the Atlanta Braves (1976 through 1978), and the Chicago Cubs (1983 to 1986). Ruthven, a pitcher by primary position, batted and threw right-handed. Height and weight on file: 190 pounds on a 6-foot-3 frame. The birth record reads March 27, 1951, in Sacramento, CA, USA. Ruthven's full given name, per the bio, is Richard David Ruthven.

Ruthven went 123-127 with a 4.14 ERA in 355 games, 332 of them starts. The totals include 1,145 strikeouts, 61 complete games, and 17 shutouts. Against a 3.80 league ERA for the same seasons, the 4.14 mark was 8.8% worse. No season topped the 17 wins of 1980. The strikeout high was 153 in 1974. 1978 was Ruthven's sharpest full season, a 2.99 ERA against the league's 3.69. Ruthven's career Pitcher PIV, which scores run prevention against each season's league, is 1,232.9.

Frequently Asked Questions about Dick Ruthven

What years did Dick Ruthven play?: Dick Ruthven played in Major League Baseball from 1973 to 1986.
Was Dick Ruthven a pitcher?: Yes. Dick Ruthven pitched in the major leagues, recording 123 wins and 1145 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Dick Ruthven hit?: Dick Ruthven hit 1 career home run with 123 hits.
What teams did Dick Ruthven play for?: Dick Ruthven played for 3 teams: the Philadelphia Phillies (1973–1975, 1978–1983), the Atlanta Braves (1976–1978), and the Chicago Cubs (1983–1986).
Did Dick Ruthven win a Cy Young Award?: No. Dick Ruthven did not win the Cy Young Award.
What awards did Dick Ruthven win?: Dick Ruthven was selected to 2 All-Star Games.
What were Dick Ruthven's career stats?: In 355 games, Dick Ruthven went 123-127 with a 4.14 ERA, 1,145 strikeouts, 2,109.0 innings pitched, and 1 saves. At the plate he had 123 hits and 1 home runs.
How much did Dick Ruthven earn in his career?: Dick Ruthven's recorded salaries total $1,816,667 over 2 seasons, 1985 to 1986. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Ruthven's career ran from 1973 to 1986. His seasons before 1985 are not included.
What was Dick Ruthven's salary?: Dick Ruthven's last recorded salary was $1,050,000, in 1986. His highest recorded salary was $1,050,000, in 1986, and his lowest was $766,667, in 1985. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1986.
What position did Dick Ruthven play?: Dick Ruthven played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Dick Ruthven and how much did he weigh?: Dick Ruthven was listed at 6 feet 3 inches and 190 pounds.
What was Dick Ruthven's career ERA?: Dick Ruthven finished with a 4.14 career ERA, going 123-127 with 1,145 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Dick Ruthven have?: Dick Ruthven recorded 1,145 career strikeouts.
Is Dick Ruthven in the Hall of Fame?: No. Dick Ruthven has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.