What years did Scott Sanderson play?

Scott Sanderson played in Major League Baseball from 1978 to 1996.

Was Scott Sanderson a pitcher?

Yes. Scott Sanderson pitched in the major leagues, recording 163 wins and 1611 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Scott Sanderson hit?

Scott Sanderson hit 2 career home runs with 46 hits.

What was Scott Sanderson's career batting average?

Scott Sanderson batted .097 over his career, with 46 hits in 474 at bats.

How many RBI did Scott Sanderson have?

Scott Sanderson drove in 26 runs in his career.

What was Scott Sanderson's career ERA?

Scott Sanderson finished with a 3.84 career ERA, going 163-143 with 1,611 strikeouts.

Scott Sanderson

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1978-1996)

Scott Sanderson was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1978 to 1996 for 7 teams, including the Montreal Expos, a span of 19 seasons. Across 472 career appearances, he went 163-143 with a 3.84 ERA and 1,611 strikeouts. He also batted .097 with 2 home runs. Scott Sanderson was an All-Star. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 7051.1.

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 12, 2026

W–L 163–143

ERA 3.84

WHIP 1.26

SO 1,611

Pitcher PIV 7051.1

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'5" / 195 lb
Born: 7/22/1956 in Dearborn, MI, USA
Died: 4/11/2019 in Lake Forest, IL, USA
MLB Debut: 1978-08-06
Last Game: 1996-05-15
Awards: All-Star

Full name: Scott Douglas Sanderson

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Pitching Statistics

Scott Sanderson — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
163	143	472	407	43	14	5	2561.2	2,590	1,093	297	625	1,611	3.84	7051.1

Career ERA 3.84 vs. league average 3.98 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Scott Sanderson Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1978	MON	NL	4	2	10	9	1	1	0	61.0	52	17	21	50	2.51	3.69 (+32%)	1575.3
1979	MON	NL	9	8	34	24	5	3	1	168.0	148	64	54	138	3.43	4.00 (+14%)	2853.7
1980	MON	NL	16	11	33	33	7	3	0	211.1	206	73	56	125	3.11	3.84 (+19%)	1806.2
1981	MON	NL	9	7	22	22	4	1	0	137.1	122	45	31	77	2.95	3.58 (+18%)	1620.4
1982	MON	NL	12	12	32	32	7	0	0	224.0	212	86	58	158	3.46	3.86 (+11%)	2034.2
1983	MON	NL	6	7	18	16	0	0	1	81.1	98	42	20	55	4.65	3.87 (-20%)	-378.1
1984	CHN	NL	8	5	24	24	3	0	0	140.2	140	49	24	76	3.14	3.81 (+18%)	4004.8
1985	CHN	NL	5	6	19	19	2	0	0	121.0	100	42	27	80	3.12	3.89 (+20%)	1442.7
1986	CHN	NL	9	11	37	28	1	1	1	169.2	165	79	37	124	4.19	3.97 (-5%)	1600.3
1987	CHN	NL	8	9	32	22	0	0	2	144.2	156	69	50	106	4.29	4.29 (avg)	-1005.4
1988	CHN	NL	1	2	11	0	0	0	0	15.1	13	9	3	6	5.28	3.73 (-41%)	120.2
1989	CHN	NL	11	9	37	23	2	0	0	146.1	155	64	31	86	3.94	3.71 (-6%)	93.9
1990	OAK	AL	17	11	34	34	2	1	0	206.1	205	89	66	128	3.88	3.86 (-1%)	-2193.3
1991	NYA	AL	16	10	34	34	2	2	0	208.0	200	88	29	130	3.81	3.91 (+3%)	2543.0
1992	NYA	AL	12	11	33	33	2	1	0	193.1	220	106	64	104	4.93	3.75 (-32%)	-4348.8
1993	CAL	AL	7	11	21	21	4	1	0	135.1	153	67	27	66	4.46	4.19 (-6%)	95.2
1993	SFN	NL	4	2	11	8	0	0	0	48.2	48	19	7	36	3.51	4.19 (+16%)	-1237.2
1994	CHA	AL	8	4	18	14	1	0	0	92.0	110	52	12	36	5.09	4.51 (-13%)	-2574.6
1995	CAL	AL	1	3	7	7	0	0	0	39.1	48	18	4	23	4.12	4.45 (+7%)	76.0
1996	CAL	AL	0	2	5	4	0	0	0	18.0	39	15	4	7	7.50	4.61 (-63%)	-1077.3
Career · 20 seasons			163	143	472	407	43	14	5	2,561.2	2,590	1,093	625	1,611	3.84	—	7,051

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

Scott Sanderson — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
473	474	20	46	13	0	2	26	0	26	224	.097	.150	.137	.288	-2,100

Career AVG .097 vs. league average .261 across their career seasons — 62.8% below league average.

Career OBP .150 vs. league average .327 across their career seasons — 54.0% below league average.

Career SLG .137 vs. league average .393 across their career seasons — 65.1% below league average.

Career OPS .288 vs. league average .720 across their career seasons — 60.1% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Scott Sanderson Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1978	MON	NL	10	19	0	2	0	0	0	0	11	.105	—	—	—	—	0.0
1979	MON	NL	34	50	0	8	2	0	1	0	23	.160	.265 (-40%)	.329 (-51%)	.397 (-50%)	.727 (-51%)	-407.8
1980	MON	NL	33	64	3	5	3	0	1	2	33	.078	.264 (-70%)	.326 (-68%)	.387 (-68%)	.714 (-68%)	-689.9
1981	MON	NL	22	35	2	4	2	0	6	9	18	.114	—	—	—	—	0.0
1982	MON	NL	32	57	5	8	3	1	6	2	20	.140	.261 (-46%)	.324 (-43%)	.388 (-37%)	.712 (-40%)	-366.2
1983	MON	NL	18	28	1	4	2	0	1	0	8	.143	—	—	—	—	0.0
1984	CHN	NL	24	42	3	5	0	0	5	3	18	.119	—	—	—	—	0.0
1985	CHN	NL	19	31	1	2	0	0	1	1	17	.065	—	—	—	—	0.0
1986	CHN	NL	38	51	1	3	1	0	2	0	23	.059	.257 (-77%)	.325 (-76%)	.395 (-80%)	.720 (-78%)	-635.8
1987	CHN	NL	32	40	2	3	0	1	2	3	20	.075	—	—	—	—	0.0
1988	CHN	NL	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1989	CHN	NL	37	43	1	2	0	0	1	5	22	.047	—	—	—	—	0.0
1990	OAK	AL	34	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1991	NYA	AL	34	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1992	NYA	AL	33	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1993	CAL	AL	21	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1993	SFN	NL	11	14	1	0	0	0	0	1	11	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1994	CHA	AL	18	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1995	CAL	AL	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1996	CAL	AL	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 20 seasons			473	474	20	46	13	2	26	26	224	.097	—	—	—	—	-2,100

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

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

Playoff Batting by Year

Scott Sanderson — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	SO	AVG
1990	WS	OAK	2	0	0	.000
1989	NLCS	CHN	1	0	0	.000
1984	NLCS	CHN	1	2	1	.000
1981	NEDIV	MON	1	1	1	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Scott Sanderson — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	0	5	2	0	11.0	16	7	4	5	5.73

Playoff Pitching by Year

Scott Sanderson — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	GS	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1990	WS	OAK	2	0	1.2	4	2	1	0	10.80
1989	NLCS	CHN	1	0	2.0	2	0	0	1	0.00
1984	NLCS	CHN	1	1	4.2	6	3	1	2	5.79
1981	NEDIV	MON	1	1	2.2	4	2	2	2	6.75

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (945 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Scott Sanderson — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	233	220	10	22	1	13	.100
Away	240	254	10	24	1	13	.094

Pitching — Home / Away

Scott Sanderson — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	232	1288.0	1239	520	321	855	3.63
Away	240	1273.2	1351	573	304	756	4.05

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Scott Sanderson — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1996-05-15	LAA	BOS	—	2.1	5	4	2	0	1	0
1996-05-11	LAA	CLE	L	4.1	12	6	2	2	3	2
1996-04-24	LAA	MIL	—	3.0	7	2	2	0	0	0
1996-04-18	LAA	TOR	—	3.1	6	3	3	1	2	1
1996-04-13	LAA	DET	L	5.0	9	6	6	1	1	2
1995-05-31	LAA	BAL	L	6.0	8	4	3	0	3	2
1995-05-26	LAA	BOS	—	5.1	4	2	2	1	2	0
1995-05-20	LAA	CHW	—	7.0	8	5	4	0	5	2
1995-05-15	LAA	MIN	L	3.2	9	6	5	1	6	1
1995-05-10	LAA	TEX	W	7.0	6	1	1	0	2	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Scott Sanderson — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	472	407	153	264	18	14

Season-by-Season Fielding

Scott Sanderson — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1978	MON	P	10	9	2	6	1	0
1979	MON	P	34	24	9	13	1	1
1980	MON	P	33	33	14	21	1	0
1981	MON	P	22	22	6	14	0	0
1982	MON	P	32	32	13	16	1	1
1983	MON	P	18	16	4	6	2	0
1984	CHN	P	24	24	11	24	1	0
1985	CHN	P	19	19	11	21	0	2
1986	CHN	P	37	28	11	20	2	0
1987	CHN	P	32	22	10	14	2	3
1988	CHN	P	11	0	0	1	0	0
1989	CHN	P	37	23	10	12	0	1
1990	OAK	P	34	34	11	18	2	2
1991	NYA	P	34	34	15	13	1	0
1992	NYA	P	33	33	4	18	2	1
1993	CAL	P	21	21	11	15	2	1
1993	SFN	P	11	8	2	8	0	0
1994	CHA	P	18	14	4	17	0	1
1995	CAL	P	7	7	3	4	0	1
1996	CAL	P	5	4	2	3	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Scott Sanderson Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	472

Salary History

Scott Sanderson — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1996	CAL	AL	$200,000
1995	CAL	AL	$250,000
1994	CHA	AL	$350,000
1993	CAL	AL	$800,000
1993	NYA	AL	$250,000
1992	NYA	AL	$2,125,000
1991	NYA	AL	$2,125,000
1990	OAK	AL	$750,000
1989	CHN	NL	$800,000
1988	CHN	NL	$950,000
1987	CHN	NL	$850,000
1986	CHN	NL	$800,000
1985	CHN	NL	$500,000
Total Career Earnings			$10,750,000

College History

Scott Sanderson — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
Vanderbilt University	Nashville	TN	1976, 1977

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Scott Sanderson (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Scott Sanderson: the record in brief

Between the debut on August 6, 1978 and the final game on May 15, 1996, Scott Sanderson built the record summarized on this page. The season rows list, in order, the Montreal Expos (1978 to 1983), the Chicago Cubs (1984 to 1989), the Oakland Athletics (1990), the New York Yankees (1991 to 1992), the California Angels (1993 through 1996), the San Francisco Giants (1993), and the Chicago White Sox (1994). Sanderson played primarily as a pitcher and batted and threw right-handed. The bio adds a birth date on July 22, 1956, in Dearborn, MI, USA and a listed size of 195 pounds on a 6-foot-5 frame. Sanderson died on April 11, 2019, in Lake Forest, IL, USA. On the record, Scott Sanderson was born Scott Douglas Sanderson.

Sanderson's career pitching line is 163 wins, 143 losses and a 3.84 ERA over 472 appearances. Also on Sanderson's record: 1,611 strikeouts, 43 complete games, and 14 shutouts. Sanderson's 3.84 ERA was close to the 3.98 league figure for those seasons.

Frequently Asked Questions about Scott Sanderson

What years did Scott Sanderson play?: Scott Sanderson played in Major League Baseball from 1978 to 1996.
Was Scott Sanderson a pitcher?: Yes. Scott Sanderson pitched in the major leagues, recording 163 wins and 1611 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Scott Sanderson hit?: Scott Sanderson hit 2 career home runs with 46 hits.
What was Scott Sanderson's career batting average?: Scott Sanderson batted .097 over his career, with 46 hits in 474 at bats.
How many RBI did Scott Sanderson have?: Scott Sanderson drove in 26 runs in his career.
What was Scott Sanderson's career ERA?: Scott Sanderson finished with a 3.84 career ERA, going 163-143 with 1,611 strikeouts.