What years did Fred Sanford play?

Fred Sanford played in Major League Baseball from 1943 to 1951.

Was Fred Sanford a pitcher?

Yes. Fred Sanford pitched in the major leagues, recording 37 wins and 285 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Fred Sanford hit?

Fred Sanford hit 1 career home runs with 39 hits.

Fred Sanford

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1943-1951)

W–L 37–55

ERA 4.45

WHIP 1.56

SO 285

Pitcher PIV -10443.5

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: B / R
Height / Weight: 6'1" / 200 lb
Born: 8/9/1919 in Garfield, UT, USA
Died: 3/15/2011 in Salt Lake City, UT, USA
MLB Debut: 1943-05-05
Last Game: 1951-09-14

Full name: John Frederick Sanford

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Pitching Statistics

W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
37	55	164	98	26	3	6	744.0	768	368	67	391	285	4.45	-10443.5

Career ERA 4.45 vs. league average 3.94 across their career seasons — 13.1% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1943	SLA	AL	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	9.3	7	2	4	2	1.93	3.50 (+45%)	0.0
1946	SLA	AL	2	1	3	3	2	2	0	22.0	19	5	9	8	2.05	3.59 (+43%)	278.8
1947	SLA	AL	7	16	34	23	9	0	4	186.7	186	77	76	62	3.71	3.97 (+7%)	-2172.2
1948	SLA	AL	12	21	42	33	9	1	2	227.0	250	117	91	79	4.64	4.10 (-13%)	-1654.0
1949	NYA	AL	7	3	29	11	3	0	0	95.3	100	41	57	51	3.87	4.12 (+6%)	-820.2
1950	NYA	AL	5	4	26	12	2	0	0	112.7	103	57	79	54	4.55	4.36 (-4%)	-1226.2
1951	NYA	AL	0	3	11	2	0	0	0	26.7	15	11	25	10	3.71	4.04 (+8%)	-984.6
1951	WS1	AL	2	3	7	7	0	0	0	37.0	51	27	27	12	6.57	4.04 (-63%)	-1606.5
1951	SLA	AL	2	4	9	7	1	0	0	27.3	37	31	23	7	10.21	4.04 (-153%)	-2258.6
Career · 9 seasons			37	55	164	98	26	3	6	744.0	768	368	391	285	4.45	—	-10,443

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

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
165	229	22	39	9	0	1	10	0	12	67	.170	.212	.223	.434	-803

Career AVG .170 vs. league average .261 across their career seasons — 34.8% below league average.

Career OBP .212 vs. league average .336 across their career seasons — 37.1% below league average.

Career SLG .223 vs. league average .375 across their career seasons — 40.6% below league average.

Career OPS .434 vs. league average .711 across their career seasons — 38.9% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1943	SLA	AL	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1946	SLA	AL	3	7	0	2	1	0	1	1	0	.286	—	—	—	—	0.0
1947	SLA	AL	34	54	5	11	2	0	1	1	23	.204	.262 (-22%)	.336 (-35%)	.376 (-36%)	.712 (-36%)	-313.4
1948	SLA	AL	43	73	9	11	3	1	4	4	17	.151	.263 (-43%)	.340 (-43%)	.379 (-39%)	.719 (-41%)	-489.9
1949	NYA	AL	29	34	1	4	0	0	1	1	9	.118	—	—	—	—	0.0
1950	NYA	AL	26	35	4	8	2	0	3	1	6	.229	—	—	—	—	0.0
1951	NYA	AL	11	5	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1951	WS1	AL	7	14	2	1	1	0	0	1	8	.071	—	—	—	—	0.0
1951	SLA	AL	9	7	1	2	0	0	0	2	3	.286	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 9 seasons			165	229	22	39	9	1	10	12	67	.170	—	—	—	—	-803

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.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (329 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	82	99	12	18	0	6	.182
Away	83	130	10	21	1	4	.162

Pitching — Home / Away

Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	82	352.0	348	178	191	162	4.55
Away	82	392.0	420	193	200	124	4.43

Last 10 Games — Batting

Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	BB	SO
1951-09-14	SLA	BOS	L	0	0	0	0	0
1951-09-08	SLA	CLE	L	0	0	0	0	0
1951-09-03	SLA	DET	W	3	0	0	0	2
1951-08-26	SLA	MIN	L	0	0	0	0	0
1951-08-25	SLA	PHA	L	0	0	0	0	0
1951-08-23	SLA	BOS	L	0	0	0	0	0
1951-08-18	SLA	DET	W	1	0	1	0	0
1951-08-09	SLA	DET	W	1	1	0	2	0
1951-08-02	SLA	BOS	L	2	0	1	0	1
1951-07-22	MIN	CHW	W	3	1	0	1	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1951-09-14	SLA	BOS	L	0.1	4	5	5	1	0	1
1951-09-08	SLA	CLE	L	1.0	4	5	4	1	0	0
1951-09-03	SLA	DET	W	9.0	5	2	1	4	1	1
1951-08-26	SLA	MIN	—	2.0	1	0	0	1	0	0
1951-08-25	SLA	PHA	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0
1951-08-23	SLA	BOS	L	0.1	2	5	5	3	1	0
1951-08-18	SLA	DET	—	3.2	7	6	6	4	3	2
1951-08-09	SLA	DET	W	6.0	4	3	3	3	1	2
1951-08-02	SLA	BOS	L	4.0	9	7	7	6	1	0
1951-07-22	MIN	CHW	W	7.0	11	5	5	4	2	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	164	0	33	140	7	8

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year	Team	Pos	G	PO	A	E	DP
1943	SLA	P	3	0	3	0	0
1946	SLA	P	3	1	3	0	1
1947	SLA	P	34	7	26	1	0
1948	SLA	P	42	9	46	4	1
1949	NYA	P	29	2	17	2	1
1950	NYA	P	26	9	30	0	5
1951	NYA	P	11	3	7	0	0
1951	WS1	P	7	1	4	0	0
1951	SLA	P	9	1	4	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position	Games
Pitcher	164

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Fred Sanford (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Frequently Asked Questions about Fred Sanford

What years did Fred Sanford play?: Fred Sanford played in Major League Baseball from 1943 to 1951.
Was Fred Sanford a pitcher?: Yes. Fred Sanford pitched in the major leagues, recording 37 wins and 285 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Fred Sanford hit?: Fred Sanford hit 1 career home runs with 39 hits.