Doc Scanlan

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1903-1911)

Doc Scanlan was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1903 to 1911 for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Brooklyn Dodgers, a span of 9 seasons. Across 181 career appearances, he went 65-71 with a 3.00 ERA and 584 strikeouts. He also batted .188 with 0 home runs.

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 65–71
ERA 3.00
WHIP 1.33
SO 584
Pitcher PIV -12837.1
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
L / R
Height / Weight
5'8" / 165 lb
Born
3/7/1881 in Syracuse, NY, USA
Died
5/29/1949 in Brooklyn, NY, USA
MLB Debut
1903-09-24
Last Game
1911-09-01

Full name: William Dennis Scanlan

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Career Pitching Statistics

Doc Scanlan — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
65 71 181 149 102 15 5 1252.0 1,061 417 15 608 584 3.00 -12837.1

Career ERA 3.00 vs. league average 2.81 across their career seasons — 6.8% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Doc Scanlan Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1903 PIT NL 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 9.0 5 4 6 0 4.00 3.10 (-29%) 0.0
1904 PIT NL 1 3 4 3 1 0 0 22.0 21 12 20 10 4.91 2.66 (-85%) -1017.5
1904 BRO NL 6 6 13 12 11 3 0 104.0 94 25 40 40 2.16 2.66 (+19%) -523.8
1905 BRO NL 14 12 33 28 22 2 0 249.2 220 81 104 135 2.92 2.82 (-4%) -1112.4
1906 BRO NL 18 13 38 33 28 6 2 288.0 230 102 127 120 3.19 2.68 (-19%) -3441.3
1907 BRO NL 6 8 17 15 10 2 0 107.0 90 38 61 59 3.20 2.50 (-28%) -1318.8
1909 BRO NL 8 7 19 17 12 2 0 141.1 125 46 65 72 2.93 2.55 (-15%) -1146.8
1910 BRO NL 9 11 34 25 14 0 2 217.1 175 63 116 103 2.61 2.79 (+6%) -1878.1
1911 BRO NL 3 10 22 15 3 0 1 113.2 101 46 69 45 3.64 3.37 (-8%) -2398.4
Career · 9 seasons 65 71 181 149 102 15 5 1,252.0 1,061 417 608 584 3.00 — -12,837

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

Doc Scanlan — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
181 416 23 78 11 2 0 23 4 34 81 .188 .251 .224 .474 -935

Career AVG .188 vs. league average .251 across their career seasons — 25.4% below league average.

Career OBP .251 vs. league average .312 across their career seasons — 19.8% below league average.

Career SLG .224 vs. league average .326 across their career seasons — 31.5% below league average.

Career OPS .474 vs. league average .639 across their career seasons — 25.8% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Doc Scanlan 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
1903 PIT NL 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 — — — — 0.0
1904 PIT NL 4 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1904 BRO NL 13 35 2 5 0 0 0 4 0 1 6 .143 — — — — 0.0
1905 BRO NL 33 96 4 16 0 0 0 4 2 3 17 .167 .248 (-33%) .307 (-38%) .322 (-48%) .629 (-43%) -580.4
1906 BRO NL 38 97 11 18 2 0 0 1 1 11 21 .186 .247 (-25%) .307 (-13%) .315 (-35%) .622 (-24%) -293.4
1907 BRO NL 17 34 2 9 1 2 0 6 0 6 7 .265 — — — — 0.0
1909 BRO NL 19 44 3 12 5 0 0 1 1 6 8 .273 — — — — 161.6
1910 BRO NL 34 69 1 14 3 0 0 6 0 5 14 .203 .249 (-19%) .317 (-19%) .326 (-25%) .644 (-22%) -222.5
1911 BRO NL 22 33 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 7 .121 — — — — 0.0
Career · 9 seasons 181 416 23 78 11 2 0 23 4 34 81 .188 — — — — -935

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 (362 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Doc Scanlan — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home94215123909.181
Away872011139010.194

Pitching — Home / Away

Doc Scanlan — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home94664.0493573303360.77
Away87585.0565872802691.34

Last 10 Games — Batting

Doc Scanlan — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1911-09-01 BROBSNL 000000000
1911-08-24 BROCHCW 000000000
1911-08-17 BROPITW 000000000
1911-08-14 BROBSNL 101000000
1911-08-12 BROBSNL 101000100
1911-08-07 BROSTLL 100000001
1911-07-30 BROCINW 100000001
1911-07-26 BROPITL 000000000
1911-07-20 BROCINL 200000000
1911-07-13 BROCHCW 100000000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Doc Scanlan — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1911-09-01 BROBSN — 1.0200030
1911-08-24 BROCHC W 1.0210000
1911-08-17 BROPIT — 2.2322100
1911-08-14 BROBSN L 3.2555220
1911-08-12 BROBSN — 3.2533230
1911-08-07 BROSTL — 3.2311410
1911-07-30 BROCIN SV 3.0522320
1911-07-26 BROPIT L 0.1355200
1911-07-20 BROCIN L 6.1341520
1911-07-13 BROCHC — 3.0533310

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Doc Scanlan — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
P 181 133 28 262 19 10

Season-by-Season Fielding

Doc Scanlan — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1903 PIT P 1 0 0 1 0 0
1904 PIT P 4 3 4 2 0 1
1904 BRO P 13 12 7 18 1 0
1905 BRO P 33 28 6 57 5 3
1906 BRO P 38 33 5 50 5 0
1907 BRO P 17 15 1 21 3 2
1909 BRO P 19 17 0 33 1 2
1910 BRO P 34 25 4 49 0 1
1911 BRO P 22 0 1 31 4 1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Doc Scanlan Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 181

College History

Doc Scanlan — College History
School Name City State Years Attended
Fordham University New York NY 1900, 1901
Syracuse University Syracuse NY 1902, 1903

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Doc Scanlan (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Harry Harper
    57-76, 2.87 ERA
  2. 55
    Johnny Niggeling
    64-69, 3.22 ERA
  3. 51
    Ferdie Schupp
    61-39, 3.32 ERA
  4. 50
    Joe Boehling
    55-50, 2.97 ERA
  5. 48
    Al Schulz
    47-62, 3.32 ERA
  6. 47
    Fred Beebe
    62-83, 2.86 ERA

Doc Scanlan: the record in brief

Doc Scanlan's major league career runs from a debut on September 24, 1903 to a final game on September 1, 1911. The team column moves through the Pittsburgh Pirates (1903 to 1904), the Brooklyn Superbas (1904 through 1910), and the Brooklyn Dodgers (1911). Born on March 7, 1881, in Syracuse, NY, USA, Scanlan is listed as a pitcher and batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Size on record: 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds. Scanlan died on May 29, 1949, in Brooklyn, NY, USA. Doc Scanlan was the playing name; the full given name is William Dennis.

Scanlan went 65-71 with a 3.00 ERA in 181 games, 149 of them starts. The same table counts 584 strikeouts, 102 complete games, and 15 shutouts. The league ERA over Scanlan's seasons was 2.81, so the 3.00 figure ran 6.8% worse than average. The best win total was 18, in 1906. 1905 produced Scanlan's most strikeouts, 135. In 1910, one of the busiest seasons, Scanlan posted a 2.61 ERA; the league figure that year was 2.79.

Frequently Asked Questions about Doc Scanlan

What years did Doc Scanlan play?
Doc Scanlan played in Major League Baseball from 1903 to 1911.
Was Doc Scanlan a pitcher?
Yes. Doc Scanlan pitched in the major leagues, recording 65 wins and 584 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Doc Scanlan hit?
Doc Scanlan hit 0 career home runs with 78 hits.
What was Doc Scanlan's career batting average?
Doc Scanlan batted .188 over his career, with 78 hits in 416 at bats.
How many RBI did Doc Scanlan have?
Doc Scanlan drove in 23 runs in his career.
What was Doc Scanlan's career ERA?
Doc Scanlan finished with a 3.00 career ERA, going 65-71 with 584 strikeouts.