Tex Shirley

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1941-1946)

Tex Shirley was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1941 to 1946 for the Philadelphia Athletics and the St. Louis Browns, a span of 6 seasons. Across 102 career appearances, he went 19-30 with a 4.25 ERA and 168 strikeouts.

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 19–30
ERA 4.25
WHIP 1.64
SO 168
Pitcher PIV -8947.3
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
B / R
Height / Weight
6'1" / 175 lb
Born
4/25/1918 in Birthright, TX, USA
Died
11/7/1993 in DeSoto, TX, USA
MLB Debut
1941-09-06
Last Game
1946-09-21

Full name: Alvis Newman Shirley

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Pitching Statistics

Tex Shirley — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
19 30 102 54 19 3 2 446.2 443 211 20 290 168 4.25 -8947.3

Career ERA 4.25 vs. league average 3.67 across their career seasons — 15.9% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Tex Shirley — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1941 PHA AL 0 1 5 0 0 0 1 7.1 8 2 6 1 2.45 — 0.0
1942 PHA AL 0 1 15 1 0 0 1 35.2 37 21 22 10 5.30 3.57 (-49%) -415.9
1944 SLA AL 5 4 23 11 2 1 0 80.1 59 37 64 35 4.15 3.57 (-16%) -2624.7
1945 SLA AL 8 12 32 24 10 2 0 183.2 191 74 93 77 3.63 3.67 (+1%) -1439.2
1946 SLA AL 6 12 27 18 7 0 0 139.2 148 77 105 45 4.96 3.59 (-38%) -4467.5
Career · 5 seasons 19 30 102 54 19 3 2 446.2 443 211 290 168 4.25 — -8,947

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

Tex Shirley — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
128 159 23 34 3 0 0 9 1 0 38 .214 .219 .233 .451 -446

Career AVG .214 vs. league average .259 across their career seasons — 17.4% below league average.

Career OBP .219 vs. league average .328 across their career seasons — 33.3% below league average.

Career SLG .233 vs. league average .359 across their career seasons — 35.1% below league average.

Career OPS .451 vs. league average .687 across their career seasons — 34.3% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Tex Shirley — Season-by-Season Batting
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1941 PHA AL 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1942 PHA AL 15 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 — — — — 0.0
1944 SLA AL 30 28 7 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 9 .143 — — — — 0.0
1945 SLA AL 43 70 7 20 1 0 0 8 1 0 11 .286 .260 (+9%) .328 (-10%) .354 (-15%) .683 (-13%) -143.7
1946 SLA AL 35 51 9 10 2 0 0 0 0 0 15 .196 .256 (-24%) .328 (-40%) .358 (-34%) .687 (-37%) -302.6
Career · 5 seasons 128 159 23 34 3 0 0 9 1 0 38 .214 — — — — -446

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

Tex Shirley — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Batting by Year

Tex Shirley — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1944 WS SLA 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

Tex Shirley — Playoff Career Pitching
W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
0 0 1 0 0 2.0 2 0 1 1 0.00

Playoff Pitching by Year

Tex Shirley — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1944 WS SLA 0 0 1 0 0 2.0 2 0 1 1 0.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (230 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Tex Shirley — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home6860151508.250
Away609981901.192

Pitching — Home / Away

Tex Shirley — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home50192.0225115140835.39
Away52254.221896150853.39

Last 10 Games — Batting

Tex Shirley — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1946-09-21 SLACHWL 000000000
1946-09-19 SLABOSW 010000000
1946-09-15 SLANYYW 000000000
1946-09-12 SLAMINL 000000000
1946-09-02 SLACLEL 000000000
1946-09-02 SLACLEW 010000000
1946-08-31 SLADETL 000000000
1946-08-25 SLAMINL 400000000
1946-08-20 SLABOSL 300000000
1946-08-11 SLACLEW 300000002

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Tex Shirley — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1946-09-12 SLAMIN L 0.0444000
1946-09-02 SLACLE — 1.0100110
1946-08-31 SLADET — 2.2444520
1946-08-25 SLAMIN — 9.0641410
1946-08-20 SLABOS L 8.0855620
1946-08-11 SLACLE W 8.1711540
1946-08-04 SLAPHA — 3.0633300
1946-07-27 SLABOS — 3.0766442
1946-07-21 SLABOS L 2.2322510
1946-07-18 SLANYY — 3.0100120

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Tex Shirley — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
P 102 0 21 69 6 5

Season-by-Season Fielding

Tex Shirley — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1941 PHA P 5 0 0 3 0 0
1942 PHA P 15 0 1 5 0 0
1944 SLA P 23 0 6 7 2 1
1945 SLA P 32 0 8 31 2 3
1946 SLA P 27 0 6 23 2 1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Tex Shirley — Career Games by Position
Position Games
Pitcher 102

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Tex Shirley (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Joe Krakauskas
    26-36, 4.53 ERA
  2. 95
    Jaime Cocanower
    16-25, 3.99 ERA
  3. 94
    Pinky Woods
    13-21, 3.97 ERA
  4. 94
    Emmett O'Neill
    15-26, 4.76 ERA
  5. 92
    Harry Taylor
    19-21, 4.10 ERA
  6. 90
    Jake Wade
    27-40, 5.00 ERA

Tex Shirley: the record in brief

According to the bio, Tex Shirley debuted on September 6, 1941 and played a final game on September 21, 1946. Shirley played for the Philadelphia Athletics (1941 through 1942) and the St. Louis Browns (1944 to 1946). Shirley is listed as a pitcher at 6'1" and 175 pounds. The bio says Shirley switch-hit and threw right-handed. The recorded birth is April 25, 1918, in Birthright, TX, USA. Shirley died on November 7, 1993, in DeSoto, TX, USA. The bio lists the given name Alvis Newman.

Across 102 games (54 starts), Shirley recorded 19 wins against 30 losses with a 4.25 ERA. Shirley had 168 strikeouts and 19 complete games. The league ERA over Shirley's seasons was 3.67, so the 4.25 figure ran 15.9% worse than average. No season topped the 8 wins of 1945. 1945 was Shirley's sharpest full season, a 3.63 ERA against the league's 3.67.

Shirley made 1 postseason pitching appearances, with a 0-0 record and 0.00 ERA. Those appearances came in 1944.

Frequently Asked Questions about Tex Shirley

What years did Tex Shirley play?
Tex Shirley played in Major League Baseball from 1941 to 1946.
Was Tex Shirley a pitcher?
Yes. Tex Shirley pitched in the major leagues, recording 19 wins and 168 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Tex Shirley hit?
Tex Shirley hit 0 career home runs with 34 hits.
What teams did Tex Shirley play for?
Tex Shirley played for 2 teams: the Philadelphia Athletics (1941–1942) and the St. Louis Browns (1944–1946).
What were Tex Shirley's career stats?
In 102 games, Tex Shirley went 19-30 with a 4.25 ERA, 168 strikeouts, 446.2 innings pitched, and 2 saves.
What position did Tex Shirley play?
Tex Shirley played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Tex Shirley and how much did he weigh?
Tex Shirley was listed at 6 feet 1 inch and 175 pounds.
What was Tex Shirley's career ERA?
Tex Shirley finished with a 4.25 career ERA, going 19-30 with 168 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Tex Shirley have?
Tex Shirley recorded 168 career strikeouts.
Is Tex Shirley in the Hall of Fame?
No. Tex Shirley has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.