Don Slaught

Catcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1982-1997)

Don Slaught was a catcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1982 to 1997 for 7 teams, including the Kansas City Royals, a span of 16 seasons. In 1,327 career games, he hit .283 with 1,151 hits, 77 home runs, and 476 RBI. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 3,345.

AVG (Batting Average):
Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):
Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):
Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated

AVG .283
HR 77
RBI 476
H 1,151
OPS .749
PIV 3,345
Position
Catcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'1" / 190 lb
Born
9/11/1958 in Long Beach, CA, USA
MLB Debut
1982-07-06
Last Game
1997-05-19

Full name: Donald Martin Slaught

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Career Batting Statistics

Don Slaught — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,327 4,063 415 1,151 235 28 77 476 18 311 559 .283 .338 .412 .749 3,345

Career AVG .283 vs. league average .261 across their career seasons — +8.6% above league average.

Career OBP .338 vs. league average .328 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .412 vs. league average .397 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OPS .749 vs. league average .725 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Don Slaught 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
1982 KCA AL 43 115 14 32 6 0 3 8 0 9 12 .278 .261 (+7%) .324 (+2%) .388 (+5%) .712 (+4%) 75.1
1983 KCA AL 83 276 21 86 13 4 0 28 3 11 27 .312 .260 (+19%) .324 (+3%) .389 (avg) .714 (+1%) 11.5
1984 KCA AL 124 409 48 108 27 4 4 42 0 20 55 .264 .259 (+2%) .322 (-8%) .384 (-2%) .707 (-4%) -421.4
1985 TEX AL 102 343 34 96 17 4 8 35 5 20 41 .280 .257 (+9%) .323 (+2%) .390 (+8%) .714 (+5%) 327.2
1986 TEX AL 95 314 39 83 17 1 13 46 3 16 59 .264 .257 (+3%) .325 (-6%) .395 (+14%) .720 (+5%) 190.9
1987 TEX AL 95 237 25 53 15 2 8 16 0 24 51 .224 .262 (-15%) .331 (-10%) .415 (-2%) .746 (-6%) -255.3
1988 NYA AL 97 322 33 91 25 1 9 43 1 24 54 .283 .254 (+11%) .317 (+5%) .377 (+19%) .695 (+13%) 673.0
1989 NYA AL 117 350 34 88 21 3 5 38 1 30 57 .251 .254 (-1%) .319 (-1%) .375 (-1%) .694 (-1%) -92.8
1990 PIT NL 84 230 27 69 18 3 4 29 0 27 27 .300 .257 (+16%) .324 (+16%) .385 (+18%) .710 (+17%) 723.2
1991 PIT NL 77 220 19 65 17 1 1 29 1 21 32 .295 .255 (+16%) .323 (+12%) .384 (+3%) .708 (+7%) 323.4
1992 PIT NL 87 255 26 88 17 3 4 37 2 17 23 .345 .255 (+35%) .322 (+19%) .377 (+28%) .699 (+24%) 1027.9
1993 PIT NL 116 377 34 113 19 2 10 55 2 29 56 .300 .265 (+13%) .332 (+7%) .403 (+9%) .735 (+8%) 610.9
1994 PIT NL 76 240 21 69 7 0 2 21 0 34 31 .287 .269 (+7%) .338 (+13%) .424 (-19%) .763 (-5%) -59.2
1995 PIT NL 35 112 13 34 6 0 0 13 0 9 8 .304 .266 (+14%) .337 (+7%) .417 (-14%) .755 (-5%) -62.0
1996 CAL AL 62 207 23 67 9 0 6 32 0 13 20 .324 .269 (+20%) .340 (+8%) .426 (+6%) .767 (+7%) 272.4
1996 CHA AL 14 36 2 9 1 0 0 4 0 2 2 .250 — — — — 272.4
1997 SDN NL 20 20 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 4 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 17 seasons 1,327 4,063 415 1,151 235 28 77 476 18 311 559 .283 — — — — 3,617

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

Don Slaught — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
18 51 5 13 2 0 1 7 9 10 .255

Playoff Batting by Year

Don Slaught — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1992 NLCS PIT 5 12 5 4 1 0 1 5 6 3 .333
1991 NLCS PIT 6 17 0 4 0 0 0 1 1 4 .235
1990 NLCS PIT 4 11 0 1 1 0 0 1 2 3 .091
1984 ALCS KCA 3 11 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .364

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1327 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Don Slaught — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home679202722959533238.294
Away648203618655644238.273

Last 10 Games — Batting

Don Slaught — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1997-05-19 SDPCINW 100000000
1997-05-18 SDPCINL 100000001
1997-05-17 SDPCINW 000000010
1997-05-16 SDPCHCL 110000010
1997-05-13 SDPWSNL 110000000
1997-05-09 SDPCINL 100000000
1997-05-08 SDPCHCL 100000000
1997-05-07 SDPCHCW 100000000
1997-05-04 SDPWSNL 300000010
1997-04-30 SDPNYNL 000000010

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Don Slaught — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
3B 1 0 0 0 0 0
C 1237 1083 6158 477 87 71

Season-by-Season Fielding

Don Slaught — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1982 KCA C 43 32 156 7 1 1
1983 KCA C 79 74 299 18 12 7
1984 KCA C 123 112 547 44 11 8
1985 TEX C 102 99 550 33 6 4
1986 TEX C 91 85 533 40 4 1
1987 TEX C 85 55 429 39 7 5
1988 NYA C 94 87 496 24 11 4
1989 NYA C 105 93 493 44 5 8
1990 PIT C 78 61 345 36 8 4
1991 PIT 3B 1 0 0 0 0 0
1991 PIT C 69 53 338 31 5 4
1992 PIT C 79 65 365 35 5 4
1993 PIT C 105 99 539 51 4 10
1994 PIT C 74 72 425 36 3 7
1995 PIT C 33 30 220 9 1 2
1996 CAL C 59 53 338 27 3 2
1996 CHA C 12 11 70 0 1 0
1997 SDN C 6 2 15 3 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Don Slaught Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Catcher 1238
Third Base 1
Designated Hitter 15

Salary History

Don Slaught's recorded salaries total $9,803,001 over 11 seasons, 1985 to 1996. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Slaught's career ran from 1982 to 1997. His seasons before 1985 are not included, and no salary is recorded for 1987 and 1997.

Don Slaught — Salary History
Year Team League Salary
1996 CAL AL $350,000
1995 PIT NL $2,025,000
1994 PIT NL $1,475,000
1993 PIT NL $1,116,667
1992 PIT NL $1,691,667
1991 PIT NL $766,667
1990 PIT NL $650,000
1989 NYA AL $650,000
1988 NYA AL $531,500
1986 TEX AL $331,500
1985 TEX AL $215,000
Total recorded salary (partial) $9,803,001

College History

Don Slaught — College History
School Name City State Years Attended
El Camino College Torrance CA 1978
University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles CA 1977, 1979, 1980

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Don Slaught (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Jonathan Lucroy
    .274 avg, 108 HR
  2. 92
    Paul Lo Duca
    .286 avg, 80 HR
  3. 78
    Earl Battey
    .270 avg, 104 HR
  4. 75
    Michael Barrett
    .263 avg, 98 HR
  5. 73
    Carlos Ruiz
    .264 avg, 71 HR
  6. 68
    Harry Danning
    .285 avg, 57 HR

Don Slaught: the record in brief

July 6, 1982 and May 19, 1997 bracket Don Slaught's time in the majors: the debut and the last game on record. The team column moves through the Kansas City Royals (1982 to 1984), the Texas Rangers (1985 to 1987), the New York Yankees (1988 through 1989), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1990 through 1995), the California Angels (1996), the Chicago White Sox (1996), and the San Diego Padres (1997). Slaught is listed as a catcher at 6 feet, 1 inch and 190 pounds. The bio says Slaught threw and hit right-handed. Slaught was born on September 11, 1958, in Long Beach, CA, USA. On the record, Don Slaught was born Donald Martin Slaught.

The batting record for Slaught: 1,327 games, 1,151 hits in 4,063 at bats, and a .283 average; the totals also include 77 home runs and 476 runs batted in. On-base and slugging figures of .338 and .412 give Slaught a career OPS of .749.

Frequently Asked Questions about Don Slaught

What years did Don Slaught play?
Don Slaught played in Major League Baseball from 1982 to 1997.
Was Don Slaught a pitcher?
No. Don Slaught was a position player (Catcher).
How many home runs did Don Slaught hit?
Don Slaught hit 77 career home runs with 1,151 hits.
What teams did Don Slaught play for?
Don Slaught played for 7 teams: the Kansas City Royals (1982–1984), the Texas Rangers (1985–1987), the New York Yankees (1988–1989), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1990–1995), the California Angels (1996), the Chicago White Sox (1996), and the San Diego Padres (1997).
What were Don Slaught's career stats?
In 1,327 games, Don Slaught had 1,151 hits, 77 home runs, 476 RBI, 415 runs, and 18 stolen bases, with a .283 batting average.
How much did Don Slaught earn in his career?
Don Slaught's recorded salaries total $9,803,001 over 11 seasons, 1985 to 1996. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Slaught's career ran from 1982 to 1997. His seasons before 1985 are not included, and no salary is recorded for 1987 and 1997.
What was Don Slaught's salary?
Don Slaught's last recorded salary was $350,000, in 1996. His highest recorded salary was $2,025,000, in 1995, and his lowest was $215,000, in 1985. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1996.
What position did Don Slaught play?
Don Slaught played primarily as a catcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Don Slaught and how much did he weigh?
Don Slaught was listed at 6 feet 1 inch and 190 pounds.
How many home runs did Don Slaught hit each season?
Don Slaught's home runs by season: 3 in 1982, 0 in 1983, 4 in 1984, 8 in 1985, 13 in 1986, 8 in 1987, 9 in 1988, 5 in 1989, 4 in 1990, 1 in 1991, 4 in 1992, 10 in 1993, 2 in 1994, 0 in 1995, 6 in 1996, and 0 in 1997. His most in one season was 13, in 1986.
What was Don Slaught's career batting average?
Don Slaught batted .283 over his career, with 1,151 hits in 4,063 at bats.
How many RBI did Don Slaught have?
Don Slaught drove in 476 runs in his career.
Is Don Slaught in the Hall of Fame?
No. Don Slaught has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.