What years did Joe Sparma play?

Joe Sparma played in Major League Baseball from 1964 to 1970.

Was Joe Sparma a pitcher?

Yes. Joe Sparma pitched in the major leagues, recording 52 wins and 586 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Joe Sparma hit?

Joe Sparma hit 0 career home runs with 32 hits.

What was Joe Sparma's career batting average?

Joe Sparma batted .119 over his career, with 32 hits in 269 at bats.

How many RBI did Joe Sparma have?

Joe Sparma drove in 11 runs in his career.

What was Joe Sparma's career ERA?

Joe Sparma finished with a 3.94 career ERA, going 52-52 with 586 strikeouts.

Joe Sparma

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1964-1970)

Joe Sparma was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1964 to 1970 for the Detroit Tigers and the Montreal Expos, a span of 7 seasons. Across 183 career appearances, he went 52-52 with a 3.94 ERA and 586 strikeouts. He also batted .119 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 October 12, 2026

W–L 52–52

ERA 3.94

WHIP 1.40

SO 586

Pitcher PIV -11710.7

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'1" / 190 lb
Born: 2/4/1942 in Massillon, OH, USA
Died: 5/14/1986 in Columbus, OH, USA
MLB Debut: 1964-05-20
Last Game: 1970-05-12

Full name: Joseph Blase Sparma

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Career Pitching Statistics

Joe Sparma — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
52	52	183	142	31	10	0	864.2	774	379	77	436	586	3.94	-11710.7

Career ERA 3.94 vs. league average 3.50 across their career seasons — 12.8% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Joe Sparma Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1964	DET	AL	5	6	21	11	3	2	84.0	62	28	45	71	3.00	3.58 (+16%)	710.8
1965	DET	AL	13	8	30	28	6	0	167.0	142	59	75	127	3.18	3.50 (+9%)	386.1
1966	DET	AL	2	7	29	13	0	0	91.2	103	54	52	61	5.30	3.52 (-51%)	-3411.3
1967	DET	AL	16	9	37	37	11	5	217.2	186	91	85	153	3.76	3.30 (-14%)	-1665.3
1968	DET	AL	10	10	34	31	7	1	182.1	169	75	77	110	3.70	2.98 (-24%)	-2629.0
1969	DET	AL	6	8	23	16	3	2	92.2	78	49	77	41	4.76	3.61 (-32%)	-2866.8
1970	MON	NL	0	4	9	6	1	0	29.1	34	23	25	23	7.06	3.89 (-82%)	-2235.2
Career · 7 seasons			52	52	183	142	31	10	864.2	774	379	436	586	3.94	—	-11,711

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

Joe Sparma — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
185	269	11	32	3	2	0	11	0	10	108	.119	.150	.145	.295	-1,719

Career AVG .119 vs. league average .247 across their career seasons — 51.8% below league average.

Career OBP .150 vs. league average .313 across their career seasons — 52.0% below league average.

Career SLG .145 vs. league average .369 across their career seasons — 60.7% below league average.

Career OPS .295 vs. league average .682 across their career seasons — 56.7% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Joe Sparma — Season-by-Season Batting
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1964	DET	AL	23	25	3	4	0	2	4	1	11	.160	—	—	—	—	0.0
1965	DET	AL	30	52	4	7	1	0	3	3	25	.135	.245 (-45%)	.310 (-43%)	.371 (-59%)	.682 (-51%)	-411.8
1966	DET	AL	29	23	0	5	1	0	1	0	5	.217	—	—	—	—	0.0
1967	DET	AL	37	74	1	4	0	0	1	3	33	.054	.242 (-78%)	.306 (-70%)	.357 (-85%)	.663 (-78%)	-848.5
1968	DET	AL	34	60	2	8	1	0	2	1	24	.133	.236 (-44%)	.298 (-51%)	.340 (-56%)	.638 (-53%)	-458.6
1969	DET	AL	23	29	1	4	0	0	0	1	8	.138	—	—	—	—	0.0
1970	MON	NL	9	6	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 7 seasons			185	269	11	32	3	2	11	10	108	.119	—	—	—	—	-1,719

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

Joe Sparma — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Joe Sparma — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1968	WS	DET	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Joe Sparma — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	0	1	0	0	0.1	2	2	0	0	54.00

Playoff Pitching by Year

Joe Sparma — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1968	WS	DET	0	0	1	0	0	0.1	2	2	0	0	54.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (368 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Joe Sparma — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	82	119	5	18	0	9	.151
Away	103	150	6	14	0	2	.093

Pitching — Home / Away

Joe Sparma — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	80	399.2	331	161	170	272	3.63
Away	103	465.0	443	218	266	314	4.22

Last 10 Games — Batting

Joe Sparma — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	BB	SO
1970-05-12	WSN	NYN	L	0	0	0
1970-05-10	WSN	SDP	L	0	0	0
1970-05-03	WSN	LAD	L	0	0	0
1970-05-02	WSN	LAD	L	0	0	0
1970-04-29	WSN	SDP	L	1	0	1
1970-04-25	WSN	SFG	W	2	0	0
1970-04-15	WSN	STL	L	0	1	0
1970-04-10	WSN	CHC	L	2	0	0
1970-04-06	WSN	CIN	L	1	0	1
1969-09-26	DET	BOS	L	1	0	1

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Joe Sparma — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1970-05-12	WSN	NYN	—	1.0	0	1	1	4	1	0
1970-05-10	WSN	SDP	—	1.1	3	3	3	4	0	1
1970-05-03	WSN	LAD	—	2.0	4	3	2	1	1	0
1970-05-02	WSN	LAD	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0
1970-04-29	WSN	SDP	L	1.0	3	4	4	2	1	0
1970-04-25	WSN	SFG	—	6.0	4	3	2	7	4	2
1970-04-15	WSN	STL	L	3.0	7	4	4	2	4	0
1970-04-10	WSN	CHC	L	9.0	5	2	2	2	7	1
1970-04-06	WSN	CIN	L	5.0	7	5	5	3	4	3
1969-09-26	DET	BOS	—	3.1	3	4	4	6	1	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Joe Sparma — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	183	142	57	98	15	7

Season-by-Season Fielding

Joe Sparma — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1964	DET	P	21	11	5	16	1	2
1965	DET	P	30	28	11	25	6	1
1966	DET	P	29	13	5	8	2	1
1967	DET	P	37	37	16	20	2	1
1968	DET	P	34	31	9	19	2	0
1969	DET	P	23	16	9	7	0	2
1970	MON	P	9	6	2	3	2	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Joe Sparma — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Pitcher	183

College History

Joe Sparma — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
The Ohio State University	Columbus	OH	1962, 1963

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Joe Sparma (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Joe Sparma: the record in brief

The profile opens with Joe Sparma's first major league game on May 20, 1964; the last one listed came on May 12, 1970. The team column moves through the Detroit Tigers (1964 to 1969) and the Montreal Expos (1970). The bio lists Sparma as a pitcher who both batted and threw right-handed. Sparma is listed at 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds. The birth record reads February 4, 1942, in Massillon, OH, USA. Sparma died on May 14, 1986, in Columbus, OH, USA. Sparma's full given name, per the bio, is Joseph Blase Sparma.

Sparma's career pitching line is 52 wins, 52 losses and a 3.94 ERA over 183 appearances. The same table counts 586 strikeouts, 31 complete games, and 10 shutouts. Against a 3.50 league ERA for the same seasons, the 3.94 mark was 12.8% worse. Sparma won 16 games in 1967, the most of any season listed. In 1965, one of the busiest seasons, Sparma posted a 3.18 ERA; the league figure that year was 3.50.

Frequently Asked Questions about Joe Sparma

What years did Joe Sparma play?: Joe Sparma played in Major League Baseball from 1964 to 1970.
Was Joe Sparma a pitcher?: Yes. Joe Sparma pitched in the major leagues, recording 52 wins and 586 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Joe Sparma hit?: Joe Sparma hit 0 career home runs with 32 hits.
What was Joe Sparma's career batting average?: Joe Sparma batted .119 over his career, with 32 hits in 269 at bats.
How many RBI did Joe Sparma have?: Joe Sparma drove in 11 runs in his career.
What was Joe Sparma's career ERA?: Joe Sparma finished with a 3.94 career ERA, going 52-52 with 586 strikeouts.