What years did Bill Stafford play?

Bill Stafford played in Major League Baseball from 1960 to 1967.

Was Bill Stafford a pitcher?

Yes. Bill Stafford pitched in the major leagues, recording 43 wins and 449 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Bill Stafford hit?

Bill Stafford hit 0 career home runs with 38 hits.

What teams did Bill Stafford play for?

Bill Stafford played for 2 teams: the New York Yankees (1960–1965) and the Kansas City Athletics (1966–1967).

What were Bill Stafford's career stats?

In 186 games, Bill Stafford went 43-40 with a 3.52 ERA, 449 strikeouts, 785.2 innings pitched, and 9 saves. At the plate he had 38 hits and 0 home runs.

What position did Bill Stafford play?

Bill Stafford played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Bill Stafford and how much did he weigh?

Bill Stafford was listed at 6 feet 1 inch and 188 pounds.

What was Bill Stafford's career ERA?

Bill Stafford finished with a 3.52 career ERA, going 43-40 with 449 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Bill Stafford have?

Bill Stafford recorded 449 career strikeouts.

Is Bill Stafford in the Hall of Fame?

No. Bill Stafford has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Bill Stafford

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1960-1967)

Bill Stafford was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1960 to 1967 for the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Athletics, a span of 8 seasons. Across 186 career appearances, he went 43-40 with a 3.52 ERA and 449 strikeouts. He also batted .155 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 24, 2026

W–L 43–40

ERA 3.52

WHIP 1.24

SO 449

Pitcher PIV -272.7

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'1" / 188 lb
Born: 8/13/1938 in Catskill, NY, USA
Died: 9/19/2001 in Wayne, MI, USA
MLB Debut: 1960-08-17
Last Game: 1967-09-19

Full name: William Charles Stafford

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Career Pitching Statistics

Bill Stafford — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
43	40	186	104	18	6	9	785.2	707	307	77	270	449	3.52	-272.7

Career ERA 3.52 vs. league average 3.63 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bill Stafford Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1960	NYA	AL	3	1	11	8	2	1	0	60.0	50	15	18	36	2.25	3.82 (+41%)	1352.6
1961	NYA	AL	14	9	36	25	8	3	2	195.0	168	58	59	101	2.68	4.03 (+34%)	3230.0
1962	NYA	AL	14	9	35	33	7	2	0	213.1	188	87	77	109	3.67	3.96 (+7%)	-963.6
1963	NYA	AL	4	8	28	14	0	0	3	89.2	104	60	42	52	6.02	3.46 (-74%)	-3778.3
1964	NYA	AL	5	0	31	1	0	0	4	60.2	50	18	22	39	2.67	3.58 (+25%)	333.8
1965	NYA	AL	3	8	22	15	1	0	0	111.1	93	44	31	71	3.56	3.50 (-2%)	-1392.8
1966	KC1	AL	0	4	9	8	0	0	0	39.2	42	22	12	31	4.99	3.52 (-42%)	814.5
1967	KC1	AL	0	1	14	0	0	0	0	16.0	12	3	9	10	1.69	3.30 (+49%)	131.2
Career · 8 seasons			43	40	186	104	18	6	9	785.2	707	307	270	449	3.52	—	-273

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

Bill Stafford — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
187	245	15	38	7	2	0	14	0	7	63	.155	.181	.200	.381	-770

Career AVG .155 vs. league average .250 across their career seasons — 38.0% below league average.

Career OBP .181 vs. league average .315 across their career seasons — 42.6% below league average.

Career SLG .200 vs. league average .379 across their career seasons — 47.2% below league average.

Career OPS .381 vs. league average .694 across their career seasons — 45.1% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bill Stafford — 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
1960	NYA	AL	12	22	0	1	0	0	1	0	8	.045	—	—	—	—	0.0
1961	NYA	AL	36	67	5	12	2	1	3	4	11	.179	.258 (-31%)	.328 (-31%)	.399 (-40%)	.727 (-36%)	-395.9
1962	NYA	AL	35	78	5	17	4	0	5	2	16	.218	.257 (-15%)	.326 (-27%)	.393 (-32%)	.719 (-30%)	-373.8
1963	NYA	AL	28	24	2	7	0	1	3	1	7	.292	—	—	—	—	0.0
1964	NYA	AL	31	13	1	1	1	0	1	0	6	.077	—	—	—	—	0.0
1965	NYA	AL	22	29	2	0	0	0	1	0	12	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1966	KC1	AL	9	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1967	KC1	AL	14	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 8 seasons			187	245	15	38	7	2	14	7	63	.155	—	—	—	—	-770

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

Bill Stafford — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
4	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Bill Stafford — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	SO	AVG
1962	WS	NYA	1	3	1	.000
1961	WS	NYA	1	2	0	.000
1960	WS	NYA	2	1	1	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Bill Stafford — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1	0	4	2	0	21.2	16	5	5	12	2.08

Playoff Pitching by Year

Bill Stafford — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	G	GS	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1962	WS	NYA	1	1	1	9.0	4	2	2	5	2.00
1961	WS	NYA	0	1	1	6.2	7	2	2	5	2.70
1960	WS	NYA	0	2	0	6.0	5	1	1	2	1.50

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (373 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Bill Stafford — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	88	113	5	16	0	8	.142
Away	99	132	10	22	0	6	.167

Pitching — Home / Away

Bill Stafford — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	87	393.1	328	124	114	235	2.84
Away	99	391.1	378	183	156	215	4.21

Last 10 Games — Batting

Bill Stafford — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	SO
1967-09-19	KC1	MIN	L	0	0
1967-09-13	KC1	BOS	L	0	0
1967-09-08	KC1	CLE	L	1	1
1967-09-06	KC1	DET	L	0	0
1967-09-05	KC1	DET	L	0	0
1967-09-04	KC1	DET	L	0	0
1967-08-30	KC1	CLE	W	0	0
1967-08-29	KC1	CLE	L	0	0
1967-08-16	KC1	CHW	L	0	0
1967-08-15	KC1	CHW	L	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Bill Stafford — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
1967-09-19	KC1	MIN	—	0.1	0	0	0	0	0
1967-09-13	KC1	BOS	—	1.0	2	0	0	1	0
1967-09-08	KC1	CLE	—	2.0	0	0	0	0	4
1967-09-06	KC1	DET	—	0.2	1	0	0	0	1
1967-09-05	KC1	DET	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0
1967-09-04	KC1	DET	—	2.2	2	1	1	2	0
1967-08-30	KC1	CLE	—	0.1	0	0	0	1	0
1967-08-29	KC1	CLE	—	1.0	2	0	0	0	0
1967-08-16	KC1	CHW	—	0.1	1	0	0	0	0
1967-08-15	KC1	CHW	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	2

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Bill Stafford — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	186	104	45	117	2	13

Season-by-Season Fielding

Bill Stafford — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1960	NYA	P	11	8	7	10	0	2
1961	NYA	P	36	25	7	29	1	5
1962	NYA	P	35	33	12	33	0	1
1963	NYA	P	28	14	5	12	0	1
1964	NYA	P	31	1	3	10	0	2
1965	NYA	P	22	15	10	16	1	2
1966	KC1	P	9	8	0	4	0	0
1967	KC1	P	14	0	1	3	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Bill Stafford — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Pitcher	186

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Bill Stafford (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Bill Stafford: the record in brief

The profile opens with Bill Stafford's first major league game on August 17, 1960; the last one listed came on September 19, 1967. Club by club, the record runs the New York Yankees (1960 to 1965) and the Kansas City Athletics (1966 through 1967). Stafford played primarily as a pitcher and both batted and threw right-handed. The bio adds a birth date on August 13, 1938, in Catskill, NY, USA and a listed size of 6'1" and 188 pounds. Stafford died on September 19, 2001, in Wayne, MI, USA. The given name on file is William Charles Stafford.

The pitching table credits Stafford with a 43-40 record and a 3.52 ERA in 186 games. Stafford had 449 strikeouts, 18 complete games, and 6 shutouts. Stafford's 3.52 ERA was close to the 3.63 league figure for those seasons. Stafford won 14 games in 1961, the most of any season listed. Stafford struck out 109 batters in 1962, a career high.

Frequently Asked Questions about Bill Stafford

What years did Bill Stafford play?: Bill Stafford played in Major League Baseball from 1960 to 1967.
Was Bill Stafford a pitcher?: Yes. Bill Stafford pitched in the major leagues, recording 43 wins and 449 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Bill Stafford hit?: Bill Stafford hit 0 career home runs with 38 hits.
What teams did Bill Stafford play for?: Bill Stafford played for 2 teams: the New York Yankees (1960–1965) and the Kansas City Athletics (1966–1967).
What were Bill Stafford's career stats?: In 186 games, Bill Stafford went 43-40 with a 3.52 ERA, 449 strikeouts, 785.2 innings pitched, and 9 saves. At the plate he had 38 hits and 0 home runs.
What position did Bill Stafford play?: Bill Stafford played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Bill Stafford and how much did he weigh?: Bill Stafford was listed at 6 feet 1 inch and 188 pounds.
What was Bill Stafford's career ERA?: Bill Stafford finished with a 3.52 career ERA, going 43-40 with 449 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Bill Stafford have?: Bill Stafford recorded 449 career strikeouts.
Is Bill Stafford in the Hall of Fame?: No. Bill Stafford has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.