Otis Starks

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records

Otis Starks was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for 7 teams, including the Hilldale Club. Across 63 career appearances, he went 14-24 with a 4.95 ERA and 169 strikeouts. His totals include Negro Leagues seasons, which MLB recognized as major league in 2020.

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 14–24
ERA 4.95
WHIP 1.57
SO 169
Pitcher PIV -526.1
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
— / L
Height / Weight
5'7" / 182 lb
Born
12/3/1897 in Chattanooga, TN, USA
Died
7/16/1965 in New York, NY, USA
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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

Otis Starks — Batting
PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
19.0 17.0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 2.0 3.0 0 .059 .158 .059 .217

Pitching

Otis Starks — Pitching
W L GS CG GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA WHIP
2 2 6 3 3 0 50.1 55 35 4 2 20 12 0.71 1.49

Negro Leagues (season totals). Additive Retrosheet-digitized totals for seasons not already in the logs above; they are not summed into the career line. No team/league breakdown is available, and coverage may be partial.

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Otis Starks — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting
Season PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1936 8.0 7.0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 1.0 1.0 0 .143 .250 .143 .393
1937 2.0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.0 0 0 .000 .500 .000 .500
Listed seasons · 2 10 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 .125 — — —

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching

Otis Starks — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching
Season W L GS CG GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA WHIP
1936 0 1 1 1 2 0 17.1 19 14 4 1 6 2 2.08 1.44
1937 1 0 1 0 1 0 4.1 5 7 0 0 5 3 0.00 2.31
Listed seasons · 2 1 1 2 1 3 0 21.2 24 21 4 1 11 5 1.66 1.62

Career Pitching Statistics

Otis Starks — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
14 24 63 43 26 3 1 379.2 453 209 21 142 169 4.95 -526.1

Career ERA 4.95 vs. league average 4.09 across their career seasons — 21.2% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Otis Starks Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1919 HIL EAS 1 3 9 6 2 0 0 47.0 41 15 21 17 2.87 3.09 (+7%) -594.3
1921 CAG NNL 3 2 9 8 5 1 0 61.2 68 25 22 29 3.65 4.02 (+9%) -657.9
1921 SLG NNL 1 2 3 2 2 0 0 19.0 30 14 1 9 6.63 4.02 (-65%) 708.7
1922 BRG IND 0 2 2 1 1 0 0 10.0 15 8 4 6 7.20 4.18 (-72%) -78.9
1923 BRG ECL 3 1 7 4 1 1 0 38.1 35 14 11 23 3.29 4.03 (+18%) 561.9
1924 NLG ECL 1 3 7 7 3 0 0 40.1 56 29 20 19 6.47 4.13 (-57%) -671.3
1924 ACB ECL 1 5 9 5 5 0 1 62.0 74 35 22 33 5.08 4.13 (-23%) 1446.7
1927 BRG ECL 1 3 6 4 3 0 0 41.2 55 32 20 17 6.91 4.08 (-69%) -916.3
1929 ACB ANL 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 4.1 9 6 2 0 12.46 — 0.0
1935 BE NN2 3 3 10 5 4 1 0 55.1 70 31 19 16 5.04 4.35 (-16%) -324.7
Career · 10 seasons 14 24 63 43 26 3 1 379.2 453 209 142 169 4.95 — -526

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

Otis Starks — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
67 144 16 20 2 0 0 3 1 10 4 .139 .200 .153 .353 0

Career AVG .139 vs. league average .282 across their career seasons — 50.8% below league average.

Career OBP .200 vs. league average .344 across their career seasons — 41.8% below league average.

Career SLG .153 vs. league average .392 across their career seasons — 61.1% below league average.

Career OPS .353 vs. league average .736 across their career seasons — 52.1% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Otis Starks 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
1919 HIL EAS 9 18 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .111 — — — — 0.0
1921 CAG NNL 9 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 — — — — 0.0
1921 SLG NNL 3 6 3 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 .167 — — — — 0.0
1922 BRG IND 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1923 BRG ECL 7 15 1 4 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 .267 — — — — 0.0
1924 NLG ECL 8 16 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .125 — — — — 0.0
1924 ACB ECL 11 23 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 .087 — — — — 0.0
1927 BRG ECL 6 16 4 2 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 .125 — — — — 0.0
1929 ACB ANL 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1935 BE NN2 11 26 3 7 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .269 — — — — 0.0
Career · 10 seasons 67 144 16 20 2 0 0 3 1 10 4 .139 — — — — 0

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 (29 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Otis Starks — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home9130200.154
Away6172400.235

Pitching — Home / Away

Otis Starks — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home939.138411100.92
Away523.22310943.80

Last 10 Games — Batting

Otis Starks — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1935-08-28 BRNPH5L 000000000
1935-08-17 BRNPH5L 200000000
1935-08-12 BRNHOMW 501000000
1935-08-04 BRNNW1L 100000000
1935-08-03 BRNNW1W 300000000
1935-07-28 BRNNW1W 311000000
1935-07-21 BRNNSHL 000000000
1935-07-14 BRNPTCL 302000000
1935-07-13 BRNPTCL 000000000
1935-07-06 BRNPH5L 410000000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Otis Starks — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1935-08-28 BRNPH5 — 0.0000000
1935-08-17 BRNPH5 L 6.0743300
1935-08-04 BRNNW1 L 4.1770120
1935-08-03 BRNNW1 W 7.0822201
1935-07-28 BRNNW1 W 7.0500230
1935-07-21 BRNNSH — 0.1122101
1935-07-14 BRNPTC — 7.0420110
1935-07-13 BRNPTC — 1.0210010
1935-07-06 BRNPH5 L 8.0977000
1935-07-01 BRNCAG W 0.0000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Otis Starks — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
OF 1 1 0 0 0 0
P 63 43 8 91 9 2

Season-by-Season Fielding

Otis Starks — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1919 HIL P 9 6 1 11 2 0
1921 CAG P 9 8 0 14 0 1
1921 SLG P 3 2 1 5 0 1
1922 BRG P 2 1 0 3 0 0
1923 BRG P 7 4 1 7 0 0
1924 NLG P 7 7 1 9 1 0
1924 ACB P 9 5 1 13 3 0
1927 BRG P 6 4 1 13 3 0
1929 ACB P 1 1 0 1 0 0
1935 BE OF 1 1 0 0 0 0
1935 BE P 10 5 2 15 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Otis Starks Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 63
Left Field 1

Most Similar Players

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

  1. 98
    Malvin Powell
    22-17, 4.83 ERA
  2. 92
    Ray Bare
    16-26, 4.79 ERA
  3. 92
    Tim Pugh
    25-28, 4.97 ERA
  4. 89
    Theolic Smith
    17-27, 4.95 ERA
  5. 87
    Dick Pole
    25-37, 5.05 ERA
  6. 86
    Wayne Carr
    27-40, 5.12 ERA

Otis Starks: the record in brief

Otis Starks's record on this page is drawn from the season tables, which run from 1919 to 1935. Starks played for the Hilldale Club (1919), the Chicago American Giants (1921), the St. Louis Giants (1921), the Brooklyn Royal Giants (1922 through 1927), the New York Lincoln Giants (1924), the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants (1924 through 1929), and the Brooklyn Eagles (1935). The bio lists Starks's primary position as pitcher. Height and weight on file: 5'7" and 182 pounds. Starks was born on December 3, 1897, in Chattanooga, TN, USA. The bio records the death on July 16, 1965, in New York, NY, USA.

Starks pitched in 63 games, starting 43, and finished with a 14-24 record and 4.95 ERA. The same table counts 169 strikeouts and 26 complete games. Against a 4.09 league ERA for the same seasons, the 4.95 mark was 21.2% worse. Among the heaviest workloads, the lowest ERA was 2.87 in 1919, when the league's was 3.09.

Frequently Asked Questions about Otis Starks

Was Otis Starks a pitcher?
Yes. Otis Starks pitched in the major leagues, recording 14 wins and 169 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Otis Starks hit?
Otis Starks hit 0 career home runs with 20 hits.
What teams did Otis Starks play for?
Otis Starks played for 7 teams: the Hilldale Club (1919), the Chicago American Giants (1921), the St. Louis Giants (1921), the Brooklyn Royal Giants (1922–1923, 1927), the New York Lincoln Giants (1924), the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants (1924, 1929), and the Brooklyn Eagles (1935).
What were Otis Starks's career stats?
In 63 games, Otis Starks went 14-24 with a 4.95 ERA, 169 strikeouts, 379.2 innings pitched, and 1 saves.
What position did Otis Starks play?
Otis Starks played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Otis Starks and how much did he weigh?
Otis Starks was listed at 5 feet 7 inches and 182 pounds.
What was Otis Starks's career ERA?
Otis Starks finished with a 4.95 career ERA, going 14-24 with 169 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Otis Starks have?
Otis Starks recorded 169 career strikeouts.
Is Otis Starks in the Hall of Fame?
No. Otis Starks has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.