Was Turkey Stearnes a pitcher?

No. Turkey Stearnes was a position player (Center Fielder), though he did pitch in 1 career game.

How many home runs did Turkey Stearnes hit?

Turkey Stearnes hit 195 career home runs with 1372 hits.

What was Turkey Stearnes's career batting average?

Turkey Stearnes batted .347 over his career, with 1,372 hits in 3,959 at bats.

How many RBI did Turkey Stearnes have?

Turkey Stearnes drove in 1,038 runs in his career.

What was Turkey Stearnes's career ERA?

Turkey Stearnes finished with a 15.43 career ERA, going 0-1 with 2 strikeouts.

Turkey Stearnes

Center Fielder · Career Stats, Hall of Fame Bio & Records (Final season: 1940)

Turkey Stearnes was a center fielder who played in Major League Baseball for 6 teams, including the Detroit Stars. In 1,034 career games, he hit .347 with 1,372 hits, 195 home runs, and 1,038 RBI. Turkey Stearnes was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000 and was a 5-time All-Star. His totals include Negro Leagues seasons, which MLB recognized as major league in 2020. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 28,010.

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 October 12, 2026

⭐ Hall of Fame 2000

AVG .347

HR 195

RBI 1,038

H 1,372

OPS 1.033

PIV 28,010

Position: Center Fielder
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 5'11" / 175 lb
Born: 5/8/1901 in Nashville, TN, USA
Died: 9/4/1979 in Detroit, MI, USA
Last Game: 1940-09-08
Hall of Fame: Inducted 2000 (Veterans)
Awards: 5× All-Star

Full name: Norman Thomas Stearnes

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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

Turkey Stearnes — Batting
PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1205.0	1087.0	246.0	392.0	59.0	30.0	58.0	168.0	101.0	13.0	34.0	.361	.416	.630	1.046

Career Batting Statistics

Turkey Stearnes — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
1,034	3,959	961	1,372	243	122	195	1,038	141	429	11	.347	.416	.617	1.033	28,010

Career AVG .347 vs. league average .280 across their career seasons — +23.8% above league average.

Career OBP .416 vs. league average .343 across their career seasons — +21.1% above league average.

Career SLG .617 vs. league average .397 across their career seasons — +55.6% above league average.

Career OPS 1.033 vs. league average .740 across their career seasons — +39.6% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Turkey Stearnes 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
1923	DS	NNL	69	279	70	101	18	14	17	85	2	17	0	.362	.282 (+28%)	.344 (+16%)	.390 (+82%)	.734 (+51%)	2368.6
1924	DS	NNL	62	251	58	87	10	13	9	46	2	19	0	.347	.283 (+22%)	.345 (+15%)	.389 (+53%)	.734 (+35%)	1481.1
1925	DS	NNL	93	362	92	134	23	14	19	126	11	45	0	.370	.288 (+29%)	.349 (+26%)	.407 (+64%)	.756 (+46%)	3225.7
1926	DS	NNL	93	342	94	131	33	9	21	103	21	41	1	.383	.279 (+37%)	.345 (+32%)	.390 (+84%)	.735 (+60%)	3845.0
1927	DS	NNL	91	343	79	119	25	12	20	104	15	42	0	.347	.282 (+23%)	.344 (+24%)	.392 (+69%)	.736 (+48%)	3116.1
1928	DS	NNL	81	317	81	102	16	7	24	78	6	31	0	.322	.280 (+15%)	.342 (+14%)	.395 (+63%)	.737 (+40%)	2300.3
1929	DS	NNL	69	261	65	102	16	4	17	88	12	35	1	.391	.289 (+35%)	.353 (+32%)	.415 (+63%)	.769 (+49%)	2490.5
1930	NLG	IND	19	73	31	31	9	4	6	33	7	12	0	.425	.293 (+44%)	.354 (+43%)	.429 (+110%)	.784 (+80%)	1019.9
1930	DS	NNL	35	129	27	42	9	8	2	37	6	13	0	.326	.293 (+11%)	.354 (+11%)	.429 (+32%)	.784 (+22%)	1019.9
1931	DS	NNL	38	133	29	50	10	0	8	33	6	20	0	.376	.276 (+36%)	.338 (+37%)	.388 (+63%)	.726 (+51%)	1232.8
1931	KCM	IND	16	57	6	7	2	2	0	7	2	2	4	.123	.276 (-56%)	.338 (-51%)	.388 (-41%)	.726 (-46%)	1232.8
1932	CAG	NSL	44	168	43	49	9	2	4	25	11	19	0	.292	.275 (+6%)	.335 (+11%)	.391 (+13%)	.726 (+12%)	390.9
1933	CAG	NN2	41	175	46	62	12	5	7	30	1	18	0	.354	.270 (+31%)	.329 (+27%)	.377 (+59%)	.707 (+44%)	1265.8
1934	CAG	NN2	39	154	42	53	7	7	6	28	6	14	1	.344	.278 (+24%)	.340 (+18%)	.392 (+52%)	.733 (+36%)	916.6
1935	CAG	NN2	47	171	43	66	10	6	6	52	9	23	1	.386	.279 (+38%)	.342 (+36%)	.399 (+55%)	.742 (+46%)	1463.8
1936	PS	NN2	52	210	45	74	8	5	10	43	1	19	2	.352	.283 (+24%)	.349 (+18%)	.404 (+44%)	.753 (+32%)	1183.2
1937	DTS	NAL	18	64	16	25	3	1	4	18	1	9	0	.391	.276 (+41%)	.342 (+36%)	.398 (+65%)	.740 (+51%)	570.6
1937	CAG	NAL	4	15	2	4	1	0	1	2	0	1	1	.267	—	—	—	—	570.6
1938	CAG	NAL	19	69	14	18	2	1	2	10	5	7	0	.261	.272 (-4%)	.341 (-1%)	.392 (+3%)	.734 (+1%)	15.5
1938	KCM	NAL	15	60	10	16	3	3	0	17	2	4	0	.267	.272 (-2%)	.341 (-9%)	.392 (+6%)	.734 (-1%)	15.5
1939	KCM	NAL	51	193	44	63	11	2	7	39	11	19	0	.326	.274 (+19%)	.342 (+13%)	.393 (+31%)	.735 (+22%)	752.1
1940	KCM	NAL	38	133	24	36	6	3	5	34	4	19	0	.271	.267 (+1%)	.335 (+9%)	.387 (+22%)	.722 (+16%)	376.1
Career · 22 seasons			1,034	3,959	961	1,372	243	122	195	1,038	141	429	11	.347	—	—	—	—	30,853

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 Pitching Statistics

Turkey Stearnes — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
0	1	1	1	0	0	0	7.0	13	12	3	4	2	15.43	0.0

Career ERA 15.43 vs. league average 4.03 across their career seasons — 282.8% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Turkey Stearnes — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1923	DS	NNL	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	7.0	13	12	4	2	15.43	—	0.0
Career · 1 season			0	1	1	1	0	0	0	7.0	13	12	4	2	15.43	—	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.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Turkey Stearnes — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
24	96	24	40	7	3	7	26	4	1	.417

Playoff Batting by Year

Turkey Stearnes — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1939	ALC	KCM	5	13	3	3	1	0	1	5	2	0	.231
1937	ALC	CAG	4	19	2	5	1	0	0	1	1	1	.263
1934	NLC	CAG	6	24	4	11	1	1	1	4	0	0	.458
1932	NSC	CAG	2	10	6	7	0	1	2	5	0	0	.700
1930	NNC	DS	7	30	9	14	4	1	3	11	1	0	.467

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (231 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Turkey Stearnes — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	115	370	89	133	18	82	.359
Away	116	420	96	152	20	57	.362

Last 10 Games — Batting

Turkey Stearnes — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB
1940-09-08	KCM	CAG	W	3	3	1	1	0	0	0	0
1940-09-01	KCM	BIR	W	2	1	1	0	0	1	1	2
1940-08-18	KCM	IN8	W	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
1940-08-18	KCM	IN8	W	4	1	1	1	0	0	1	0
1940-08-14	KCM	IN8	W	4	1	2	0	1	0	1	0
1940-08-04	KCM	BIR	W	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
1940-08-04	KCM	BIR	L	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
1940-08-02	KCM	IN8	L	6	1	2	0	0	1	3	0
1940-07-29	KCM	CAG	W	0	1	1	0	0	1	2	0
1940-07-28	KCM	CAG	L	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Turkey Stearnes — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1B	9	8	89	5	0	4
3B	1	1	2	2	0	0
OF	1027	925	2004	101	102	26
P	1	1	2	3	0	0

Season-by-Season Fielding

Turkey Stearnes — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1923	DS	OF	70	67	136	2	5	1
1923	DS	P	1	1	2	3	0	0
1924	DS	OF	62	62	118	7	4	1
1925	DS	OF	94	0	0	0	0	0
1926	DS	1B	1	0	8	1	0	0
1926	DS	3B	1	1	2	2	0	0
1926	DS	OF	93	92	201	18	9	7
1927	DS	OF	91	91	226	7	18	2
1928	DS	OF	81	81	197	10	7	1
1929	DS	OF	69	69	179	9	8	2
1930	NLG	OF	19	19	44	2	1	1
1930	DS	OF	35	35	87	10	2	2
1931	DS	1B	8	8	81	4	0	4
1931	DS	OF	30	30	72	4	7	2
1931	KCM	OF	16	15	29	0	1	0
1932	CAG	OF	43	43	94	8	4	3
1933	CAG	OF	42	41	86	4	5	0
1934	CAG	OF	39	39	88	2	1	1
1935	CAG	OF	46	46	86	3	5	1
1936	PS	OF	53	52	124	5	5	0
1937	DTS	OF	17	17	34	2	3	1
1937	CAG	OF	4	4	11	0	0	0
1938	CAG	OF	19	19	42	1	2	0
1938	KCM	OF	15	15	20	1	1	0
1939	KCM	OF	51	51	80	5	7	1
1940	KCM	OF	38	37	50	1	7	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Turkey Stearnes Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	1
First Base	9
Third Base	1
Left Field	10
Center Field	1013
Right Field	4

Most Similar Players

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

Compare Turkey Stearnes

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Turkey Stearnes: the record in brief

Turkey Stearnes's record on this page is drawn from the season tables, which run from 1923 to 1940. The season rows list, in order, the Detroit Stars (1923 to 1937), the New York Lincoln Giants (1930), the Kansas City Monarchs (1931 through 1940), the Chicago American Giants (1932 to 1938), and the Philadelphia Stars (1936). Listed as a center fielder, Stearnes threw and hit left-handed. Stearnes is listed at 175 pounds on a 5-foot-11 frame. The birth record reads May 8, 1901, in Nashville, TN, USA. Stearnes died on September 4, 1979, in Detroit, MI, USA. The bio lists the given name Norman Thomas.

The batting record for Stearnes: 1,034 games, 1,372 hits in 3,959 at bats, and a .347 average, along with 195 homers, 1,038 RBI, and 141 stolen bases. Stearnes got on base at a .416 rate and slugged .617 (1.033 OPS). Stearnes's .347 average ran 23.8% above the .280 that the league posted over the same seasons.

Frequently Asked Questions about Turkey Stearnes

Was Turkey Stearnes a pitcher?: No. Turkey Stearnes was a position player (Center Fielder), though he did pitch in 1 career game.
How many home runs did Turkey Stearnes hit?: Turkey Stearnes hit 195 career home runs with 1372 hits.
Is Turkey Stearnes in the Hall of Fame?: Yes. Turkey Stearnes was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.
What was Turkey Stearnes's career batting average?: Turkey Stearnes batted .347 over his career, with 1,372 hits in 3,959 at bats.
How many RBI did Turkey Stearnes have?: Turkey Stearnes drove in 1,038 runs in his career.
What was Turkey Stearnes's career ERA?: Turkey Stearnes finished with a 15.43 career ERA, going 0-1 with 2 strikeouts.