Turkey Stearnes

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

⭐ 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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home115370891331882.359
Away116420961522057.362

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1940-09-08 KCMCAGW 331100000
1940-09-01 KCMBIRW 211001120
1940-08-18 KCMIN8W 300000100
1940-08-18 KCMIN8W 411100100
1940-08-14 KCMIN8W 412010100
1940-08-04 KCMBIRW 401000000
1940-08-04 KCMBIRL 301000000
1940-08-02 KCMIN8L 612001300
1940-07-29 KCMCAGW 011001200
1940-07-28 KCMCAGL 000000000

Fielding Statistics

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

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.

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%.

  1. 98
    Oscar Charleston HOF
    .350 avg, 183 HR
  2. 71
    Ken Williams
    .319 avg, 196 HR
  3. 71
    Lefty O'Doul
    .349 avg, 113 HR
  4. 69
    Shoeless Joe Jackson
    .356 avg, 54 HR
  5. 69
    Heavy Johnson
    .370 avg, 57 HR
  6. 66
    Hack Wilson HOF
    .307 avg, 244 HR

Compare Turkey Stearnes

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Stearnes's closest peers by position and era.

vs Babe Ruth
vs Mel Ott
vs Harry Heilmann
vs Willie Foster
vs Al Simmons
vs Paul Waner

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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.