Tom Sturdivant

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1955-1964)

Tom Sturdivant was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1955 to 1964 for 7 teams, including the New York Yankees, a span of 10 seasons. Across 335 career appearances, he went 59-51 with a 3.74 ERA and 704 strikeouts. He also batted .183 with 0 home runs. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 3553.8.

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 59–51
ERA 3.74
WHIP 1.30
SO 704
Pitcher PIV 3553.8
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
L / R
Height / Weight
6'0" / 170 lb
Born
4/28/1930 in Gordon, KS, USA
Died
2/28/2009 in Oklahoma City, OK, USA
MLB Debut
1955-04-14
Last Game
1964-06-21

Full name: Thomas Virgil Sturdivant

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Career Pitching Statistics

Tom Sturdivant — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
59 51 335 101 22 7 17 1137.0 1,029 473 107 449 704 3.74 3553.8

Career ERA 3.74 vs. league average 3.83 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Tom Sturdivant Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1955 NYA AL 1 3 33 1 0 0 0 68.1 48 24 42 48 3.16 4.00 (+21%) -64.7
1956 NYA AL 16 8 32 17 6 2 5 158.1 134 58 52 110 3.30 3.96 (+17%) 2833.0
1957 NYA AL 16 6 28 28 7 2 0 201.2 170 57 80 118 2.54 3.83 (+34%) 2076.5
1958 NYA AL 3 6 15 10 0 0 0 70.2 77 33 38 41 4.20 3.86 (-9%) -527.9
1959 NYA AL 0 2 7 3 0 0 0 25.1 20 14 9 16 4.97 3.90 (-27%) -313.1
1959 KC1 AL 2 6 36 3 0 0 5 71.2 70 37 34 57 4.65 3.90 (-19%) -636.6
1960 BOS AL 3 3 40 3 0 0 1 101.1 106 56 45 67 4.97 3.82 (-30%) -2106.6
1961 WS2 AL 2 6 15 10 1 1 0 80.0 67 41 40 39 4.61 4.03 (-15%) -320.2
1961 PIT NL 5 2 13 11 6 1 1 85.2 81 27 17 45 2.84 4.03 (+30%) 2096.8
1962 PIT NL 9 5 49 12 2 1 2 125.1 120 52 39 76 3.73 3.96 (+6%) 967.0
1963 PIT NL 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 8.1 8 6 4 6 6.48 — 0.0
1963 DET AL 1 2 28 0 0 0 2 55.0 43 23 24 36 3.76 3.46 (-9%) -1002.6
1963 KC1 AL 1 2 17 3 0 0 0 53.0 47 22 17 26 3.74 3.46 (-8%) 276.4
1964 KC1 AL 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3.2 4 4 1 1 9.82 — 0.0
1964 NYN NL 0 0 16 0 0 0 1 28.2 34 19 7 18 5.97 3.58 (-67%) 275.8
Career · 15 seasons 59 51 335 101 22 7 17 1,137.0 1,029 473 449 704 3.74 — 3,554

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

Tom Sturdivant — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
336 328 17 60 2 1 0 10 0 11 54 .183 .208 .195 .403 -536

Career AVG .183 vs. league average .255 across their career seasons — 28.4% below league average.

Career OBP .208 vs. league average .323 across their career seasons — 35.7% below league average.

Career SLG .195 vs. league average .389 across their career seasons — 49.9% below league average.

Career OPS .403 vs. league average .712 across their career seasons — 43.5% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Tom Sturdivant 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
1955 NYA AL 33 12 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .083 — — — — 0.0
1956 NYA AL 32 64 5 20 1 1 0 5 0 0 7 .312 .258 (+21%) .331 (-7%) .397 (-10%) .728 (-8%) -107.4
1957 NYA AL 28 71 4 13 0 0 0 0 0 6 10 .183 .257 (-29%) .323 (-24%) .391 (-53%) .715 (-40%) -428.5
1958 NYA AL 15 21 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .190 — — — — 0.0
1959 NYA AL 7 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 — — — — 0.0
1959 KC1 AL 37 17 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 .059 — — — — 0.0
1960 BOS AL 40 22 1 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 .182 — — — — 0.0
1961 WS2 AL 15 26 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 .077 — — — — 0.0
1961 PIT NL 13 32 2 8 0 0 0 1 0 0 8 .250 — — — — 0.0
1962 PIT NL 49 33 2 6 1 0 0 3 0 0 3 .182 — — — — 0.0
1963 PIT NL 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1963 DET AL 28 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 — — — — 0.0
1963 KC1 AL 17 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 — — — — 0.0
1964 KC1 AL 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 — — — — 0.0
1964 NYN NL 16 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 15 seasons 336 328 17 60 2 1 0 10 0 11 54 .183 — — — — -536

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

Tom Sturdivant — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
6 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250

Playoff Batting by Year

Tom Sturdivant — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1957 WS NYA 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1956 WS NYA 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .333
1955 WS NYA 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

Tom Sturdivant — Playoff Career Pitching
W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1 0 6 2 0 18.2 19 9 11 11 4.34

Playoff Pitching by Year

Tom Sturdivant — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1957 WS NYA 0 0 2 1 0 6.0 6 4 1 2 6.00
1956 WS NYA 1 0 2 1 0 9.2 8 3 8 9 2.79
1955 WS NYA 0 0 2 0 0 3.0 5 2 2 0 6.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (671 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Tom Sturdivant — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home167140112504.179
Away16918863506.186

Pitching — Home / Away

Tom Sturdivant — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home167534.14572012083533.39
Away168602.25722712403524.05

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Tom Sturdivant — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1964-06-21 NYNPHI — 1.0122000
1964-06-21 NYNPHI — 3.0100030
1964-06-18 NYNPIT — 1.0454110
1964-06-13 NYNPHI — 2.0544010
1964-06-09 NYNCHC — 0.0311000
1964-06-06 NYNLAD — 2.0322120
1964-06-04 NYNHOU — 0.1000000
1964-05-31 NYNSFG — 2.2300120
1964-05-31 NYNSFG — 2.0200000
1964-05-23 NYNHOU — 1.0100000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Tom Sturdivant — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
P 335 101 72 163 13 11

Season-by-Season Fielding

Tom Sturdivant — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1955 NYA P 33 1 4 8 0 2
1956 NYA P 32 17 11 13 2 1
1957 NYA P 28 28 8 26 2 4
1958 NYA P 15 10 3 4 1 1
1959 NYA P 7 3 3 4 0 1
1959 KC1 P 36 3 6 17 3 1
1960 BOS P 40 3 7 14 1 0
1961 WS2 P 15 10 2 18 0 0
1961 PIT P 13 11 9 11 0 0
1962 PIT P 49 12 10 23 3 0
1963 PIT P 3 0 1 2 0 0
1963 DET P 28 0 3 11 0 0
1963 KC1 P 17 3 4 8 0 1
1964 KC1 P 3 0 0 0 0 0
1964 NYN P 16 0 1 4 1 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Tom Sturdivant Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 335

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Tom Sturdivant (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Joe Gibbon
    61-65, 3.52 ERA
  2. 97
    Barry Latman
    59-68, 3.91 ERA
  3. 95
    Joe Price
    45-49, 3.65 ERA
  4. 91
    Dan Schatzeder
    69-68, 3.74 ERA
  5. 90
    Don Carman
    53-54, 4.11 ERA
  6. 89
    Joe Hesketh
    60-47, 3.78 ERA

Tom Sturdivant: the record in brief

Tom Sturdivant played a first major league game on April 14, 1955 and a last one on June 21, 1964. The team column moves through the New York Yankees (1955 to 1959), the Kansas City Athletics (1959 through 1964), the Boston Red Sox (1960), the Washington Senators (1961), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1961 through 1963), the Detroit Tigers (1963), and the New York Mets (1964). Sturdivant is listed as a pitcher at 170 pounds on a 6-foot-0 frame. Sturdivant batted left-handed and threw right-handed, per the bio block. The recorded birth is April 28, 1930, in Gordon, KS, USA. The bio records the death on February 28, 2009, in Oklahoma City, OK, USA. The bio lists the given name Thomas Virgil.

Sturdivant's career pitching line is 59 wins, 51 losses and a 3.74 ERA over 335 appearances. The same table counts 704 strikeouts, 22 complete games, 7 shutouts, and 17 saves. Sturdivant's 3.74 ERA was close to the 3.83 league figure for those seasons.

Frequently Asked Questions about Tom Sturdivant

What years did Tom Sturdivant play?
Tom Sturdivant played in Major League Baseball from 1955 to 1964.
Was Tom Sturdivant a pitcher?
Yes. Tom Sturdivant pitched in the major leagues, recording 59 wins and 704 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Tom Sturdivant hit?
Tom Sturdivant hit 0 career home runs with 60 hits.
What was Tom Sturdivant's career batting average?
Tom Sturdivant batted .183 over his career, with 60 hits in 328 at bats.
How many RBI did Tom Sturdivant have?
Tom Sturdivant drove in 10 runs in his career.
What was Tom Sturdivant's career ERA?
Tom Sturdivant finished with a 3.74 career ERA, going 59-51 with 704 strikeouts.