What years did Bob Thurman play?

Bob Thurman played in Major League Baseball from 1955 to 1959.

Was Bob Thurman a pitcher?

Both. Bob Thurman pitched in 24 games, going 5-9 with a 5.43 ERA, but spent most of his career as an Outfielder.

How many home runs did Bob Thurman hit?

Bob Thurman hit 43 career home runs with 283 hits.

What teams did Bob Thurman play for?

Bob Thurman played for 2 teams: the Homestead Grays (1946–1948) and the Cincinnati Redlegs (1955–1959).

What were Bob Thurman's career stats?

In 448 games, Bob Thurman had 283 hits, 43 home runs, 169 RBI, 165 runs, and 11 stolen bases, with a .276 batting average. As a pitcher, in 24 games, he went 5-9 with a 5.43 ERA, 54 strikeouts, and 109.1 innings pitched.

What position did Bob Thurman play?

Bob Thurman played primarily as an outfielder, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Bob Thurman and how much did he weigh?

Bob Thurman was listed at 6 feet 1 inch and 205 pounds.

How many home runs did Bob Thurman hit each season?

Bob Thurman's home runs by season: 2 in 1946, 5 in 1947, 1 in 1948, 7 in 1955, 8 in 1956, 16 in 1957, 4 in 1958, and 0 in 1959. His most in one season was 16, in 1957.

What was Bob Thurman's career batting average?

Bob Thurman batted .276 over his career, with 283 hits in 1,025 at bats.

How many RBI did Bob Thurman have?

Bob Thurman drove in 169 runs in his career.

What was Bob Thurman's career ERA?

Bob Thurman finished with a 5.43 career ERA, going 5-9 with 54 strikeouts.

Is Bob Thurman in the Hall of Fame?

No. Bob Thurman has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Bob Thurman

Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1955-1959)

Bob Thurman was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1955 to 1959 for the Homestead Grays and the Cincinnati Reds, a span of 5 seasons. In 448 career games, he hit .276 with 283 hits, 43 home runs, and 169 RBI. He also pitched in 24 games, going 5-9 with a 5.43 ERA. 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 2,064.

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 15, 2026

AVG .276

HR 43

RBI 169

H 283

OPS .809

PIV 2,064

Position: Outfielder
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 6'1" / 205 lb
Born: 5/14/1917 in Kellyville, OK, USA
Died: 10/31/1998 in Wichita, KS, USA
MLB Debut: 1955-04-14
Last Game: 1959-04-21

Full name: Robert Burns Thurman

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

Bob Thurman — Batting
PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
599.0	541.0	106.0	202.0	32.0	12.0	22.0	94.0	50.0	1.0	17.0	.373	.429	.599	1.028

Pitching

Bob Thurman — Pitching
W	L	GS	CG	GF	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP
13	9	26	15	11	1	182.1	195	122	29	6	57	48	1.43	1.38

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

Bob Thurman — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting
Season	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1949	171.0	143.0	32.0	53.0	8.0	5.0	7.0	38.0	26.0	0	8.0	.371	.471	.643	1.114
Listed seasons · 1	171	143	32	53	8	5	7	38	26	0	8	.371	—	—	—

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching

Bob Thurman — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching
Season	W	L	GS	CG	GF	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP
1949	0	0	1	0	0	0	4.0	4	5	4	0	5	0	9.00	2.25
Listed seasons · 1	0	0	1	0	0	0	4.0	4	5	4	0	5	0	9.00	2.25

Career Batting Statistics

Bob Thurman — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
448	1,025	165	283	37	18	43	169	11	85	112	.276	.336	.473	.809	2,064

Career AVG .276 vs. league average .259 across their career seasons — +6.6% above league average.

Career OBP .336 vs. league average .331 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .473 vs. league average .384 across their career seasons — +23.1% above league average.

Career OPS .809 vs. league average .715 across their career seasons — +13.1% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bob Thurman — Season-by-Season Batting
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1946	HG	NN2	28	61	5	25	3	2	2	15	0	5	0	.410	.256 (+60%)	.328 (+38%)	.358 (+74%)	.687 (+57%)	534.6
1947	HG	NN2	47	162	29	50	8	2	5	28	6	7	0	.309	.262 (+18%)	.336 (+2%)	.376 (+26%)	.712 (+15%)	357.2
1948	HG	NN2	39	139	25	45	8	3	1	20	4	11	0	.324	.263 (+23%)	.340 (+11%)	.379 (+18%)	.719 (+14%)	320.0
1955	CIN	NL	82	152	19	33	2	3	7	22	0	17	26	.217	.258 (-16%)	.332 (-11%)	.393 (+4%)	.726 (-3%)	-99.3
1956	CIN	NL	80	139	25	41	5	2	8	22	0	10	14	.295	.258 (+14%)	.331 (+3%)	.397 (+34%)	.728 (+20%)	448.8
1957	CIN	NL	74	190	38	47	4	2	16	40	0	15	33	.247	.257 (-4%)	.323 (-6%)	.391 (+39%)	.715 (+19%)	561.9
1958	CIN	NL	94	178	23	41	7	4	4	20	1	20	38	.230	.257 (-11%)	.324 (-1%)	.394 (-3%)	.719 (-2%)	-59.7
1959	CIN	NL	4	4	1	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	.250	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 8 seasons			448	1,025	165	283	37	18	43	169	11	85	112	.276	—	—	—	—	2,064

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

Bob Thurman — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
5	9	24	15	7	1	0	109.1	115	66	4	53	54	5.43	133.2

Career ERA 5.43 vs. league average 3.89 across their career seasons — 39.8% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bob Thurman — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1946	HG	NN2	2	3	13	6	1	0	48.2	47	29	22	20	5.36	3.59 (-49%)	-302.8
1947	HG	NN2	0	2	4	2	0	0	11.0	11	8	5	3	6.55	3.97 (-65%)	-424.2
1948	HG	NN2	3	4	7	7	6	1	49.2	57	29	26	31	5.26	4.10 (-28%)	860.2
Career · 3 seasons			5	9	24	15	7	1	109.1	115	66	53	54	5.43	—	133

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

Bob Thurman — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
6	20	1	7	0	0	0	2	1	0	.350

Playoff Batting by Year

Bob Thurman — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1948	NLC	HG	4	13	0	4	0	0	0	2	1	0	.308
1948	NWS	HG	2	7	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.429

Playoff Career Pitching

Bob Thurman — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1	0	2	1	0	12.0	10	3	4	9	2.25

Playoff Pitching by Year

Bob Thurman — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1948	NLC	HG	0	0	1	0	0	3.0	3	0	2	2	0.00
1948	NWS	HG	1	0	1	1	0	9.0	7	3	2	7	3.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (519 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Bob Thurman — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	265	605	125	187	41	129	.309
Away	224	517	70	136	15	51	.263

Pitching — Home / Away

Bob Thurman — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	15	53.1	57	7	22	17	1.18
Away	15	70.0	77	19	30	21	2.44

Last 10 Games — Batting

Bob Thurman — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO
1959-04-21	CIN	ATL	L	1	0	0	0	0	1
1959-04-18	CIN	PHI	L	1	0	0	0	0	0
1959-04-17	CIN	PHI	L	1	0	0	0	0	0
1959-04-15	CIN	PIT	W	1	1	1	2	0	0
1958-09-28	CIN	ATL	W	0	0	0	0	0	0
1958-09-26	CIN	ATL	L	1	0	0	0	0	1
1958-09-21	CIN	ATL	L	1	0	0	0	0	1
1958-09-14	CIN	SFG	L	0	0	0	0	1	0
1958-09-08	CIN	PIT	L	0	0	0	0	0	0
1958-09-07	CIN	PHI	W	1	0	0	0	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Bob Thurman — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1949-05-24	KCM	PH5	—	4.0	4	5	4	5	0	0
1948-08-11	HOM	NW2	L	8.0	10	5	4	2	7	0
1948-07-20	HOM	BLG	L	8.0	9	9	0	6	2	0
1948-07-18	HOM	NY6	—	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1948-07-05	HOM	BLG	L	0.2	7	7	7	1	0	0
1948-06-29	HOM	NW2	W	9.0	6	1	1	4	0	0
1948-06-22	HOM	BLG	L	8.0	10	6	5	6	3	1
1948-06-11	HOM	NY5	W	9.0	13	8	0	5	7	0
1948-05-31	HOM	BLG	W	9.0	8	2	0	0	0	1
1948-05-21	HOM	PH5	W	9.0	9	4	0	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Bob Thurman — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1B	9	6	44	1	5	2
OF	236	192	367	15	17	4
P	24	15	3	33	2	4

Season-by-Season Fielding

Bob Thurman — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1946	HG	1B	6	4	28	0	4	0
1946	HG	OF	10	5	12	0	1	0
1946	HG	P	13	6	2	15	1	2
1947	HG	1B	2	1	7	1	1	1
1947	HG	OF	42	39	68	6	4	0
1947	HG	P	4	2	0	2	0	0
1948	HG	1B	1	1	9	0	0	1
1948	HG	OF	34	27	39	0	4	1
1948	HG	P	7	7	1	16	1	2
1955	CIN	OF	36	27	54	2	3	0
1956	CIN	OF	29	24	39	2	2	1
1957	CIN	OF	44	35	75	3	1	1
1958	CIN	OF	41	35	80	2	2	1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Bob Thurman — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Pitcher	24
First Base	9
Left Field	108
Center Field	8
Right Field	121

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Bob Thurman (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Bob Thurman: the record in brief

Bob Thurman appears in the season tables from 1946, when the club was a Negro Leagues team; the bio's debut date, April 14, 1955, marks the first game in the American or National League era of the record, and the final game as April 21, 1959. The season rows list, in order, the Homestead Grays (1946 through 1948) and the Cincinnati Redlegs (1955 through 1959). Thurman is listed as an outfielder at 6'1" and 205 pounds. Thurman both batted and threw left-handed, per the bio block. The recorded birth is May 14, 1917, in Kellyville, OK, USA. Thurman died on October 31, 1998, in Wichita, KS, USA. The given name on file is Robert Burns Thurman.

The batting record for Thurman: 448 games, 283 hits in 1,025 at bats, and a .276 average, plus 43 homers and 169 RBI. Thurman got on base at a .336 rate and slugged .473 (.809 OPS).

Frequently Asked Questions about Bob Thurman

What years did Bob Thurman play?: Bob Thurman played in Major League Baseball from 1955 to 1959.
Was Bob Thurman a pitcher?: Both. Bob Thurman pitched in 24 games, going 5-9 with a 5.43 ERA, but spent most of his career as an Outfielder.
How many home runs did Bob Thurman hit?: Bob Thurman hit 43 career home runs with 283 hits.
What teams did Bob Thurman play for?: Bob Thurman played for 2 teams: the Homestead Grays (1946–1948) and the Cincinnati Redlegs (1955–1959).
What were Bob Thurman's career stats?: In 448 games, Bob Thurman had 283 hits, 43 home runs, 169 RBI, 165 runs, and 11 stolen bases, with a .276 batting average. As a pitcher, in 24 games, he went 5-9 with a 5.43 ERA, 54 strikeouts, and 109.1 innings pitched.
What position did Bob Thurman play?: Bob Thurman played primarily as an outfielder, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Bob Thurman and how much did he weigh?: Bob Thurman was listed at 6 feet 1 inch and 205 pounds.
How many home runs did Bob Thurman hit each season?: Bob Thurman's home runs by season: 2 in 1946, 5 in 1947, 1 in 1948, 7 in 1955, 8 in 1956, 16 in 1957, 4 in 1958, and 0 in 1959. His most in one season was 16, in 1957.
What was Bob Thurman's career batting average?: Bob Thurman batted .276 over his career, with 283 hits in 1,025 at bats.
How many RBI did Bob Thurman have?: Bob Thurman drove in 169 runs in his career.
What was Bob Thurman's career ERA?: Bob Thurman finished with a 5.43 career ERA, going 5-9 with 54 strikeouts.
Is Bob Thurman in the Hall of Fame?: No. Bob Thurman has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.