Bobby Tolan

Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1965-1979)

Bobby Tolan was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1965 to 1979 for 5 teams, including the St. Louis Cardinals, a span of 15 seasons. In 1,282 career games, he hit .265 with 1,121 hits, 86 home runs, and 497 RBI. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 1,715.

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

AVG .265
HR 86
RBI 497
H 1,121
OPS .696
PIV 1,715
Position
Outfielder
Bats / Throws
L / L
Height / Weight
5'11" / 170 lb
Born
11/19/1945 in Los Angeles, CA, USA
MLB Debut
1965-09-03
Last Game
1979-09-19

Full name: Robert Tolan

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Career Batting Statistics

Bobby Tolan — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,282 4,238 572 1,121 173 34 86 497 193 258 587 .265 .314 .382 .696 1,715

Career AVG .265 vs. league average .253 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .314 vs. league average .319 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .382 vs. league average .373 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OPS .696 vs. league average .692 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bobby Tolan 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
1965 SLN NL 17 69 8 13 2 0 0 6 2 0 4 .188 .245 (-23%) .310 (-37%) .371 (-42%) .682 (-39%) -422.6
1966 SLN NL 43 93 10 16 5 1 1 6 1 6 15 .172 .248 (-31%) .309 (-25%) .376 (-26%) .685 (-25%) -383.9
1967 SLN NL 110 265 35 67 7 3 6 32 12 19 43 .253 .242 (+4%) .306 (+1%) .357 (+3%) .663 (+2%) 87.2
1968 SLN NL 92 278 28 64 12 1 5 17 9 13 42 .230 .236 (-3%) .298 (-9%) .340 (-2%) .638 (-5%) -237.5
1969 CIN NL 152 637 104 194 25 10 21 93 26 27 92 .305 .248 (+23%) .320 (+8%) .369 (+28%) .689 (+19%) 2158.2
1970 CIN NL 152 589 112 186 34 6 16 80 57 62 94 .316 .253 (+24%) .325 (+18%) .385 (+23%) .711 (+21%) 2517.2
1972 CIN NL 149 604 88 171 28 5 8 82 42 44 88 .283 .243 (+16%) .310 (+8%) .353 (+9%) .664 (+8%) 884.2
1973 CIN NL 129 457 42 94 14 2 9 51 15 27 68 .206 .256 (-20%) .325 (-23%) .378 (-20%) .703 (-21%) -1623.4
1974 SDN NL 95 357 45 95 16 1 8 40 7 20 41 .266 .256 (+4%) .324 (-1%) .369 (+4%) .693 (+1%) 68.3
1975 SDN NL 147 506 58 129 19 4 5 43 11 28 45 .255 .257 (-1%) .327 (-7%) .374 (-10%) .701 (-8%) -666.4
1976 PHI NL 110 272 32 71 7 0 5 35 10 7 39 .261 .255 (+2%) .320 (-11%) .360 (-5%) .681 (-8%) -394.3
1977 PHI NL 15 16 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 4 .125 — — — — 0.0
1977 PIT NL 49 74 7 15 4 0 2 9 1 4 10 .203 .264 (-23%) .329 (-27%) .401 (-16%) .730 (-21%) 0.0
1979 SDN NL 22 21 2 4 0 1 0 2 0 0 2 .190 — — — — 0.0
Career · 14 seasons 1,282 4,238 572 1,121 173 34 86 497 193 258 587 .265 — — — — 1,987

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

Bobby Tolan — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
27 83 14 21 3 1 2 13 7 13 .253

Playoff Batting by Year

Bobby Tolan — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1976 NLCS PHI 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000
1972 NLCS CIN 5 21 3 5 1 1 0 4 0 4 .238
1972 WS CIN 7 26 2 7 1 0 0 6 1 4 .269
1970 NLCS CIN 3 12 3 5 0 0 1 2 1 1 .417
1970 WS CIN 5 19 5 4 1 0 1 1 3 2 .211
1968 WS SLN 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000
1967 WS SLN 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1282 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Bobby Tolan — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home664215129557550264.267
Away618208727754636233.262

Last 10 Games — Batting

Bobby Tolan — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1979-09-19 SDPCINL 000000000
1979-09-14 SDPATLL 101000000
1979-09-06 SDPHOUL 100000000
1979-08-31 SDPSTLL 211000001
1979-08-26 SDPPITL 100000000
1979-08-25 SDPPITL 000000000
1979-08-22 SDPSTLL 100000000
1979-08-16 SDPPITL 000000000
1979-08-12 SDPCINL 100000000
1979-08-07 SDPSFGL 100000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Bobby Tolan — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 130 77 784 51 4 69
OF 1005 919 2131 50 54 10

Season-by-Season Fielding

Bobby Tolan — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1965 SLN OF 17 17 32 0 1 0
1966 SLN 1B 1 0 2 0 0 0
1966 SLN OF 26 22 39 1 2 0
1967 SLN 1B 13 8 107 5 0 7
1967 SLN OF 80 47 118 4 1 1
1968 SLN 1B 9 7 83 9 0 7
1968 SLN OF 67 56 116 3 4 1
1969 CIN OF 150 149 362 6 10 3
1970 CIN OF 150 146 349 7 8 0
1972 CIN OF 149 148 401 9 4 3
1973 CIN OF 120 116 279 9 10 1
1974 SDN OF 88 84 161 5 5 0
1975 SDN 1B 27 10 106 15 0 7
1975 SDN OF 120 114 230 5 7 1
1976 PHI 1B 50 41 354 13 3 36
1976 PHI OF 35 20 41 1 2 0
1977 PHI 1B 5 1 16 1 1 1
1977 PIT 1B 20 10 106 6 0 9
1977 PIT OF 2 0 3 0 0 0
1979 SDN 1B 5 0 10 2 0 2
1979 SDN OF 1 0 0 0 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Bobby Tolan Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
First Base 130
Left Field 139
Center Field 561
Right Field 356

Awards & Honors

Bobby Tolan — Awards & Honors
Year Award Notes
1972 Hutch Award
1972 TSN Comeback Player of the Year
1970 TSN All-Star OF

Award Voting History

Bobby Tolan — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1972 Most Valuable Player NL 20th 6.0 336 0
1970 Most Valuable Player NL 16th 17.0 336 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Bobby Tolan (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Dan Gladden
    .270 avg, 74 HR
  2. 95
    Ken Landreaux
    .268 avg, 91 HR
  3. 94
    Billy Hatcher
    .264 avg, 54 HR
  4. 86
    Doug Glanville
    .277 avg, 59 HR
  5. 81
    Juan Beniquez
    .274 avg, 79 HR
  6. 81
    Cameron Maybin
    .254 avg, 72 HR

Bobby Tolan: the record in brief

According to the bio, Bobby Tolan debuted on September 3, 1965 and played a final game on September 19, 1979. By club, Tolan's seasons break down as the St. Louis Cardinals (1965 through 1968), the Cincinnati Reds (1969 to 1973), the San Diego Padres (1974 to 1979), the Philadelphia Phillies (1976 through 1977), and the Pittsburgh Pirates (1977). Tolan, an outfielder by primary position, batted and threw left-handed. Tolan is listed at 5 feet, 11 inches and 170 pounds. The birth record reads November 19, 1945, in Los Angeles, CA, USA. Bobby Tolan was the playing name; the full given name is Robert.

In 1,282 games and 4,238 at bats, Tolan batted .265 with 1,121 hits, adding 86 homers, 497 runs batted in, and 193 stolen bases. The on-base percentage is .314 and the slugging percentage .382, for an OPS of .696. Against a .253 league average for those years, Tolan's .265 average was near the norm. The home run peak was 21 in 1969 with the Cincinnati Reds.

Frequently Asked Questions about Bobby Tolan

What years did Bobby Tolan play?
Bobby Tolan played in Major League Baseball from 1965 to 1979.
Was Bobby Tolan a pitcher?
No. Bobby Tolan was a position player (Outfielder).
How many home runs did Bobby Tolan hit?
Bobby Tolan hit 86 career home runs with 1121 hits.
What was Bobby Tolan's career batting average?
Bobby Tolan batted .265 over his career, with 1,121 hits in 4,238 at bats.
How many RBI did Bobby Tolan have?
Bobby Tolan drove in 497 runs in his career.
Is Bobby Tolan in the Hall of Fame?
No. Bobby Tolan has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.