Jim Turner

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1937-1945)

Jim Turner was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1937 to 1945 for the Boston Braves, the Cincinnati Reds, and the New York Yankees, a span of 9 seasons. Across 231 career appearances, he went 69-60 with a 3.22 ERA, 329 strikeouts, and 20 saves. He also batted .218 with 1 home runs. Jim Turner was an All-Star. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 6054.6.

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 69–60
ERA 3.22
WHIP 1.24
SO 329
Pitcher PIV 6054.6
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
L / R
Height / Weight
6'0" / 185 lb
Born
8/6/1903 in Antioch, TN, USA
Died
11/29/1998 in Nashville, TN, USA
MLB Debut
1937-04-30
Last Game
1945-09-13
Awards
All-Star

Full name: James Riley Turner

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Career Pitching Statistics

Jim Turner — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
69 60 231 119 69 8 20 1132.0 1,123 405 67 283 329 3.22 6054.6

Career ERA 3.22 vs. league average 3.93 across their career seasons — 18.1% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Jim Turner Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1937 BSN NL 20 11 33 30 24 5 1 256.2 228 68 52 69 2.38 4.34 (+45%) 2758.8
1938 BSN NL 14 18 35 34 22 3 0 268.0 267 103 54 71 3.46 4.35 (+20%) 747.2
1939 BSN NL 4 11 25 22 9 0 0 157.2 181 75 51 50 4.28 4.28 (avg) -83.6
1940 CIN NL 14 7 24 23 11 0 0 187.0 187 60 32 53 2.89 4.21 (+31%) 3102.0
1941 CIN NL 6 4 23 10 3 0 0 113.0 120 39 24 34 3.11 3.94 (+21%) 1430.5
1942 CIN NL 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3.1 5 4 3 0 10.80 — 0.0
1942 NYA AL 1 1 5 0 0 0 1 7.0 4 1 1 2 1.29 — 0.0
1943 NYA AL 3 0 18 0 0 0 1 43.1 44 17 13 15 3.53 3.50 (-1%) 375.9
1944 NYA AL 4 4 35 0 0 0 7 41.2 42 16 22 13 3.46 3.57 (+3%) -1041.2
1945 NYA AL 3 4 30 0 0 0 10 54.1 45 22 31 22 3.64 3.67 (+1%) -1235.0
Career · 10 seasons 69 60 231 119 69 8 20 1,132.0 1,123 405 283 329 3.22 — 6,055

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

Jim Turner — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
238 399 32 87 16 1 1 22 0 8 39 .218 .241 .271 .512 -1,311

Career AVG .218 vs. league average .265 across their career seasons — 17.7% below league average.

Career OBP .241 vs. league average .333 across their career seasons — 27.7% below league average.

Career SLG .271 vs. league average .373 across their career seasons — 27.4% below league average.

Career OPS .512 vs. league average .706 across their career seasons — 27.5% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Jim Turner 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
1937 BSN NL 39 96 10 24 3 0 0 7 0 2 7 .250 .276 (-10%) .342 (-20%) .398 (-29%) .740 (-25%) -395.1
1938 BSN NL 35 96 5 22 4 0 0 5 0 3 14 .229 .272 (-16%) .341 (-22%) .392 (-31%) .734 (-27%) -417.0
1939 BSN NL 25 55 5 13 1 0 1 6 0 1 4 .236 .274 (-14%) .342 (-27%) .393 (-21%) .735 (-24%) -221.4
1940 CIN NL 25 75 7 18 5 1 0 2 0 0 3 .240 .267 (-10%) .335 (-28%) .387 (-14%) .722 (-21%) -277.8
1941 CIN NL 23 41 2 6 2 0 0 2 0 1 5 .146 — — — — 0.0
1942 CIN NL 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1942 NYA AL 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1943 NYA AL 18 13 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .077 — — — — 0.0
1944 NYA AL 35 10 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 .200 — — — — 0.0
1945 NYA AL 30 11 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .091 — — — — 0.0
Career · 10 seasons 238 399 32 87 16 1 1 22 0 8 39 .218 — — — — -1,311

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

Jim Turner — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Batting by Year

Jim Turner — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1942 WS NYA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1940 WS CIN 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

Jim Turner — Playoff Career Pitching
W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
0 1 2 1 0 7.0 8 5 1 4 6.43

Playoff Pitching by Year

Jim Turner — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1942 WS NYA 0 0 1 0 0 1.0 0 0 1 0 0.00
1940 WS CIN 0 1 1 1 0 6.0 8 5 0 4 7.50

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (469 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Jim Turner — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home122180204405.244
Away1162191243117.196

Pitching — Home / Away

Jim Turner — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home118557.14981721241722.78
Away113572.16242341591573.68

Last 10 Games — Batting

Jim Turner — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1945-09-13 NYYCHWL 000000000
1945-09-05 NYYDETL 000000000
1945-09-02 NYYMINW 000000000
1945-08-28 NYYBOSW 000000000
1945-08-22 NYYCHWL 000000000
1945-08-20 NYYCHWW 000000000
1945-08-12 NYYDETL 100000000
1945-08-05 NYYPHAL 000000000
1945-08-01 NYYBOSL 000000000
1945-07-22 NYYCHWL 000000000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Jim Turner — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1945-09-13 NYYCHW — 0.2422000
1945-09-05 NYYDET — 0.1122100
1945-09-02 NYYMIN SV 1.0100100
1945-08-28 NYYBOS SV 1.1111110
1945-08-22 NYYCHW L 2.1422410
1945-08-20 NYYCHW SV 0.2000000
1945-08-12 NYYDET L 3.1333111
1945-08-05 NYYPHA — 1.0322000
1945-08-01 NYYBOS L 1.0222000
1945-07-22 NYYCHW — 2.0100000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Jim Turner — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
P 231 0 55 269 12 18

Season-by-Season Fielding

Jim Turner — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1937 BSN P 33 0 12 59 4 3
1938 BSN P 35 0 17 72 0 4
1939 BSN P 25 0 8 38 2 3
1940 CIN P 24 0 8 35 1 1
1941 CIN P 23 0 0 33 1 4
1942 CIN P 3 0 2 1 0 0
1942 NYA P 5 0 0 3 0 1
1943 NYA P 18 0 3 8 1 0
1944 NYA P 35 0 2 6 2 0
1945 NYA P 30 0 3 14 1 2

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Jim Turner Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 231

Awards & Honors

Jim Turner — Awards & Honors
Year Award Notes
1938 Baseball Magazine All-Star P5
1937 Baseball Magazine All-Star P3

Award Voting History

Jim Turner — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1937 Most Valuable Player NL 4th 30.0 80 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Jim Turner (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Gene Packard
    85-69, 3.01 ERA
  2. 95
    Dave Rozema
    60-53, 3.47 ERA
  3. 92
    Hugh Bedient
    59-53, 3.08 ERA
  4. 76
    George Suggs
    99-91, 3.11 ERA
  5. 76
    Doc Crandall
    102-62, 2.92 ERA
  6. 73
    Roger Wolff
    52-69, 3.41 ERA

Jim Turner: the record in brief

According to the bio, Jim Turner debuted on April 30, 1937 and played a final game on September 13, 1945. The team column moves through the Boston Bees (1937 through 1939), the Cincinnati Reds (1940 to 1942), and the New York Yankees (1942 through 1945). Turner played primarily as a pitcher and threw right-handed and batted left-handed. The bio adds a birth date on August 6, 1903, in Antioch, TN, USA and a listed size of 185 pounds on a 6-foot-0 frame. Turner's death is recorded on November 29, 1998, in Nashville, TN, USA. The bio lists the given name James Riley.

The pitching table credits Turner with a 69-60 record and a 3.22 ERA in 231 games. Also on Turner's record: 329 strikeouts, 69 complete games, 8 shutouts, and 20 saves. That 3.22 ERA compares with a 3.93 league average across the same seasons, 18.1% better. 1937 brought Turner a season-high 20 wins. Turner struck out 71 batters in 1938, a career high.

Frequently Asked Questions about Jim Turner

What years did Jim Turner play?
Jim Turner played in Major League Baseball from 1937 to 1945.
Was Jim Turner a pitcher?
Yes. Jim Turner pitched in the major leagues, recording 69 wins and 329 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Jim Turner hit?
Jim Turner hit 1 career home run with 87 hits.
What teams did Jim Turner play for?
Jim Turner played for 3 teams: the Boston Bees (1937–1939), the Cincinnati Reds (1940–1942), and the New York Yankees (1942–1945).
What awards did Jim Turner win?
Jim Turner was selected to 1 All-Star Game.
What were Jim Turner's career stats?
In 231 games, Jim Turner went 69-60 with a 3.22 ERA, 329 strikeouts, 1,132.0 innings pitched, and 20 saves. At the plate he had 87 hits and 1 home runs.
What position did Jim Turner play?
Jim Turner played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Jim Turner and how much did he weigh?
Jim Turner was listed at 6 feet and 185 pounds.
What was Jim Turner's career ERA?
Jim Turner finished with a 3.22 career ERA, going 69-60 with 329 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Jim Turner have?
Jim Turner recorded 329 career strikeouts.
Is Jim Turner in the Hall of Fame?
No. Jim Turner has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
How many All-Star Games did Jim Turner make?
Jim Turner was selected to 1 All-Star Game.