Elmer Valo
Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1940-1961)
Elmer Valo was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1940 to 1961 for 9 teams, including the Philadelphia Athletics, a span of 22 seasons. In 1,806 career games, he hit .282 with 1,420 hits, 58 home runs, and 601 RBI. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 14,436.
- 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
- Position
- Outfielder
- Bats / Throws
- L / R
- Height / Weight
- 5'11" / 190 lb
- Born
- 3/5/1921 in Rybnik, Plzenský, Czechoslovakia
- Died
- 7/19/1998 in Palmerton, PA, USA
- MLB Debut
- 1940-09-22
- Last Game
- 1961-10-01
Full name: Elmer William Valo
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,806 | 5,029 | 768 | 1,420 | 228 | 73 | 58 | 601 | 110 | 942 | 284 | .282 | .398 | .391 | .790 | 14,436 |
Career AVG .282 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — +8.8% above league average.
Career OBP .398 vs. league average .332 across their career seasons — +20.1% above league average.
Career SLG .391 vs. league average .382 across their career seasons — near league average.
Career OPS .790 vs. league average .713 across their career seasons — +10.7% above league average.
Season-by-Season Batting
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 | PHA | AL | 6 | 23 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | .348 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1941 | PHA | AL | 15 | 50 | 13 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | .420 | .262 (+60%) | .332 (+39%) | .373 (+55%) | .705 (+48%) | 384.5 |
| 1942 | PHA | AL | 133 | 459 | 64 | 115 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 40 | 13 | 70 | 21 | .251 | .253 (-1%) | .323 (+10%) | .349 (-4%) | .672 (+3%) | 427.1 |
| 1943 | PHA | AL | 77 | 249 | 31 | 55 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 2 | 35 | 13 | .221 | .255 (-14%) | .324 (-2%) | .346 (-14%) | .671 (-8%) | -236.9 |
| 1946 | PHA | AL | 108 | 348 | 59 | 107 | 21 | 6 | 1 | 31 | 9 | 60 | 18 | .307 | .256 (+20%) | .328 (+25%) | .358 (+15%) | .687 (+20%) | 1467.2 |
| 1947 | PHA | AL | 112 | 370 | 60 | 111 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 36 | 11 | 64 | 21 | .300 | .262 (+14%) | .336 (+21%) | .376 (+8%) | .712 (+14%) | 1223.2 |
| 1948 | PHA | AL | 113 | 383 | 72 | 117 | 17 | 4 | 3 | 46 | 10 | 81 | 13 | .305 | .263 (+16%) | .340 (+27%) | .379 (+4%) | .719 (+15%) | 1534.2 |
| 1949 | PHA | AL | 150 | 547 | 86 | 155 | 27 | 12 | 5 | 85 | 14 | 119 | 32 | .283 | .262 (+8%) | .343 (+20%) | .384 (+5%) | .727 (+12%) | 1840.3 |
| 1950 | PHA | AL | 129 | 446 | 62 | 125 | 16 | 5 | 10 | 46 | 12 | 82 | 22 | .280 | .265 (+5%) | .346 (+16%) | .401 (+1%) | .747 (+8%) | 1023.1 |
| 1951 | PHA | AL | 123 | 444 | 75 | 134 | 27 | 8 | 7 | 55 | 11 | 75 | 20 | .302 | .260 (+16%) | .336 (+22%) | .385 (+16%) | .721 (+19%) | 1909.0 |
| 1952 | PHA | AL | 129 | 388 | 69 | 109 | 26 | 4 | 5 | 47 | 12 | 101 | 16 | .281 | .252 (+11%) | .326 (+32%) | .369 (+10%) | .696 (+20%) | 2101.4 |
| 1953 | PHA | AL | 50 | 85 | 15 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 22 | 7 | .224 | .264 (-15%) | .335 (+14%) | .397 (-35%) | .733 (-12%) | -78.0 |
| 1954 | PHA | AL | 95 | 224 | 28 | 48 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 33 | 2 | 51 | 18 | .214 | .261 (-18%) | .333 (+7%) | .390 (-15%) | .723 (-5%) | -83.2 |
| 1955 | KC1 | AL | 112 | 283 | 50 | 103 | 17 | 4 | 3 | 37 | 5 | 52 | 18 | .364 | .258 (+41%) | .332 (+39%) | .393 (+23%) | .726 (+30%) | 1915.5 |
| 1956 | KC1 | AL | 9 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .222 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1956 | PHI | NL | 98 | 291 | 40 | 84 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 37 | 7 | 48 | 21 | .289 | .258 (+12%) | .331 (+18%) | .397 (+2%) | .728 (+10%) | 0.0 |
| 1957 | BRO | NL | 81 | 161 | 14 | 44 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 26 | 0 | 25 | 16 | .273 | .257 (+6%) | .323 (+14%) | .391 (+8%) | .715 (+11%) | 375.9 |
| 1958 | LAN | NL | 65 | 101 | 9 | 25 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 12 | 11 | .248 | .257 (-4%) | .324 (-1%) | .394 (-20%) | .719 (-11%) | -168.6 |
| 1959 | CLE | AL | 34 | 24 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 0 | .292 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1960 | NYA | AL | 8 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .000 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1960 | WS1 | AL | 76 | 64 | 6 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 17 | 4 | .281 | .255 (+10%) | .323 (+31%) | .387 (-15%) | .711 (+6%) | 0.0 |
| 1961 | MIN | AL | 33 | 32 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | .156 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1961 | PHI | NL | 50 | 43 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 6 | .186 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| Career · 23 seasons | 1,806 | 5,029 | 768 | 1,420 | 228 | 73 | 58 | 601 | 110 | 942 | 284 | .282 | — | — | — | — | 13,635 | ||
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.
Game Log & Splits
View full game log (1806 games) →Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).
Batting — Home / Away
| Split | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 946 | 2630 | 413 | 776 | 23 | 353 | .295 |
| Away | 860 | 2398 | 355 | 644 | 35 | 248 | .269 |
Last 10 Games — Batting
| Date | Tm | Opp | Res | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961-10-01 | PHI | STL | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1961-09-28 | PHI | LAD | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1961-09-25 | PHI | SFG | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1961-09-24 | PHI | PIT | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1961-09-22 | PHI | PIT | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1961-09-16 | PHI | CIN | L | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1961-09-13 | PHI | SFG | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1961-09-10 | PHI | CHC | W | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1961-09-05 | PHI | ATL | L | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1961-09-04 | PHI | CIN | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 | PHA | OF | 6 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1941 | PHA | OF | 10 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1942 | PHA | OF | 122 | 0 | 264 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| 1943 | PHA | OF | 63 | 0 | 134 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 1946 | PHA | OF | 90 | 0 | 182 | 7 | 5 | 0 |
| 1947 | PHA | OF | 104 | 0 | 205 | 9 | 6 | 0 |
| 1948 | PHA | OF | 109 | 0 | 231 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| 1949 | PHA | OF | 150 | 0 | 395 | 8 | 8 | 0 |
| 1950 | PHA | OF | 117 | 0 | 264 | 9 | 5 | 3 |
| 1951 | PHA | OF | 116 | 0 | 247 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| 1952 | PHA | OF | 121 | 0 | 223 | 7 | 9 | 1 |
| 1953 | PHA | OF | 25 | 0 | 46 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1954 | PHA | OF | 62 | 56 | 135 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| 1955 | KC1 | OF | 72 | 69 | 147 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| 1956 | KC1 | OF | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1956 | PHI | OF | 87 | 84 | 167 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| 1957 | BRO | OF | 36 | 36 | 57 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1958 | LAN | OF | 26 | 14 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1959 | CLE | OF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1960 | NYA | OF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1960 | WS1 | OF | 6 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1961 | MIN | OF | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1961 | PHI | OF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Career Games by Position
Circle size = games played at each position.
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Left Field | 349 |
| Center Field | 37 |
| Right Field | 957 |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 22th | 5.0 | 336 | 0 |
Most Similar Players
Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.
Elmer Valo (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.
Frequently Asked Questions about Elmer Valo
- What years did Elmer Valo play?
- Elmer Valo played in Major League Baseball from 1940 to 1961.
- Was Elmer Valo a pitcher?
- No. Elmer Valo was a position player (Outfielder).
- How many home runs did Elmer Valo hit?
- Elmer Valo hit 58 career home runs with 1420 hits.
- What was Elmer Valo's career batting average?
- Elmer Valo batted .282 over his career, with 1,420 hits in 5,029 at bats.
- How many RBI did Elmer Valo have?
- Elmer Valo drove in 601 runs in his career.
- Is Elmer Valo in the Hall of Fame?
- No. Elmer Valo has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.