What years did Johnny Vander Meer play?

Johnny Vander Meer played in Major League Baseball from 1937 to 1951.

Was Johnny Vander Meer a pitcher?

Yes. Johnny Vander Meer pitched in the major leagues, recording 119 wins and 1294 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Johnny Vander Meer hit?

Johnny Vander Meer hit 1 career home runs with 104 hits.

What was Johnny Vander Meer's career batting average?

Johnny Vander Meer batted .152 over his career, with 104 hits in 685 at bats.

How many RBI did Johnny Vander Meer have?

Johnny Vander Meer drove in 26 runs in his career.

What was Johnny Vander Meer's career ERA?

Johnny Vander Meer finished with a 3.44 career ERA, going 119-121 with 1,294 strikeouts.

Johnny Vander Meer

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1937-1951)

Johnny Vander Meer was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1937 to 1951 for the Cincinnati Reds, the Chicago Cubs, and the Cleveland Guardians, a span of 15 seasons. Across 346 career appearances, he went 119-121 with a 3.44 ERA and 1,294 strikeouts. He also batted .152 with 1 home runs. Johnny Vander Meer was a 4-time All-Star. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 8251.7.

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 September 9, 2026

W–L 119–121

ERA 3.44

WHIP 1.39

SO 1,294

Pitcher PIV 8251.7

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: B / L
Height / Weight: 6'1" / 190 lb
Born: 11/2/1914 in Prospect Park, NJ, USA
Died: 10/6/1997 in Tampa, FL, USA
MLB Debut: 1937-04-22
Last Game: 1951-05-07
Awards: 4× All-Star

Full name: John Samuel Vander Meer

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Career Pitching Statistics

Johnny Vander Meer — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
119	121	346	285	131	29	2	2104.7	1,799	805	100	1,132	1,294	3.44	8251.7

Career ERA 3.44 vs. league average 4.02 across their career seasons — 14.4% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Johnny Vander Meer 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	CIN	NL	3	5	19	9	4	0	0	84.3	63	36	69	52	3.84	4.34 (+11%)	-330.2
1938	CIN	NL	15	10	32	29	16	3	0	225.3	177	78	103	125	3.12	4.35 (+28%)	1539.5
1939	CIN	NL	5	9	30	21	8	0	0	129.0	128	67	95	102	4.67	4.28 (-9%)	-529.7
1940	CIN	NL	3	1	10	7	2	0	1	48.0	38	20	41	41	3.75	4.21 (+11%)	-623.1
1941	CIN	NL	16	13	33	32	18	6	0	226.3	172	71	126	202	2.82	3.94 (+28%)	4591.6
1942	CIN	NL	18	12	33	33	21	4	0	244.0	188	66	102	186	2.43	3.57 (+32%)	5972.8
1943	CIN	NL	15	16	36	36	21	3	0	289.0	228	92	162	174	2.87	3.50 (+18%)	905.0
1946	CIN	NL	10	12	29	25	11	4	0	204.3	175	72	78	94	3.17	3.59 (+12%)	424.4
1947	CIN	NL	9	14	30	29	9	3	0	186.0	186	91	87	79	4.40	3.97 (-11%)	-443.5
1948	CIN	NL	17	14	33	33	14	3	0	232.0	204	88	124	120	3.41	4.10 (+17%)	-537.8
1949	CIN	NL	5	10	28	24	7	3	0	159.7	172	87	85	76	4.90	4.12 (-19%)	-210.8
1950	CHN	NL	3	4	32	6	0	0	1	73.7	60	31	59	41	3.79	4.36 (+13%)	-2506.6
1951	CLE	AL	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	3.0	8	6	1	2	18.00	—	0.0
Career · 13 seasons			119	121	346	285	131	29	2	2,104.2	1,799	805	1,132	1,294	3.44	—	8,252

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

Johnny Vander Meer — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
382	685	58	104	12	2	1	26	1	41	201	.152	.200	.180	.379	-4,465

Career AVG .152 vs. league average .264 across their career seasons — 42.5% below league average.

Career OBP .200 vs. league average .336 across their career seasons — 40.6% below league average.

Career SLG .180 vs. league average .378 across their career seasons — 52.6% below league average.

Career OPS .379 vs. league average .715 across their career seasons — 46.9% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Johnny Vander Meer 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	CIN	NL	21	23	2	5	0	1	0	0	0	2	7	.217	—	—	—	—	0.0
1938	CIN	NL	33	83	6	15	0	0	0	2	0	0	23	.181	.272 (-34%)	.341 (-47%)	.392 (-54%)	.734 (-51%)	-681.6
1939	CIN	NL	30	36	1	4	1	0	0	1	0	3	10	.111	—	—	—	—	0.0
1940	CIN	NL	12	20	6	6	2	0	0	0	0	1	3	.300	—	—	—	—	0.0
1941	CIN	NL	35	76	6	10	1	0	0	4	0	2	18	.132	.262 (-50%)	.332 (-54%)	.373 (-61%)	.705 (-58%)	-689.8
1942	CIN	NL	37	75	7	11	1	0	0	3	0	6	26	.147	.253 (-42%)	.323 (-35%)	.349 (-54%)	.672 (-45%)	-502.8
1943	CIN	NL	40	95	9	13	1	0	0	5	1	9	28	.137	.255 (-47%)	.324 (-35%)	.346 (-57%)	.671 (-47%)	-652.7
1946	CIN	NL	33	73	6	18	2	0	0	2	0	1	21	.247	.256 (-4%)	.328 (-22%)	.358 (-24%)	.687 (-23%)	-267.2
1947	CIN	NL	31	57	3	5	2	0	0	2	0	3	18	.088	.262 (-67%)	.336 (-60%)	.376 (-67%)	.712 (-64%)	-587.3
1948	CIN	NL	41	78	6	11	2	0	1	2	0	7	21	.141	.263 (-46%)	.340 (-38%)	.379 (-46%)	.719 (-42%)	-531.8
1949	CIN	NL	33	52	5	4	0	0	0	5	0	6	17	.077	.262 (-71%)	.343 (-50%)	.384 (-80%)	.727 (-66%)	-551.9
1950	CHN	NL	35	16	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	9	.125	—	—	—	—	0.0
1951	CLE	AL	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 13 seasons			382	685	58	104	12	2	1	26	1	41	201	.152	—	—	—	—	-4,465

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

Johnny Vander Meer — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Johnny Vander Meer — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1940	WS	CIN	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Johnny Vander Meer — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	0	1	0	0	3.0	2	0	3	2	0.00

Playoff Pitching by Year

Johnny Vander Meer — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1940	WS	CIN	0	0	1	0	0	3.0	2	0	3	2	0.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (730 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Johnny Vander Meer — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	196	311	29	39	1	11	.125
Away	188	373	29	65	0	15	.174

Pitching — Home / Away

Johnny Vander Meer — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	176	1067.2	901	385	551	635	3.25
Away	170	1036.0	896	418	582	665	3.63

Last 10 Games — Batting

Johnny Vander Meer — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	H	SO
1951-05-07	CLE	MIN	L	1	0	0
1950-09-30	CHC	STL	L	0	0	0
1950-09-13	CHC	BSN	L	1	0	1
1950-09-10	CHC	CIN	L	1	1	0
1950-09-03	CHC	CIN	L	0	0	0
1950-08-28	CHC	PHI	L	0	0	0
1950-08-28	CHC	PHI	W	0	0	0
1950-08-25	CHC	BSN	W	1	0	1
1950-08-22	CHC	NY1	L	0	0	0
1950-08-14	CHC	STL	W	0	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Johnny Vander Meer — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
1951-05-07	CLE	MIN	L	3.0	8	6	6	1	2
1950-09-30	CHC	STL	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0
1950-09-13	CHC	BSN	—	3.2	0	0	0	1	2
1950-09-10	CHC	CIN	—	2.2	1	1	0	1	1
1950-09-03	CHC	CIN	—	0.2	0	0	0	0	1
1950-08-28	CHC	PHI	SV	0.1	0	0	0	2	0
1950-08-25	CHC	BSN	—	2.0	5	2	2	3	1
1950-08-22	CHC	NY1	—	1.2	1	0	0	2	1
1950-08-14	CHC	STL	W	1.1	0	0	0	0	0
1950-08-08	CHC	CIN	—	1.0	2	1	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Johnny Vander Meer — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	346	0	82	404	29	30

Season-by-Season Fielding

Johnny Vander Meer — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	PO	A	E	DP
1937	CIN	P	19	7	23	0	1
1938	CIN	P	32	8	38	3	0
1939	CIN	P	30	5	16	3	5
1940	CIN	P	10	0	9	0	0
1941	CIN	P	33	10	47	2	3
1942	CIN	P	33	6	51	2	4
1943	CIN	P	36	11	67	4	7
1946	CIN	P	29	6	33	3	2
1947	CIN	P	30	8	31	2	1
1948	CIN	P	33	11	39	5	3
1949	CIN	P	28	6	33	2	4
1950	CHN	P	32	4	14	3	0
1951	CLE	P	1	0	3	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Johnny Vander Meer Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	346

Awards & Honors

Johnny Vander Meer — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1942	Baseball Magazine All-Star	P5
1942	Baseball Magazine All-Star	P3
1938	Baseball Magazine All-Star	P3
1938	Baseball Magazine All-Star	P4
1938	TSN All-Star	P
1938	TSN Major League Player of the Year

Award Voting History

Johnny Vander Meer — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max
1948	Most Valuable Player	NL	19th	13.0	336
1946	Most Valuable Player	NL	24th	7.0	336
1942	Most Valuable Player	NL	20th	11.0	336
1938	Most Valuable Player	NL	18th	6.0	336

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Johnny Vander Meer (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Frequently Asked Questions about Johnny Vander Meer

What years did Johnny Vander Meer play?: Johnny Vander Meer played in Major League Baseball from 1937 to 1951.
Was Johnny Vander Meer a pitcher?: Yes. Johnny Vander Meer pitched in the major leagues, recording 119 wins and 1294 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Johnny Vander Meer hit?: Johnny Vander Meer hit 1 career home runs with 104 hits.
What was Johnny Vander Meer's career batting average?: Johnny Vander Meer batted .152 over his career, with 104 hits in 685 at bats.
How many RBI did Johnny Vander Meer have?: Johnny Vander Meer drove in 26 runs in his career.
What was Johnny Vander Meer's career ERA?: Johnny Vander Meer finished with a 3.44 career ERA, going 119-121 with 1,294 strikeouts.