John Vander Wal

Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1991-2004)

John Vander Wal was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1991 to 2004 for 8 teams, including the Montreal Expos, a span of 14 seasons. In 1,372 career games, he hit .261 with 717 hits, 97 home runs, and 430 RBI. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 3,282.

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 .261
HR 97
RBI 430
H 717
OPS .792
PIV 3,282
Position
Outfielder
Bats / Throws
L / L
Height / Weight
6'1" / 180 lb
Born
4/29/1966 in Grand Rapids, MI, USA
MLB Debut
1991-09-06
Last Game
2004-09-27

Full name: John Henry Vander Wal

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Career Batting Statistics

John Vander Wal — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,372 2,751 374 717 170 18 97 430 38 385 698 .261 .351 .441 .792 3,282

Career AVG .261 vs. league average .265 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .351 vs. league average .335 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .441 vs. league average .418 across their career seasons — +5.7% above league average.

Career OPS .792 vs. league average .753 across their career seasons — +5.3% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

John Vander Wal 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
1991 MON NL 21 61 4 13 4 1 1 8 0 1 18 .213 .255 (-17%) .323 (-31%) .384 (-6%) .708 (-18%) -207.1
1992 MON NL 105 213 21 51 8 2 4 20 3 24 36 .239 .255 (-6%) .322 (-2%) .377 (-7%) .699 (-4%) -122.9
1993 MON NL 106 215 34 50 7 4 5 30 6 27 30 .233 .265 (-12%) .332 (-4%) .403 (-8%) .735 (-6%) -197.7
1994 COL NL 91 110 12 27 3 1 5 15 2 16 31 .245 .269 (-9%) .338 (avg) .424 (+1%) .763 (avg) 19.2
1995 COL NL 105 101 15 35 8 1 5 21 1 16 23 .347 .266 (+30%) .337 (+28%) .417 (+42%) .755 (+36%) 744.7
1996 COL NL 104 151 20 38 6 2 5 31 2 19 38 .252 .269 (-7%) .340 (-2%) .426 (-2%) .767 (-2%) -53.8
1997 COL NL 76 92 7 16 2 0 1 11 1 10 33 .174 .266 (-35%) .336 (-24%) .419 (-46%) .756 (-36%) -538.0
1998 COL NL 89 104 18 30 10 1 5 20 0 16 29 .288 .266 (+8%) .335 (+13%) .420 (+30%) .755 (+23%) 456.9
1998 SDN NL 20 25 3 6 3 0 0 0 0 6 5 .240 — — — — 456.9
1999 SDN NL 132 246 26 67 18 0 6 41 2 37 59 .272 .271 (avg) .344 (+7%) .433 (-3%) .778 (+1%) 120.6
2000 PIT NL 134 384 74 115 29 0 24 94 11 72 92 .299 .270 (+11%) .344 (+19%) .437 (+29%) .782 (+24%) 2159.7
2001 PIT NL 97 313 39 87 22 3 11 50 7 42 84 .278 .263 (+5%) .332 (+9%) .426 (+11%) .758 (+10%) 618.7
2001 SFN NL 49 139 19 35 6 1 3 20 1 26 38 .252 .263 (-5%) .332 (+11%) .426 (-12%) .758 (-2%) 618.7
2002 NYA AL 84 219 30 57 17 1 6 20 1 23 58 .260 .261 (avg) .331 (-1%) .416 (+3%) .747 (+1%) 3.6
2003 MIL NL 117 327 50 84 25 1 14 45 1 46 104 .257 .264 (-3%) .332 (+5%) .422 (+11%) .754 (+8%) 597.7
2004 CIN NL 42 51 2 6 2 0 2 4 0 4 20 .118 .266 (-56%) .335 (-46%) .427 (-36%) .762 (-40%) -355.8
Career · 16 seasons 1,372 2,751 374 717 170 18 97 430 38 385 698 .261 — — — — 4,322

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

John Vander Wal — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
16 21 2 6 1 1 1 4 0 8 .286

Playoff Batting by Year

John Vander Wal — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
2002 ALDS1 NYA 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000
1998 NLCS SDN 3 7 1 3 0 0 1 2 0 2 .429
1998 NLDS2 SDN 3 3 1 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 .333
1998 WS SDN 4 5 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 .400
1995 NLDS1 COL 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1372 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

John Vander Wal — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home684127619134545226.270
Away688147518337252204.252

Last 10 Games — Batting

John Vander Wal — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
2004-09-27 CINCHCL 000000010
2004-09-17 CINCHCL 100000001
2004-09-14 CINPHIW 100000001
2004-09-12 CINMILL 100000000
2004-09-11 CINMILW 100000000
2004-09-06 CINHOUL 100000000
2004-09-04 CINMILL 100000000
2004-09-03 CINMILL 100000000
2004-09-01 CINHOUL 000000010
2004-08-31 CINHOUL 100000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

John Vander Wal — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 178 116 1044 50 9 90
OF 587 492 923 18 17 3

Season-by-Season Fielding

John Vander Wal — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1991 MON OF 17 17 29 0 0 0
1992 MON 1B 7 4 23 4 0 3
1992 MON OF 57 41 99 2 2 0
1993 MON 1B 42 31 237 13 3 17
1993 MON OF 38 23 34 1 1 0
1994 COL 1B 14 10 96 3 0 11
1994 COL OF 7 5 10 0 0 0
1995 COL 1B 10 3 42 3 2 3
1995 COL OF 10 2 9 1 0 0
1996 COL 1B 10 4 38 2 1 2
1996 COL OF 26 21 34 0 0 0
1997 COL 1B 5 2 26 0 0 2
1997 COL OF 9 5 12 0 1 0
1998 COL 1B 2 1 8 1 0 0
1998 COL OF 25 12 21 2 0 0
1998 SDN 1B 3 2 14 2 0 1
1998 SDN OF 5 2 7 0 0 0
1999 SDN 1B 28 19 156 8 1 14
1999 SDN OF 48 39 71 2 0 1
2000 PIT 1B 33 25 251 10 1 21
2000 PIT OF 78 71 134 2 5 0
2001 PIT 1B 13 11 111 4 1 13
2001 PIT OF 73 70 106 2 3 0
2001 SFN 1B 1 0 2 0 0 0
2001 SFN OF 41 38 82 1 0 0
2002 NYA 1B 6 4 32 0 0 3
2002 NYA OF 57 52 87 0 2 0
2003 MIL OF 89 87 176 4 3 2
2004 CIN 1B 4 0 8 0 0 0
2004 CIN OF 7 7 12 1 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

John Vander Wal Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
First Base 178
Left Field 237
Center Field 2
Right Field 353
Designated Hitter 32

Salary History

John Vander Wal's recorded salaries total $8,520,500 over 12 seasons, 1992 to 2003. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Vander Wal's career ran from 1991 to 2004. No salary is recorded for 1991 and 2004.

John Vander Wal — Salary History
Year Team League Salary
2003 MIL NL $550,000
2002 NYA AL $1,850,000
2001 PIT NL $1,850,000
2000 PIT NL $875,000
1999 SDN NL $1,075,000
1998 COL NL $560,000
1997 COL NL $500,000
1996 COL NL $512,500
1995 COL NL $300,000
1994 COL NL $195,000
1993 MON NL $142,500
1992 MON NL $110,500
Total recorded salary (partial) $8,520,500

College History

John Vander Wal — College History
School Name City State Years Attended
Western Michigan University Kalamazoo MI 1985, 1986, 1987

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

John Vander Wal (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Seth Smith
    .261 avg, 126 HR
  2. 95
    David Dellucci
    .256 avg, 101 HR
  3. 93
    Mack Jones
    .252 avg, 133 HR
  4. 92
    Chet Laabs
    .262 avg, 117 HR
  5. 87
    Gary Roenicke
    .247 avg, 121 HR
  6. 86
    Jeffrey Hammonds
    .272 avg, 110 HR

John Vander Wal: the record in brief

John Vander Wal played a first major league game on September 6, 1991 and a last one on September 27, 2004. The team column moves through the Montreal Expos (1991 through 1993), the Colorado Rockies (1994 through 1998), the San Diego Padres (1998 through 1999), the Pittsburgh Pirates (2000 to 2001), the San Francisco Giants (2001), the New York Yankees (2002), the Milwaukee Brewers (2003), and the Cincinnati Reds (2004). Vander Wal played primarily as an outfielder and both batted and threw left-handed. Born on April 29, 1966, in Grand Rapids, MI, USA, Vander Wal was listed at 6'1" and 180 pounds. Vander Wal's full given name, per the bio, is John Henry Vander Wal.

In 1,372 games and 2,751 at bats, Vander Wal batted .261 with 717 hits; the totals also include 97 homers, 430 runs batted in, and 38 stolen bases. On-base and slugging figures of .351 and .441 give Vander Wal a career OPS of .792. The .261 career average is close to the .265 the league hit across the same seasons.

Frequently Asked Questions about John Vander Wal

What years did John Vander Wal play?
John Vander Wal played in Major League Baseball from 1991 to 2004.
Was John Vander Wal a pitcher?
No. John Vander Wal was a position player (Outfielder).
How many home runs did John Vander Wal hit?
John Vander Wal hit 97 career home runs with 717 hits.
What teams did John Vander Wal play for?
John Vander Wal played for 8 teams: the Montreal Expos (1991–1993), the Colorado Rockies (1994–1998), the San Diego Padres (1998–1999), the Pittsburgh Pirates (2000–2001), the San Francisco Giants (2001), the New York Yankees (2002), the Milwaukee Brewers (2003), and the Cincinnati Reds (2004).
What were John Vander Wal's career stats?
In 1,372 games, John Vander Wal had 717 hits, 97 home runs, 430 RBI, 374 runs, and 38 stolen bases, with a .261 batting average.
How much did John Vander Wal earn in his career?
John Vander Wal's recorded salaries total $8,520,500 over 12 seasons, 1992 to 2003. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Vander Wal's career ran from 1991 to 2004. No salary is recorded for 1991 and 2004.
What was John Vander Wal's salary?
John Vander Wal's last recorded salary was $550,000, in 2003. His highest recorded salary was $1,850,000, in 2001, and his lowest was $110,500, in 1992. The Salary History table lists each season from 1992 to 2003.
What position did John Vander Wal play?
John Vander Wal played primarily as an outfielder, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was John Vander Wal and how much did he weigh?
John Vander Wal was listed at 6 feet 1 inch and 180 pounds.
How many home runs did John Vander Wal hit each season?
John Vander Wal's home runs by season: 1 in 1991, 4 in 1992, 5 in 1993, 5 in 1994, 5 in 1995, 5 in 1996, 1 in 1997, 5 in 1998, 6 in 1999, 24 in 2000, 14 in 2001, 6 in 2002, 14 in 2003, and 2 in 2004. His most in one season was 24, in 2000.
What was John Vander Wal's career batting average?
John Vander Wal batted .261 over his career, with 717 hits in 2,751 at bats.
How many RBI did John Vander Wal have?
John Vander Wal drove in 430 runs in his career.
Is John Vander Wal in the Hall of Fame?
No. John Vander Wal has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.