Bob Veale

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1962-1974)

Bob Veale was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1962 to 1974 for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Boston Red Sox, a span of 13 seasons. Across 397 career appearances, he went 120-95 with a 3.07 ERA, 1,703 strikeouts, and 21 saves. He also batted .114 with 0 home runs. Bob Veale was a 2-time All-Star. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 36614.8.

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 120–95
ERA 3.07
WHIP 1.32
SO 1,703
Pitcher PIV 36614.8
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
B / L
Height / Weight
6'6" / 212 lb
Born
10/28/1935 in Birmingham, AL, USA
Died
1/3/2025 in Birmingham, AL, USA
MLB Debut
1962-04-16
Last Game
1974-09-08
Awards
2× All-Star

Full name: Robert Andrew Veale

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Career Pitching Statistics

Bob Veale — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
120 95 397 255 78 20 21 1926.0 1,684 658 91 858 1,703 3.07 36614.8

Career ERA 3.07 vs. league average 3.54 across their career seasons — 13.1% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bob Veale Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1962 PIT NL 2 2 11 6 2 0 1 45.2 39 19 25 42 3.74 3.96 (+5%) 1113.0
1963 PIT NL 5 2 34 7 3 2 3 77.2 59 9 40 68 1.04 3.46 (+70%) 1933.1
1964 PIT NL 18 12 40 38 14 1 0 279.2 222 85 124 250 2.74 3.58 (+24%) 7610.1
1965 PIT NL 17 12 39 37 14 7 0 266.0 221 84 119 276 2.84 3.50 (+19%) 9759.2
1966 PIT NL 16 12 38 37 12 3 0 268.1 228 90 102 229 3.02 3.52 (+14%) 4279.0
1967 PIT NL 16 8 33 31 6 1 0 203.0 184 82 119 179 3.64 3.30 (-10%) -370.6
1968 PIT NL 13 14 36 33 13 4 0 245.1 187 56 94 171 2.05 2.98 (+31%) 825.9
1969 PIT NL 13 14 34 34 9 1 0 225.2 232 81 91 213 3.23 3.61 (+11%) 7565.5
1970 PIT NL 10 15 34 32 5 1 0 202.0 189 88 94 178 3.92 3.89 (-1%) 3176.5
1971 PIT NL 6 0 37 0 0 0 2 46.1 59 36 24 40 6.99 3.47 (-102%) -246.3
1972 PIT NL 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 9.0 10 6 7 6 6.00 3.26 (-84%) 0.0
1972 BOS AL 2 0 6 0 0 0 2 8.0 2 0 3 10 0.00 — 0.0
1973 BOS AL 2 3 32 0 0 0 11 36.1 37 14 12 25 3.47 3.75 (+7%) 777.9
1974 BOS AL 0 1 18 0 0 0 2 13.0 15 8 4 16 5.54 3.63 (-53%) 191.5
Career · 14 seasons 120 95 397 255 78 20 21 1,926.0 1,684 658 858 1,703 3.07 — 36,615

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

Bob Veale — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
399 630 26 72 7 1 0 18 0 18 337 .114 .139 .129 .267 -5,485

Career AVG .114 vs. league average .249 across their career seasons — 54.1% below league average.

Career OBP .139 vs. league average .316 across their career seasons — 56.0% below league average.

Career SLG .129 vs. league average .370 across their career seasons — 65.3% below league average.

Career OPS .267 vs. league average .686 across their career seasons — 61.0% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Bob Veale 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
1962 PIT NL 11 16 1 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 .250 — — — — 0.0
1963 PIT NL 35 23 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 17 .087 — — — — 0.0
1964 PIT NL 41 96 4 15 0 0 0 2 0 2 52 .156 .250 (-38%) .312 (-45%) .377 (-59%) .690 (-52%) -757.1
1965 PIT NL 39 93 3 8 0 0 0 3 0 3 50 .086 .245 (-65%) .310 (-63%) .371 (-77%) .682 (-71%) -986.7
1966 PIT NL 38 94 5 13 0 1 0 2 0 1 39 .138 .248 (-44%) .309 (-52%) .376 (-58%) .685 (-55%) -789.9
1967 PIT NL 33 69 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 36 .043 .242 (-82%) .306 (-81%) .357 (-88%) .663 (-85%) -859.0
1968 PIT NL 36 82 2 9 1 0 0 1 0 2 53 .110 .236 (-54%) .298 (-56%) .340 (-64%) .638 (-60%) -705.6
1969 PIT NL 34 79 3 4 0 0 0 2 0 3 44 .051 .248 (-80%) .320 (-73%) .369 (-86%) .689 (-80%) -969.6
1970 PIT NL 34 67 5 11 4 0 0 6 0 4 34 .164 .253 (-35%) .325 (-35%) .385 (-42%) .711 (-39%) -417.1
1971 PIT NL 37 9 2 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 .333 — — — — 0.0
1972 PIT NL 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1972 BOS AL 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 — — — — 0.0
1973 BOS AL 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1974 BOS AL 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 14 seasons 399 630 26 72 7 1 0 18 0 18 337 .114 — — — — -5,485

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

Bob Veale — 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

Bob Veale — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1971 WS PIT 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

Bob Veale — Playoff Career Pitching
W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
0 0 1 0 0 0.2 1 1 2 0 13.50

Playoff Pitching by Year

Bob Veale — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1971 WS PIT 0 0 1 0 0 0.2 1 1 2 0 13.50

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (796 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Bob Veale — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home2042901033010.114
Away195340163908.115

Pitching — Home / Away

Bob Veale — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home203990.29113163939102.87
Away194935.17733404657933.27

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Bob Veale — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1974-09-08 BOSMIL — 0.1100000
1974-08-16 BOSMIN — 0.2000020
1974-08-07 BOSMIL SV 0.2000010
1974-07-30 BOSDET — 0.1000010
1974-07-13 BOSLAA — 0.0211100
1974-07-07 BOSKCR — 0.1000010
1974-07-04 BOSBAL — 1.1100000
1974-07-02 BOSBAL — 0.1000000
1974-06-29 BOSCLE — 1.0111011
1974-06-22 BOSCLE — 1.2433121

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Bob Veale — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
P 397 255 37 270 21 19

Season-by-Season Fielding

Bob Veale — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1962 PIT P 11 6 0 6 0 0
1963 PIT P 34 7 1 14 2 2
1964 PIT P 40 38 14 39 2 4
1965 PIT P 39 37 3 36 2 1
1966 PIT P 38 37 2 34 3 5
1967 PIT P 33 31 6 36 1 3
1968 PIT P 36 33 4 37 3 0
1969 PIT P 34 34 6 33 1 2
1970 PIT P 34 32 0 23 3 1
1971 PIT P 37 0 1 1 3 0
1972 PIT P 5 0 0 0 1 0
1972 BOS P 6 0 0 2 0 0
1973 BOS P 32 0 0 9 0 1
1974 BOS P 18 0 0 0 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Bob Veale Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 397

College History

Bob Veale — College History
School Name City State Years Attended
Benedictine College Atchison KS 1956, 1957, 1958

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Bob Veale (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Juan Pizarro
    131-105, 3.43 ERA
  2. 85
    Steve Barber
    121-106, 3.36 ERA
  3. 84
    Jim Maloney
    134-84, 3.19 ERA
  4. 82
    Sam Jones
    103-104, 3.63 ERA
  5. 82
    Dean Chance
    128-115, 2.92 ERA
  6. 82
    Chris Short
    135-132, 3.43 ERA

Compare Bob Veale

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Veale's closest peers by position and era.

vs Steve Carlton
vs Bob Gibson
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vs Juan Marichal
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Bob Veale: the record in brief

Bob Veale's major league career runs from a debut on April 16, 1962 to a final game on September 8, 1974. The team column moves through the Pittsburgh Pirates (1962 through 1972) and the Boston Red Sox (1972 through 1974). Listed as a pitcher, Veale batted from both sides and threw left-handed. Height and weight on file: 212 pounds on a 6-foot-6 frame. The birth record reads October 28, 1935, in Birmingham, AL, USA. The bio records the death on January 3, 2025, in Birmingham, AL, USA. Bob Veale was the playing name; the full given name is Robert Andrew.

Across 397 games (255 starts), Veale recorded 120 wins against 95 losses with a 3.07 ERA. The same table counts 1,703 strikeouts, 78 complete games, 20 shutouts, and 21 saves. The leagues Veale pitched in allowed 3.54 earned runs per nine over those seasons, so the career ERA was 13.1% better than average. Veale won 18 games in 1964, the most of any season listed.

Frequently Asked Questions about Bob Veale

What years did Bob Veale play?
Bob Veale played in Major League Baseball from 1962 to 1974.
Was Bob Veale a pitcher?
Yes. Bob Veale pitched in the major leagues, recording 120 wins and 1703 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Bob Veale hit?
Bob Veale hit 0 career home runs with 72 hits.
What was Bob Veale's career batting average?
Bob Veale batted .114 over his career, with 72 hits in 630 at bats.
How many RBI did Bob Veale have?
Bob Veale drove in 18 runs in his career.
What was Bob Veale's career ERA?
Bob Veale finished with a 3.07 career ERA, going 120-95 with 1,703 strikeouts.