Rube Vickers

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1902-1909)

Rube Vickers was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1902 to 1909 for the Cincinnati Reds, the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the Philadelphia Athletics, a span of 8 seasons. Across 88 career appearances, he went 22-27 with a 2.93 ERA and 213 strikeouts. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 3838.9.

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 22–27
ERA 2.93
WHIP 1.19
SO 213
Pitcher PIV 3838.9
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
L / R
Height / Weight
6'2" / 225 lb
Born
5/17/1879 in Hillsdale, MI, USA
Died
12/9/1958 in Belleville, MI, USA
MLB Debut
1902-09-21
Last Game
1909-10-02

Full name: Harry Porter Vickers

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Career Pitching Statistics

Rube Vickers — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
22 27 88 45 29 7 2 458.0 426 149 1 119 213 2.93 3838.9

Career ERA 2.93 vs. league average 2.72 across their career seasons — 7.6% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Rube Vickers — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1902 CIN NL 0 3 3 3 3 0 0 21.0 31 14 8 6 6.00 3.17 (-89%) -110.7
1903 BRO NL 0 1 4 1 1 0 0 14.0 27 17 9 5 10.93 3.10 (-253%) -376.1
1907 PHA AL 2 2 10 4 3 1 0 50.1 44 19 12 21 3.40 2.50 (-36%) 154.6
1908 PHA AL 18 19 53 34 21 6 1 317.0 264 78 71 156 2.21 2.40 (+8%) 4070.1
1909 PHA AL 2 2 18 3 1 0 1 55.2 60 21 19 25 3.40 2.55 (-33%) 101.0
Career · 5 seasons 22 27 88 45 29 7 2 458.0 426 149 119 213 2.93 — 3,839

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

Rube Vickers — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
90 163 4 26 4 0 0 13 0 10 34 .160 .208 .184 .392 -420

Career AVG .160 vs. league average .251 across their career seasons — 36.5% below league average.

Career OBP .208 vs. league average .309 across their career seasons — 32.7% below league average.

Career SLG .184 vs. league average .323 across their career seasons — 43.0% below league average.

Career OPS .392 vs. league average .632 across their career seasons — 37.9% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Rube Vickers — Season-by-Season Batting
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1902 CIN NL 4 11 0 4 1 0 0 3 0 0 2 .364 — — — — 0.0
1903 BRO NL 5 10 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 2 .100 — — — — 0.0
1907 PHA AL 10 20 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .150 — — — — 0.0
1908 PHA AL 53 106 4 17 3 0 0 4 0 10 23 .160 .240 (-33%) .298 (-22%) .306 (-38%) .605 (-30%) -420.4
1909 PHA AL 18 16 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 4 .062 — — — — 0.0
Career · 5 seasons 90 163 4 26 4 0 0 13 0 10 34 .160 — — — — -420

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 (178 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Rube Vickers — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home487631405.184
Away428711306.149

Pitching — Home / Away

Rube Vickers — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home48240.22018531180.30
Away40216.22242068970.83

Last 10 Games — Batting

Rube Vickers — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1909-10-02 PHAMINW 300000201
1909-08-21 PHACLEW 000000010
1909-08-03 PHACHWW 000000000
1909-06-25 PHANYYL 101000000
1909-06-19 PHABOSL 000000000
1909-06-14 PHASLAL 100000000
1909-06-07 PHACLEL 000000000
1909-06-03 PHACHWL 000000000
1909-06-02 PHACHWW 200000002
1909-06-01 PHABOSL 000000000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Rube Vickers — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1909-10-02 PHAMIN W 9.0720240
1909-08-21 PHACLE — 0.2110010
1909-08-03 PHACHW — 1.0100000
1909-06-25 PHANYY — 4.0752200
1909-06-19 PHABOS — 1.0200000
1909-06-14 PHASLA — 3.0521010
1909-06-07 PHACLE — 1.0000000
1909-06-03 PHACHW — 0.2321000
1909-06-02 PHACHW W 5.0511340
1909-06-01 PHABOS — 1.0000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Rube Vickers — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
C 1 0 0 1 0 0
OF 1 0 1 0 0 0
P 88 41 15 124 10 1

Season-by-Season Fielding

Rube Vickers — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1902 CIN C 1 0 0 1 0 0
1902 CIN P 3 0 0 3 0 0
1903 BRO OF 1 0 1 0 0 0
1903 BRO P 4 0 0 10 1 0
1907 PHA P 10 4 2 17 1 1
1908 PHA P 53 34 10 83 7 0
1909 PHA P 18 3 3 11 1 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Rube Vickers — Career Games by Position
Position Games
Pitcher 88
Catcher 1
Center Field 1

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Rube Vickers (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Mark Fidrych
    29-19, 3.10 ERA
  2. 97
    Bob Steele
    16-38, 3.05 ERA
  3. 91
    Harry Buckner
    28-15, 2.84 ERA
  4. 91
    Ralph Glaze
    15-21, 2.89 ERA
  5. 91
    Bill Grahame
    14-29, 2.90 ERA
  6. 89
    Walter Ball
    32-27, 2.65 ERA

Rube Vickers: the record in brief

September 21, 1902 and October 2, 1909 bracket Rube Vickers's time in the majors: the debut and the last game on record. By club, Vickers's seasons break down as the Cincinnati Reds (1902), the Brooklyn Superbas (1903), and the Philadelphia Athletics (1907 to 1909). Vickers is listed as a pitcher at 225 pounds on a 6-foot-2 frame. The bio says Vickers threw right-handed and batted left-handed. Vickers was born on May 17, 1879, in Hillsdale, MI, USA. Vickers's death is recorded on December 9, 1958, in Belleville, MI, USA. The given name on file is Harry Porter Vickers.

Vickers went 22-27 with a 2.93 ERA in 88 games, 45 of them starts. The same table counts 213 strikeouts, 29 complete games, and 7 shutouts. The league ERA over Vickers's seasons was 2.72, so the 2.93 figure ran 7.6% worse than average. Vickers won 18 games in 1908, the most of any season listed. Among the heaviest workloads, the lowest ERA was 2.21 in 1908, when the league's was 2.40.

Frequently Asked Questions about Rube Vickers

What years did Rube Vickers play?
Rube Vickers played in Major League Baseball from 1902 to 1909.
Was Rube Vickers a pitcher?
Yes. Rube Vickers pitched in the major leagues, recording 22 wins and 213 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Rube Vickers hit?
Rube Vickers hit 0 career home runs with 26 hits.
What was Rube Vickers's career batting average?
Rube Vickers batted .160 over his career, with 26 hits in 163 at bats.
How many RBI did Rube Vickers have?
Rube Vickers drove in 13 runs in his career.
What was Rube Vickers's career ERA?
Rube Vickers finished with a 2.93 career ERA, going 22-27 with 213 strikeouts.