What years did Frank Viola play?

Frank Viola played in Major League Baseball from 1982 to 1996.

Was Frank Viola a pitcher?

Yes. Frank Viola pitched in the major leagues, recording 176 wins and 1844 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Frank Viola hit?

Frank Viola hit 0 career home runs with 26 hits.

What teams did Frank Viola play for?

Frank Viola played for 5 teams: the Minnesota Twins (1982–1989), the New York Mets (1989–1991), the Boston Red Sox (1992–1994), the Cincinnati Reds (1995), and the Toronto Blue Jays (1996).

How many Cy Young Awards did Frank Viola win?

Frank Viola won 1 Cy Young Award, in 1988.

What awards did Frank Viola win?

Frank Viola won the Cy Young Award (1988) and the World Series MVP award (1987). He was selected to 3 All-Star Games.

What were Frank Viola's career stats?

In 421 games, Frank Viola went 176-150 with a 3.73 ERA, 1,844 strikeouts, and 2,836.1 innings pitched.

What was Frank Viola's salary?

Frank Viola's last recorded salary was $190,000, in 1995. His highest recorded salary was $4,833,333, in 1992, and his lowest was $190,000, in 1995. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1995.

What position did Frank Viola play?

Frank Viola played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Frank Viola and how much did he weigh?

Frank Viola was listed at 6 feet 4 inches and 200 pounds.

What was Frank Viola's career ERA?

Frank Viola finished with a 3.73 career ERA, going 176-150 with 1,844 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Frank Viola have?

Frank Viola recorded 1,844 career strikeouts.

Is Frank Viola in the Hall of Fame?

No. Frank Viola has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Frank Viola

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1982-1996)

Frank Viola was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1982 to 1996 for 5 teams, including the Minnesota Twins, a span of 15 seasons. Across 421 career appearances, he went 176-150 with a 3.73 ERA and 1,844 strikeouts. Frank Viola was a 3-time All-Star, a Cy Young, a World Series MVP, and a Babe Ruth Award. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 8225.7.

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 October 24, 2026

W–L 176–150

ERA 3.73

WHIP 1.30

SO 1,844

Pitcher PIV 8225.7

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 6'4" / 200 lb
Born: 4/19/1960 in Hempstead, NY, USA
MLB Debut: 1982-06-06
Last Game: 1996-05-28
Awards: 3× All-Star · Cy Young · World Series MVP · Babe Ruth Award

Full name: Frank John Viola

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Career Pitching Statistics

Frank Viola — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
176	150	421	420	74	16	0	2836.1	2,827	1,175	294	864	1,844	3.73	8225.7

Career ERA 3.73 vs. league average 4.02 across their career seasons — 7.3% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Frank Viola Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1982	MIN	AL	4	10	22	22	3	1	126.0	152	73	38	84	5.21	3.86 (-35%)	-2189.0
1983	MIN	AL	7	15	35	34	4	0	210.0	242	128	92	127	5.49	3.87 (-42%)	-6334.1
1984	MIN	AL	18	12	35	35	10	4	257.2	225	92	73	149	3.21	3.81 (+16%)	-707.7
1985	MIN	AL	18	14	36	36	9	0	250.2	262	114	68	135	4.09	3.89 (-5%)	659.7
1986	MIN	AL	16	13	37	37	7	1	245.2	257	123	83	191	4.51	3.97 (-13%)	-1545.9
1987	MIN	AL	17	10	36	36	7	1	251.2	230	81	66	197	2.90	4.29 (+33%)	4180.6
1988	MIN	AL	24	7	35	35	7	2	255.1	236	75	54	193	2.64	3.73 (+29%)	5297.1
1989	MIN	AL	8	12	24	24	7	1	175.2	171	74	47	138	3.79	3.71 (-2%)	1850.5
1989	NYN	NL	5	5	12	12	2	1	85.1	75	32	27	73	3.38	3.71 (+9%)	1980.5
1990	NYN	NL	20	12	35	35	7	3	249.2	227	74	60	182	2.67	3.86 (+31%)	6463.2
1991	NYN	NL	13	15	35	35	3	0	231.1	259	102	54	132	3.97	3.91 (-1%)	475.9
1992	BOS	AL	13	12	35	35	6	1	238.0	214	91	89	121	3.44	3.75 (+8%)	367.9
1993	BOS	AL	11	8	29	29	2	1	183.2	180	64	72	91	3.14	4.19 (+25%)	332.5
1994	BOS	AL	1	1	6	6	0	0	31.0	34	16	17	9	4.65	4.51 (-3%)	-405.0
1995	CIN	NL	0	1	3	3	0	0	14.1	20	10	3	4	6.28	4.45 (-41%)	-517.0
1996	TOR	AL	1	3	6	6	0	0	30.1	43	26	21	18	7.71	4.61 (-67%)	-1683.5
Career · 16 seasons			176	150	421	420	74	16	2,836.1	2,827	1,175	864	1,844	3.73	—	8,226

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

Frank Viola — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
421	185	8	26	3	0	0	6	0	3	41	.141	.154	.157	.311	-1,387

Career AVG .141 vs. league average .261 across their career seasons — 46.1% below league average.

Career OBP .154 vs. league average .327 across their career seasons — 52.9% below league average.

Career SLG .157 vs. league average .395 across their career seasons — 60.4% below league average.

Career OPS .311 vs. league average .723 across their career seasons — 57.0% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Frank Viola Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1982	MIN	AL	22	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1983	MIN	AL	35	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1984	MIN	AL	35	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1985	MIN	AL	36	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1986	MIN	AL	37	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1987	MIN	AL	36	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1988	MIN	AL	35	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1989	MIN	AL	24	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1989	NYN	NL	12	23	2	3	0	1	1	7	.130	—	—	—	—	0.0
1990	NYN	NL	35	85	4	13	0	4	0	20	.153	.257 (-41%)	.324 (-53%)	.385 (-60%)	.710 (-57%)	-753.1
1991	NYN	NL	35	71	2	9	2	1	2	13	.127	.255 (-50%)	.323 (-53%)	.384 (-60%)	.708 (-57%)	-634.1
1992	BOS	AL	35	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1993	BOS	AL	29	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1994	BOS	AL	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1995	CIN	NL	3	6	0	1	1	0	0	1	.167	—	—	—	—	0.0
1996	TOR	AL	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 16 seasons			421	185	8	26	3	6	3	41	.141	—	—	—	—	-1,387

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

Frank Viola — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Frank Viola — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1987	ALCS	MIN	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1987	WS	MIN	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Frank Viola — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
3	1	5	5	0	31.1	31	15	8	25	4.31

Playoff Pitching by Year

Frank Viola — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1987	ALCS	MIN	1	0	2	2	0	12.0	14	7	5	9	5.25
1987	WS	MIN	2	1	3	3	0	19.1	17	8	3	16	3.72

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (842 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Frank Viola — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	210	87	6	10	0	4	.115
Away	211	98	2	16	0	2	.163

Pitching — Home / Away

Frank Viola — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	210	1447.0	1460	590	421	984	3.67
Away	211	1389.1	1367	585	443	860	3.79

Last 10 Games — Batting

Frank Viola — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	H	2B	SO
1996-05-28	TOR	CHW	L	0	0	0	0
1996-05-23	TOR	MIN	W	0	0	0	0
1996-05-18	TOR	KCR	W	0	0	0	0
1996-05-11	TOR	BOS	W	0	0	0	0
1996-05-04	TOR	BOS	L	0	0	0	0
1996-04-28	TOR	CLE	L	0	0	0	0
1995-09-05	CIN	HOU	L	1	0	0	0
1995-08-31	CIN	PIT	L	2	0	0	1
1995-08-26	CIN	PIT	W	3	1	1	0
1994-05-03	BOS	SEA	W	0	0	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Frank Viola — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1996-05-28	TOR	CHW	L	5.2	5	4	4	6	4	2
1996-05-23	TOR	MIN	—	5.1	8	4	3	3	2	1
1996-05-18	TOR	KCR	W	6.0	5	1	1	2	4	1
1996-05-11	TOR	BOS	—	5.0	6	4	4	6	4	0
1996-05-04	TOR	BOS	L	4.1	9	5	5	2	3	0
1996-04-28	TOR	CLE	L	4.0	10	10	9	2	1	2
1995-09-05	CIN	HOU	L	4.0	4	3	3	3	2	1
1995-08-31	CIN	PIT	—	5.2	8	3	3	0	1	0
1995-08-26	CIN	PIT	—	4.2	8	5	4	0	1	2
1994-05-03	BOS	SEA	—	2.2	5	3	2	2	2	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Frank Viola — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	421	420	84	371	32	19

Season-by-Season Fielding

Frank Viola — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1982	MIN	P	22	22	1	15	2	0
1983	MIN	P	35	34	7	23	1	2
1984	MIN	P	35	35	6	26	1	1
1985	MIN	P	36	36	6	33	5	0
1986	MIN	P	37	37	8	21	3	1
1987	MIN	P	36	36	6	34	3	1
1988	MIN	P	35	35	5	30	2	1
1989	MIN	P	24	24	7	26	3	1
1989	NYN	P	12	12	3	9	1	2
1990	NYN	P	35	35	11	34	1	1
1991	NYN	P	35	35	6	34	4	1
1992	BOS	P	35	35	6	47	2	6
1993	BOS	P	29	29	10	31	4	1
1994	BOS	P	6	6	0	4	0	1
1995	CIN	P	3	3	0	2	0	0
1996	TOR	P	6	6	2	2	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Frank Viola Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	421

Awards & Honors

Frank Viola — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1990	TSN All-Star	LHP
1989	Player of the Week	Week of 1989-06-30
1988	Cy Young Award
1988	Pitcher of the Month	May
1988	TSN All-Star	LHP
1988	TSN Pitcher of the Year
1987	Babe Ruth Award	P
1987	Pitcher of the Month	July
1987	World Series MVP

Salary History

Frank Viola's recorded salaries total $25,319,000 over 11 seasons, 1985 to 1995. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Viola's career ran from 1982 to 1996. His seasons before 1985 are not included, and no salary is recorded for 1996.

Frank Viola — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1995	CIN	NL	$190,000
1994	BOS	AL	$4,333,334
1993	BOS	AL	$4,833,333
1992	BOS	AL	$4,833,333
1991	NYN	NL	$3,166,667
1990	NYN	NL	$1,966,667
1989	MIN	AL	$2,766,666
1988	MIN	AL	$1,350,000
1987	MIN	AL	$830,000
1986	MIN	AL	$674,000
1985	MIN	AL	$375,000
Total recorded salary (partial)			$25,319,000

College History

Frank Viola — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
St. John's University	Queens	NY	1979, 1980, 1981

Award Voting History

Frank Viola — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1990	Cy Young Award	NL	3rd	19.0	120	0
1988	Cy Young Award	AL	1st	138.0	140	27
1988	Most Valuable Player	AL	10th	39.0	392	0
1987	Cy Young Award	AL	6th	5.0	140	0
1984	Cy Young Award	AL	6th	2.0	140	0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Frank Viola (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Compare Frank Viola

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Frank Viola: the record in brief

Frank Viola played a first major league game on June 6, 1982 and a last one on May 28, 1996. The season rows list, in order, the Minnesota Twins (1982 to 1989), the New York Mets (1989 through 1991), the Boston Red Sox (1992 to 1994), the Cincinnati Reds (1995), and the Toronto Blue Jays (1996). At 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, Viola is listed as a pitcher. The bio says Viola threw and hit left-handed. Viola was born on April 19, 1960, in Hempstead, NY, USA. Viola's full given name, per the bio, is Frank John Viola.

Viola went 176-150 with a 3.73 ERA in 421 games, 420 of them starts. Also on Viola's record: 1,844 strikeouts, 74 complete games, and 16 shutouts. That 3.73 ERA compares with a 4.02 league average across the same seasons, 7.3% better. No season topped the 24 wins of 1988. 1987 produced Viola's most strikeouts, 197. 1988 was Viola's sharpest full season, a 2.64 ERA against the league's 3.73.

Frequently Asked Questions about Frank Viola

What years did Frank Viola play?: Frank Viola played in Major League Baseball from 1982 to 1996.
Was Frank Viola a pitcher?: Yes. Frank Viola pitched in the major leagues, recording 176 wins and 1844 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Frank Viola hit?: Frank Viola hit 0 career home runs with 26 hits.
What teams did Frank Viola play for?: Frank Viola played for 5 teams: the Minnesota Twins (1982–1989), the New York Mets (1989–1991), the Boston Red Sox (1992–1994), the Cincinnati Reds (1995), and the Toronto Blue Jays (1996).
How many Cy Young Awards did Frank Viola win?: Frank Viola won 1 Cy Young Award, in 1988.
What awards did Frank Viola win?: Frank Viola won the Cy Young Award (1988) and the World Series MVP award (1987). He was selected to 3 All-Star Games.
What were Frank Viola's career stats?: In 421 games, Frank Viola went 176-150 with a 3.73 ERA, 1,844 strikeouts, and 2,836.1 innings pitched.
How much did Frank Viola earn in his career?: Frank Viola's recorded salaries total $25,319,000 over 11 seasons, 1985 to 1995. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Viola's career ran from 1982 to 1996. His seasons before 1985 are not included, and no salary is recorded for 1996.
What was Frank Viola's salary?: Frank Viola's last recorded salary was $190,000, in 1995. His highest recorded salary was $4,833,333, in 1992, and his lowest was $190,000, in 1995. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1995.
What position did Frank Viola play?: Frank Viola played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Frank Viola and how much did he weigh?: Frank Viola was listed at 6 feet 4 inches and 200 pounds.
What was Frank Viola's career ERA?: Frank Viola finished with a 3.73 career ERA, going 176-150 with 1,844 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Frank Viola have?: Frank Viola recorded 1,844 career strikeouts.
Is Frank Viola in the Hall of Fame?: No. Frank Viola has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.