What years did Rick Waits play?

Rick Waits played in Major League Baseball from 1973 to 1985.

Was Rick Waits a pitcher?

Yes. Rick Waits pitched in the major leagues, recording 79 wins and 659 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Rick Waits hit?

Rick Waits hit 0 career home runs.

What teams did Rick Waits play for?

Rick Waits played for 3 teams: the Texas Rangers (1973), the Cleveland Indians (1975–1983), and the Milwaukee Brewers (1983–1985).

What were Rick Waits's career stats?

In 317 games, Rick Waits went 79-92 with a 4.25 ERA, 659 strikeouts, 1,427.0 innings pitched, and 8 saves.

What was Rick Waits's salary?

Rick Waits's recorded salary was $460,000 in 1985.

What position did Rick Waits play?

Rick Waits played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Rick Waits and how much did he weigh?

Rick Waits was listed at 6 feet 3 inches and 194 pounds.

What was Rick Waits's career ERA?

Rick Waits finished with a 4.25 career ERA, going 79-92 with 659 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Rick Waits have?

Rick Waits recorded 659 career strikeouts.

Is Rick Waits in the Hall of Fame?

No. Rick Waits has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Rick Waits

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1973-1985)

Rick Waits was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1973 to 1985 for the Texas Rangers, the Cleveland Guardians, and the Milwaukee Brewers, a span of 13 seasons. Across 317 career appearances, he went 79-92 with a 4.25 ERA and 659 strikeouts.

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 17, 2026

W–L 79–92

ERA 4.25

WHIP 1.46

SO 659

Pitcher PIV -6260.3

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 6'3" / 194 lb
Born: 5/15/1952 in Atlanta, GA, USA
MLB Debut: 1973-09-17
Last Game: 1985-10-06

Full name: Michael Richard Waits

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Career Pitching Statistics

Rick Waits — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
79	92	317	190	47	10	8	1427.0	1,514	674	110	568	659	4.25	-6260.3

Career ERA 4.25 vs. league average 3.80 across their career seasons — 11.8% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Rick Waits Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1973	TEX	AL	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	1.0	1	1	1	0	9.00	—	0.0
1975	CLE	AL	6	2	16	7	3	0	1	70.1	57	23	25	34	2.94	3.71 (+21%)	761.5
1976	CLE	AL	7	9	26	22	4	2	0	123.2	143	55	54	65	4.00	3.51 (-14%)	-349.4
1977	CLE	AL	9	7	37	16	1	0	2	135.1	132	60	64	62	3.99	4.00 (avg)	-110.4
1978	CLE	AL	13	15	34	33	15	2	0	230.1	206	82	86	97	3.20	3.69 (+13%)	-603.6
1979	CLE	AL	16	13	34	34	8	3	0	231.0	230	114	91	91	4.44	4.00 (-11%)	-3691.6
1980	CLE	AL	13	14	33	33	9	2	0	224.1	231	111	82	109	4.45	3.84 (-16%)	-515.0
1981	CLE	AL	8	10	22	21	5	1	0	126.1	173	69	44	51	4.92	3.58 (-37%)	5.6
1982	CLE	AL	2	13	25	21	2	0	0	115.0	128	69	57	44	5.40	3.86 (-40%)	-3079.2
1983	CLE	AL	0	1	8	0	0	0	0	19.2	23	10	9	13	4.58	3.87 (-18%)	200.2
1983	ML4	AL	0	2	10	2	0	0	0	30.0	39	17	11	20	5.10	3.87 (-32%)	692.2
1984	ML4	AL	2	4	47	1	0	0	3	73.0	84	29	24	49	3.58	3.81 (+6%)	282.3
1985	ML4	AL	3	2	24	0	0	0	1	47.0	67	34	20	24	6.51	3.89 (-67%)	147.2
Career · 13 seasons			79	92	317	190	47	10	8	1,427.0	1,514	674	568	659	4.25	—	-6,260

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

Rick Waits — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
329	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	0

Career AVG .000 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Career OBP .000 vs. league average .325 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Career SLG .000 vs. league average .384 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Career OPS .000 vs. league average .709 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Rick Waits Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1973	TEX	AL	1	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1975	CLE	AL	16	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1976	CLE	AL	36	0	4	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1977	CLE	AL	38	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1978	CLE	AL	35	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1979	CLE	AL	34	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1980	CLE	AL	33	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1981	CLE	AL	22	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1982	CLE	AL	25	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1983	CLE	AL	8	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1983	ML4	AL	10	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1984	ML4	AL	47	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1985	ML4	AL	24	1	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 13 seasons			329	1	4	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0

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 (646 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Rick Waits — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	168	0	3	0	0	0	—
Away	161	1	1	0	0	0	.000

Pitching — Home / Away

Rick Waits — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	159	750.2	801	351	281	343	4.21
Away	158	676.1	713	323	287	316	4.30

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Rick Waits — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1985-10-06	MIL	BOS	—	1.0	5	4	4	1	2	0
1985-09-28	MIL	TOR	—	2.1	3	0	0	1	0	0
1985-09-26	MIL	BAL	—	0.0	4	5	5	1	0	0
1985-09-20	MIL	TOR	—	0.0	1	0	0	0	0	0
1985-09-10	MIL	NYY	—	2.0	1	0	0	0	0	0
1985-09-08	MIL	KCR	—	2.0	6	3	3	0	2	0
1985-09-07	MIL	KCR	—	2.0	1	0	0	0	1	0
1985-09-04	MIL	MIN	W	3.1	4	1	1	0	0	0
1985-09-01	MIL	CLE	—	4.0	7	5	3	1	4	1
1985-08-25	MIL	CLE	—	2.1	2	1	0	0	1	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Rick Waits — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	317	190	91	252	8	10

Season-by-Season Fielding

Rick Waits — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1973	TEX	P	1	0	0	0	0	0
1975	CLE	P	16	7	5	12	1	1
1976	CLE	P	26	22	10	20	2	2
1977	CLE	P	37	16	4	24	2	1
1978	CLE	P	34	33	19	49	1	1
1979	CLE	P	34	34	15	43	0	2
1980	CLE	P	33	33	10	30	1	0
1981	CLE	P	22	21	12	28	0	2
1982	CLE	P	25	21	6	23	0	1
1983	CLE	P	8	0	0	3	0	0
1983	ML4	P	10	2	0	4	1	0
1984	ML4	P	47	1	2	12	0	0
1985	ML4	P	24	0	8	4	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Rick Waits Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	317
Designated Hitter	10

Awards & Honors

Rick Waits — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1979	Player of the Week	Week of 1979-04-06

Salary History

Rick Waits's recorded salaries total $460,000 over 1 season, in 1985. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Waits's career ran from 1973 to 1985. His seasons before 1985 are not included.

Rick Waits — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1985	ML4	AL	$460,000
Total recorded salary (partial)			$460,000

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Rick Waits (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Rick Waits: the record in brief

Rick Waits played a first major league game on September 17, 1973 and a last one on October 6, 1985. Club by club, the record runs the Texas Rangers (1973), the Cleveland Indians (1975 through 1983), and the Milwaukee Brewers (1983 to 1985). The bio lists Waits as a pitcher who both batted and threw left-handed. The recorded size is 6-foot-3 and 194 pounds. Waits was born on May 15, 1952, in Atlanta, GA, USA. The bio lists the given name Michael Richard.

Waits's career pitching line is 79 wins, 92 losses and a 4.25 ERA over 317 appearances. Also on Waits's record: 659 strikeouts, 47 complete games, and 10 shutouts. Against a 3.80 league ERA for the same seasons, the 4.25 mark was 11.8% worse. Waits won 16 games in 1979, the most of any season listed. 1980 produced Waits's most strikeouts, 109. Among the heaviest workloads, the lowest ERA was 3.20 in 1978, when the league's was 3.69.

Waits's awards table lists Player of the Week (1979).

Frequently Asked Questions about Rick Waits

What years did Rick Waits play?: Rick Waits played in Major League Baseball from 1973 to 1985.
Was Rick Waits a pitcher?: Yes. Rick Waits pitched in the major leagues, recording 79 wins and 659 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Rick Waits hit?: Rick Waits hit 0 career home runs.
What teams did Rick Waits play for?: Rick Waits played for 3 teams: the Texas Rangers (1973), the Cleveland Indians (1975–1983), and the Milwaukee Brewers (1983–1985).
What were Rick Waits's career stats?: In 317 games, Rick Waits went 79-92 with a 4.25 ERA, 659 strikeouts, 1,427.0 innings pitched, and 8 saves.
How much did Rick Waits earn in his career?: Rick Waits's recorded salaries total $460,000 over 1 season, in 1985. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Waits's career ran from 1973 to 1985. His seasons before 1985 are not included.
What was Rick Waits's salary?: Rick Waits's recorded salary was $460,000 in 1985.
What position did Rick Waits play?: Rick Waits played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Rick Waits and how much did he weigh?: Rick Waits was listed at 6 feet 3 inches and 194 pounds.
What was Rick Waits's career ERA?: Rick Waits finished with a 4.25 career ERA, going 79-92 with 659 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Rick Waits have?: Rick Waits recorded 659 career strikeouts.
Is Rick Waits in the Hall of Fame?: No. Rick Waits has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.