What years did Luke Walker play?

Luke Walker played in Major League Baseball from 1965 to 1974.

Was Luke Walker a pitcher?

Yes. Luke Walker pitched in the major leagues, recording 45 wins and 558 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Luke Walker hit?

Luke Walker hit 0 career home runs with 11 hits.

What was Luke Walker's career batting average?

Luke Walker batted .059 over his career, with 11 hits in 188 at bats.

How many RBI did Luke Walker have?

Luke Walker drove in 7 runs in his career.

What was Luke Walker's career ERA?

Luke Walker finished with a 3.65 career ERA, going 45-47 with 558 strikeouts.

Luke Walker

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1965-1974)

Luke Walker was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1965 to 1974 for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Detroit Tigers, a span of 10 seasons. Across 243 career appearances, he went 45-47 with a 3.65 ERA and 558 strikeouts. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 4201.0.

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 12, 2026

W–L 45–47

ERA 3.65

WHIP 1.42

SO 558

Pitcher PIV 4201.0

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 6'2" / 190 lb
Born: 9/2/1943 in DeKalb, TX, USA
MLB Debut: 1965-09-07
Last Game: 1974-10-01

Full name: James Luke Walker

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Career Pitching Statistics

Luke Walker — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
45	47	243	100	16	7	9	824.2	763	334	43	408	558	3.65	4201.0

Career ERA 3.65 vs. league average 3.52 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Luke Walker Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1965	PIT	NL	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	5.0	2	0	1	5	0.00	—	0.0
1966	PIT	NL	0	1	10	1	0	0	0	10.0	8	5	15	7	4.50	3.52 (-28%)	-608.5
1968	PIT	NL	0	3	39	2	0	0	3	61.2	42	14	39	66	2.04	2.98 (+31%)	906.6
1969	PIT	NL	4	6	31	15	3	1	0	118.2	98	48	57	96	3.64	3.61 (-1%)	2075.4
1970	PIT	NL	15	6	42	19	5	3	3	163.0	129	55	89	124	3.04	3.89 (+22%)	2670.1
1971	PIT	NL	10	8	28	24	4	2	0	159.2	157	63	53	86	3.55	3.47 (-2%)	1354.9
1972	PIT	NL	4	6	26	12	2	0	2	92.2	98	35	34	48	3.40	3.26 (-4%)	564.4
1973	PIT	NL	7	12	37	18	2	1	1	122.0	129	63	66	74	4.65	3.75 (-24%)	-649.9
1974	DET	AL	5	5	28	9	0	0	0	92.0	100	51	54	52	4.99	3.63 (-38%)	-2112.1
Career · 9 seasons			45	47	243	100	16	7	9	824.2	763	334	408	558	3.65	—	4,201

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

Luke Walker — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
243	188	4	11	0	0	0	7	0	12	107	.059	.115	.059	.174	-532

Career AVG .059 vs. league average .249 across their career seasons — 76.5% below league average.

Career OBP .115 vs. league average .316 across their career seasons — 63.7% below league average.

Career SLG .059 vs. league average .368 across their career seasons — 84.1% below league average.

Career OPS .174 vs. league average .685 across their career seasons — 74.7% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Luke Walker Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1965	PIT	NL	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1966	PIT	NL	10	2	0	0	0	0	2	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1968	PIT	NL	39	8	0	0	0	0	4	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1969	PIT	NL	31	32	3	0	1	2	19	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1970	PIT	NL	42	46	0	6	5	3	26	.130	—	—	—	—	0.0
1971	PIT	NL	28	46	1	1	0	6	30	.022	—	—	—	—	-532.2
1972	PIT	NL	26	24	0	2	0	1	12	.083	—	—	—	—	0.0
1973	PIT	NL	37	30	0	2	1	0	14	.067	—	—	—	—	0.0
1974	DET	AL	28	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 9 seasons			243	188	4	11	7	12	107	.059	—	—	—	—	-532

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

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

Playoff Batting by Year

Luke Walker — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	SO	AVG
1972	NLCS	PIT	1	0	0	.000
1971	WS	PIT	1	0	0	.000
1970	NLCS	PIT	1	2	1	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Luke Walker — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	1	3	2	0	8.2	11	6	2	5	6.23

Playoff Pitching by Year

Luke Walker — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	L	G	GS	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1972	NLCS	PIT	0	1	0	1.0	3	2	0	0	18.00
1971	WS	PIT	0	1	1	0.2	3	3	1	0	40.50
1970	NLCS	PIT	1	1	1	7.0	5	1	1	5	1.29

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (486 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Luke Walker — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	132	97	2	8	0	5	.082
Away	111	91	2	3	0	2	.033

Pitching — Home / Away

Luke Walker — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	132	464.2	407	177	216	323	3.43
Away	111	360.2	356	157	192	235	3.92

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Luke Walker — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1974-10-01	DET	BAL	—	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0
1974-09-28	DET	BOS	—	2.1	3	1	1	3	2	0
1974-09-18	DET	BOS	—	3.1	5	4	4	3	3	1
1974-09-15	DET	NYY	L	1.0	3	5	5	3	1	0
1974-09-11	DET	MIL	L	7.0	4	3	3	4	4	0
1974-09-07	DET	NYY	W	5.2	5	3	1	4	3	1
1974-09-03	DET	CLE	—	3.0	1	1	1	1	0	0
1974-08-30	DET	OAK	—	2.1	5	3	3	1	0	1
1974-08-14	DET	KCR	—	8.1	13	4	3	5	4	1
1974-08-09	DET	TEX	—	3.1	2	0	0	5	2	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Luke Walker — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	243	100	25	120	11	10

Season-by-Season Fielding

Luke Walker — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1965	PIT	P	2	0	0	1	0	0
1966	PIT	P	10	1	1	1	1	0
1968	PIT	P	39	2	3	12	0	0
1969	PIT	P	31	15	2	24	2	0
1970	PIT	P	42	19	3	24	1	3
1971	PIT	P	28	24	3	18	1	3
1972	PIT	P	26	12	3	13	3	3
1973	PIT	P	37	18	4	16	2	1
1974	DET	P	28	9	6	11	1	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Luke Walker Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	243

College History

Luke Walker — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
Paris Junior College	Paris	TX	1961, 1962

Award Voting History

Luke Walker — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1970	Cy Young Award	NL	10th	1.0	120	0
1970	Most Valuable Player	NL	25th	4.0	336	0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Luke Walker (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Luke Walker: the record in brief

Between the debut on September 7, 1965 and the final game on October 1, 1974, Luke Walker built the record summarized on this page. Walker played for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1965 through 1973) and the Detroit Tigers (1974). Walker played primarily as a pitcher and both batted and threw left-handed. The bio adds a birth date on September 2, 1943, in DeKalb, TX, USA and a listed size of 190 pounds on a 6-foot-2 frame. Walker's full given name, per the bio, is James Luke Walker.

Across 243 games (100 starts), Walker recorded 45 wins against 47 losses with a 3.65 ERA. Also on Walker's record: 558 strikeouts, 16 complete games, and 7 shutouts. Walker's 3.65 ERA was close to the 3.52 league figure for those seasons. No season topped the 15 wins of 1970. Among the heaviest workloads, the lowest ERA was 3.04 in 1970, when the league's was 3.89. Walker's career Pitcher PIV, which scores run prevention against each season's league, is 4,201.0.

Frequently Asked Questions about Luke Walker

What years did Luke Walker play?: Luke Walker played in Major League Baseball from 1965 to 1974.
Was Luke Walker a pitcher?: Yes. Luke Walker pitched in the major leagues, recording 45 wins and 558 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Luke Walker hit?: Luke Walker hit 0 career home runs with 11 hits.
What was Luke Walker's career batting average?: Luke Walker batted .059 over his career, with 11 hits in 188 at bats.
How many RBI did Luke Walker have?: Luke Walker drove in 7 runs in his career.
What was Luke Walker's career ERA?: Luke Walker finished with a 3.65 career ERA, going 45-47 with 558 strikeouts.