John Ward

Shortstop · Career Stats, Hall of Fame Bio & Records (1878-1894)

John Ward was a shortstop who played in Major League Baseball from 1878 to 1894 for 4 teams, including the Providence Grays, a span of 17 seasons. In 1,827 career games, he hit .275 with 2,107 hits, 26 home runs, and 869 RBI. He also pitched in 293 games, going 164-103 with a 2.10 ERA. John Ward was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 68.

AVG (Batting Average):
Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):
Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):
Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated

⭐ Hall of Fame 1964
AVG .275
HR 26
RBI 869
H 2,107
OPS .655
PIV 68
Position
Shortstop
Bats / Throws
L / R
Height / Weight
5'9" / 165 lb
Born
3/3/1860 in Bellefonte, PA, USA
Died
3/4/1925 in Augusta, GA, USA
MLB Debut
1878-07-15
Last Game
1894-09-29
Hall of Fame
Inducted 1964 (Veterans)

Full name: John Montgomery Ward

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Career Batting Statistics

John Ward — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,827 7,656 1,410 2,107 231 96 26 869 540 421 326 .275 .314 .341 .655 68

Career AVG .275 vs. league average .257 across their career seasons — +7.0% above league average.

Career OBP .314 vs. league average .313 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .341 vs. league average .346 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OPS .655 vs. league average .660 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

John Ward (b. 1860) 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
1878 PRO NL 37 138 14 27 5 4 1 15 0 2 13 .196 .259 (-25%) .278 (-26%) .319 (-2%) .597 (-13%) -284.0
1879 PRO NL 83 364 71 104 9 4 2 41 0 7 14 .286 .255 (+12%) .270 (+10%) .328 (+6%) .599 (+8%) 487.1
1880 PRO NL 86 356 53 81 12 2 0 27 0 6 16 .228 .244 (-7%) .267 (-10%) .319 (-15%) .586 (-13%) -566.2
1881 PRO NL 85 357 56 87 18 6 0 53 0 5 10 .244 .260 (-6%) .290 (-12%) .338 (-3%) .628 (-7%) -438.8
1882 PRO NL 83 355 58 87 10 3 1 39 0 13 22 .245 .248 (-1%) .275 (-2%) .329 (-9%) .605 (-6%) -240.0
1883 NY1 NL 88 380 76 97 18 7 7 54 0 8 25 .255 .257 (-1%) .285 (-5%) .345 (+14%) .631 (+5%) 235.1
1884 NY1 NL 113 482 98 122 11 8 2 51 0 28 47 .253 .243 (+4%) .278 (+5%) .327 (-2%) .606 (+2%) 187.8
1885 NY1 NL 111 446 72 101 8 9 0 37 0 17 39 .226 .244 (-7%) .287 (-11%) .325 (-12%) .613 (-12%) -769.4
1886 NY1 NL 122 491 82 134 17 5 2 81 36 19 46 .273 .246 (+11%) .302 (-1%) .331 (+2%) .634 (+1%) -10.7
1887 NY1 NL 129 545 114 184 16 5 1 53 111 29 12 .338 .270 (+25%) .331 (+13%) .373 (+5%) .705 (+9%) 1005.3
1888 NY1 NL 122 510 70 128 14 5 2 49 38 9 13 .251 .238 (+5%) .290 (-9%) .319 (-3%) .610 (-6%) -516.2
1889 NY1 NL 114 479 87 143 13 4 1 67 62 27 7 .299 .263 (+13%) .334 (+1%) .357 (-3%) .691 (-1%) -74.9
1890 BRP PL 128 561 134 188 15 12 4 60 63 51 22 .335 .260 (+29%) .336 (+17%) .351 (+21%) .687 (+19%) 2054.4
1891 BRO NL 105 441 85 122 13 5 0 39 57 36 10 .277 .254 (+9%) .331 (+1%) .343 (-4%) .675 (-2%) -112.7
1892 BRO NL 148 614 109 163 13 3 1 47 88 82 19 .265 .244 (+8%) .316 (+12%) .327 (-8%) .644 (+2%) 567.9
1893 NY1 NL 135 588 129 193 27 9 2 77 46 47 5 .328 .279 (+17%) .356 (+6%) .379 (+9%) .735 (+8%) 897.4
1894 NY1 NL 138 549 102 146 12 5 0 79 39 35 6 .266 .309 (-14%) .379 (-18%) .435 (-30%) .814 (-24%) -2354.6
Career · 17 seasons 1,827 7,656 1,410 2,107 231 96 26 869 540 421 326 .275 — — — — 68

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 Pitching Statistics

John Ward — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
164 103 293 262 245 24 3 2469.2 2,324 576 26 253 920 2.10 12730.5

Career ERA 2.10 vs. league average 2.91 across their career seasons — 27.9% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

John Ward (b. 1860) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1878 PRO NL 22 13 37 37 37 6 0 334.0 308 56 34 116 1.51 2.30 (+35%) 365.1
1879 PRO NL 47 19 70 60 58 2 1 587.0 571 140 36 239 2.15 2.50 (+14%) 4628.2
1880 PRO NL 39 24 70 67 59 8 1 595.0 501 115 45 230 1.74 2.37 (+27%) 4731.9
1881 PRO NL 18 18 39 35 32 3 0 330.0 326 78 53 119 2.13 2.77 (+23%) 2213.7
1882 PRO NL 19 13 34 33 30 4 1 286.0 268 81 36 72 2.55 2.80 (+9%) -768.9
1883 NY1 NL 16 13 34 25 24 1 0 277.0 278 83 31 121 2.70 3.22 (+16%) 2661.7
1884 NY1 NL 3 3 9 5 5 0 0 60.2 72 23 18 23 3.41 3.11 (-10%) -1101.0
Career · 7 seasons 164 103 293 262 245 24 3 2,469.2 2,324 576 253 920 2.10 — 12,731

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

John Ward — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
17 65 14 26 1 1 0 13 6 2 .400

Playoff Batting by Year

John Ward — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1889 WS NY1 9 36 10 15 0 1 0 7 5 2 .417
1888 WS NY1 8 29 4 11 1 0 0 6 1 0 .379

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

John Ward — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
2B 493 0 1226 1646 263 167
3B 46 0 53 112 27 6
OF 214 0 355 77 78 7
P 293 0 169 574 54 20
SS 826 0 1522 2641 530 294

Season-by-Season Fielding

John Ward — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1878 PRO P 37 0 23 74 15 4
1879 PRO 3B 16 0 17 32 9 2
1879 PRO OF 8 0 7 1 3 0
1879 PRO P 70 0 31 134 11 2
1880 PRO 3B 25 0 30 69 12 4
1880 PRO OF 2 0 1 1 2 0
1880 PRO P 70 0 43 133 3 1
1881 PRO OF 40 0 57 14 9 0
1881 PRO P 39 0 26 77 7 7
1881 PRO SS 13 0 20 39 13 4
1882 PRO OF 49 0 69 20 19 3
1882 PRO P 34 0 18 73 6 4
1882 PRO SS 4 0 18 12 6 1
1883 NY1 2B 1 0 2 4 1 0
1883 NY1 3B 5 0 6 11 6 0
1883 NY1 OF 56 0 118 28 24 2
1883 NY1 P 34 0 25 67 10 2
1883 NY1 SS 2 0 3 6 1 0
1884 NY1 2B 47 0 95 177 35 17
1884 NY1 OF 59 0 103 13 21 2
1884 NY1 P 9 0 3 16 2 0
1885 NY1 SS 111 0 167 350 55 36
1886 NY1 SS 122 0 191 369 69 36
1887 NY1 SS 129 0 226 469 61 53
1888 NY1 SS 122 0 185 331 86 39
1889 NY1 2B 7 0 16 20 8 0
1889 NY1 SS 108 0 229 319 68 38
1890 BRP SS 128 0 303 450 105 59
1891 BRO 2B 18 0 55 56 6 8
1891 BRO SS 87 0 180 296 66 28
1892 BRO 2B 148 0 377 472 74 48
1893 NY1 2B 134 0 348 464 73 41
1894 NY1 2B 138 0 333 453 66 53

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

John Ward (b. 1860) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 293
Second Base 493
Third Base 46
Shortstop 826
Left Field 4
Center Field 110
Right Field 100

College History

John Ward — College History
School Name City State Years Attended
Pennsylvania State University State College PA 1875

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

John Ward (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Maury Wills
    .281 avg, 20 HR
  2. 92
    Kid Gleason
    .261 avg, 15 HR
  3. 92
    Joe Tinker HOF
    .262 avg, 31 HR
  4. 92
    Herman Long
    .277 avg, 91 HR
  5. 91
    Steve Sax
    .281 avg, 54 HR
  6. 90
    Charlie Comiskey HOF
    .264 avg, 28 HR

Compare John Ward

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

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John Ward: the record in brief

According to the bio, John Ward debuted on July 15, 1878 and played a final game on September 29, 1894. The season rows list, in order, the Providence Grays (1878 through 1882), the New York Gothams (1883 through 1884), the New York Giants (1885 to 1894), the Brooklyn Ward's Wonders (1890), and the Brooklyn Grooms (1891 to 1892). Ward played primarily as a shortstop and threw right-handed and batted left-handed. Born on March 3, 1860, in Bellefonte, PA, USA, Ward was listed at 165 pounds on a 5-foot-9 frame. Ward's death is recorded on March 4, 1925, in Augusta, GA, USA. The bio lists the given name John Montgomery.

Across 1,827 games at the plate, Ward's career line reads 2,107 hits in 7,656 at bats for a .275 average, adding 26 home runs, 869 runs batted in, and 540 stolen bases. The on-base percentage is .314 and the slugging percentage .341, for an OPS of .655.

Frequently Asked Questions about John Ward

What years did John Ward play?
John Ward played in Major League Baseball from 1878 to 1894.
Was John Ward a pitcher?
Both. John Ward pitched in 293 games, going 164-103 with a 2.1 ERA, but spent most of his career as a Shortstop.
How many home runs did John Ward hit?
John Ward hit 26 career home runs with 2,107 hits.
Is John Ward in the Hall of Fame?
Yes. John Ward was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964.
What teams did John Ward play for?
John Ward played for 4 teams: the Providence Grays (1878–1882), the New York Giants (1883–1889, 1893–1894), the Brooklyn Ward's Wonders (1890), and the Brooklyn Grooms (1891–1892).
What were John Ward's career stats?
In 1,827 games, John Ward had 2,107 hits, 26 home runs, 869 RBI, 1,410 runs, and 540 stolen bases, with a .275 batting average. As a pitcher, in 293 games, he went 164-103 with a 2.10 ERA, 920 strikeouts, 2,469.2 innings pitched, and 3 saves.
What position did John Ward play?
John Ward played primarily as a shortstop, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was John Ward and how much did he weigh?
John Ward was listed at 5 feet 9 inches and 165 pounds.
How many home runs did John Ward hit each season?
John Ward's home runs by season: 1 in 1878, 2 in 1879, 0 in 1880, 0 in 1881, 1 in 1882, 7 in 1883, 2 in 1884, 0 in 1885, 2 in 1886, 1 in 1887, 2 in 1888, 1 in 1889, 4 in 1890, 0 in 1891, 1 in 1892, 2 in 1893, and 0 in 1894. His most in one season was 7, in 1883.
What was John Ward's career batting average?
John Ward batted .275 over his career, with 2,107 hits in 7,656 at bats.
How many RBI did John Ward have?
John Ward drove in 869 runs in his career.
What was John Ward's career ERA?
John Ward finished with a 2.10 career ERA, going 164-103 with 920 strikeouts.