Lon Warneke
Born: 3/28/1909 in Mount Ida, AR, USA
Died: 6/23/1976 in Hot Springs, AR, USA
MLB Debut: 1930-04-18 | Final Game: 1945-09-29
Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'2" | Weight: 185 lbs
Full name: Lonnie Warneke
Biography
Lon Warneke was a prominent American pitcher whose career spanned from 1930 to 1945. Born in 1909, he established himself as a formidable presence on the mound during a period when Major League Baseball was beginning to emerge from the shadow of the deadball era. Warneke finished his career with a record of 192-121 and an impressive earned run average (ERA) of 3.18, showcasing his ability to consistently limit scoring by opposing teams. Over his 15 seasons in the big leagues, he recorded 1,140 strikeouts and contributed 13 saves, highlighting his versatility and effectiveness in various game situations.
Warneke was selected as an All-Star five times, a testament to his skill and recognition among peers during his playing years. He was known for his durability and competitiveness, often taking the mound in critical games for his teams. His contributions to baseball continued to resonate long after his retirement on September 29, 1945, as he left an indelible mark on the game and inspired future generations of pitchers. Warneke's legacy is remembered not only for his statistical achievements but also for his role in the transition of baseball into a new era marked by greater offensive output and the integration of diverse talent into the sport.
Negro Leagues Career Statistics
Batting
| PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0 | 3.0 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0.333 | 0.333 | 0.333 | 0.666 |
Pitching
| W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting
| Season | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0.333 | 0.333 | 0.333 | 0.666 |
Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching
| Season | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Career Pitching Statistics
| W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 192 | 121 | 445 | 343 | 192 | 30 | 13 | 2782.3 | 2726 | 984 | 175 | 739 | 1140 | 3.18 | 0 |
Season-by-Season Pitching
| Year | Team | Lg | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 | CHC | NL | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 33.75 | - |
| 1931 | CHC | NL | 2 | 4 | 20 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 64.3 | 67 | 23 | 37 | 27 | 3.22 | - |
| 1932 | CHC | NL | 22 | 6 | 35 | 32 | 25 | 4 | 0 | 277.0 | 247 | 73 | 64 | 106 | 2.37 | - |
| 1933 | CHC | NL | 18 | 13 | 36 | 34 | 26 | 4 | 1 | 287.3 | 262 | 64 | 75 | 133 | 2.00 | - |
| 1934 | CHC | NL | 22 | 10 | 43 | 35 | 23 | 3 | 3 | 291.3 | 273 | 104 | 66 | 143 | 3.21 | - |
| 1935 | CHC | NL | 20 | 13 | 42 | 30 | 20 | 1 | 4 | 261.7 | 257 | 89 | 50 | 120 | 3.06 | - |
| 1936 | CHC | NL | 16 | 13 | 40 | 29 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 240.3 | 246 | 92 | 76 | 113 | 3.45 | - |
| 1937 | STL | NL | 18 | 11 | 36 | 33 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 238.7 | 280 | 120 | 69 | 87 | 4.53 | - |
| 1938 | STL | NL | 13 | 8 | 31 | 26 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 197.0 | 199 | 87 | 64 | 89 | 3.97 | - |
| 1939 | STL | NL | 13 | 7 | 34 | 21 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 162.0 | 160 | 68 | 49 | 59 | 3.78 | - |
| 1940 | STL | NL | 16 | 10 | 33 | 31 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 232.0 | 235 | 81 | 47 | 85 | 3.14 | - |
| 1941 | STL | NL | 17 | 9 | 37 | 30 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 246.0 | 227 | 86 | 82 | 83 | 3.15 | - |
| 1942 | CHC | NL | 5 | 7 | 15 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 99.0 | 97 | 25 | 21 | 28 | 2.27 | - |
| 1942 | STL | NL | 6 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 82.0 | 76 | 30 | 15 | 31 | 3.29 | - |
| 1943 | CHC | NL | 4 | 5 | 21 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 88.3 | 82 | 31 | 18 | 30 | 3.16 | - |
| 1945 | CHC | NL | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14.0 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 3.86 | - |
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 459 | 962 | 87 | 215 | 26 | 2 | 4 | 97 | 1 | 52 | 148 | 0.223 | 0.266 | 0.267 | 0.533 | -4119.8 |
Season-by-Season Batting
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 | CHC | NL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1931 | CHC | NL | 20 | 19 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.263 | 0.0 |
| 1932 | CHC | NL | 35 | 99 | 8 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 0.192 | -699.2 |
| 1933 | CHC | NL | 39 | 100 | 9 | 30 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 0.300 | 90.6 |
| 1934 | CHC | NL | 52 | 113 | 12 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0.195 | -831.9 |
| 1935 | CHC | NL | 44 | 91 | 9 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0.220 | -544.2 |
| 1936 | CHC | NL | 40 | 84 | 9 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0.202 | -525.9 |
| 1937 | STL | NL | 36 | 80 | 10 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 0.263 | -212.8 |
| 1938 | STL | NL | 31 | 71 | 5 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0.324 | -55.1 |
| 1939 | STL | NL | 34 | 52 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 0.192 | -277.4 |
| 1940 | STL | NL | 33 | 86 | 6 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 5 | 24 | 0.209 | -416.7 |
| 1941 | STL | NL | 37 | 77 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 18 | 0.117 | -647.2 |
| 1942 | CHC | NL | 15 | 32 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.188 | 0.0 |
| 1942 | STL | NL | 12 | 30 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0.333 | 0.0 |
| 1943 | CHC | NL | 21 | 26 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0.192 | 0.0 |
| 1945 | CHC | NL | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
Postseason Statistics
Playoff Career Batting
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.111 |
Playoff Batting by Year
| Year | Round | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1935 | WS | CHN | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.200 |
| 1932 | WS | CHN | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.000 |
Playoff Career Pitching
| W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 27.3 | 24 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 2.63 |
Playoff Pitching by Year
| Year | Round | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1935 | WS | CHN | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 16.7 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0.54 |
| 1932 | WS | CHN | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10.7 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 5.91 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 445 | 0 | 126 | 538 | 8 | 31 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 | CHN | P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1931 | CHN | P | 20 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| 1932 | CHN | P | 35 | 0 | 11 | 55 | 1 | 7 |
| 1933 | CHN | P | 36 | 0 | 8 | 72 | 0 | 7 |
| 1934 | CHN | P | 43 | 0 | 15 | 58 | 0 | 1 |
| 1935 | CHN | P | 42 | 0 | 15 | 47 | 1 | 1 |
| 1936 | CHN | P | 40 | 0 | 15 | 44 | 1 | 1 |
| 1937 | SLN | P | 36 | 0 | 10 | 40 | 2 | 0 |
| 1938 | SLN | P | 31 | 0 | 4 | 34 | 2 | 0 |
| 1939 | SLN | P | 34 | 0 | 9 | 28 | 0 | 4 |
| 1940 | SLN | P | 33 | 0 | 10 | 50 | 0 | 5 |
| 1941 | SLN | P | 37 | 0 | 8 | 43 | 0 | 3 |
| 1942 | CHN | P | 15 | 0 | 8 | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 1942 | SLN | P | 12 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 1943 | CHN | P | 21 | 0 | 3 | 22 | 0 | 2 |
| 1945 | CHN | P | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Career Games by Position
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | 445 |
Awards & Honors
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 27th | 7.0 | 336 | 0 |
| 1938 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 30th | 1.0 | 336 | 0 |
| 1937 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 16th | 6.0 | 80 | 0 |
| 1935 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 12th | 9.0 | 80 | 0 |
| 1934 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 13th | 10.0 | 80 | 0 |
| 1933 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 20th | 4.0 | 80 | 0 |
| 1932 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 2nd | 68.0 | 80 | 0 |