Willie Wells

Shortstop · Career Stats, Hall of Fame Bio & Records (Final season: 1949)

Willie Wells was a shortstop who played in Major League Baseball for 10 teams, including the St. Louis Stars. In 1,068 career games, he hit .327 with 1,319 hits, 145 home runs, and 875 RBI. Willie Wells was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997 and was a 8-time All-Star. His totals include Negro Leagues seasons, which MLB recognized as major league in 2020. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 21,549.

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 1997
AVG .327
HR 145
RBI 875
H 1,319
OPS .943
PIV 21,549
Position
Shortstop
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
5'9" / 170 lb
Born
8/10/1904 in Shawnee, OK, USA
Died
1/22/1989 in Austin, TX, USA
Last Game
1949-06-23
Hall of Fame
Inducted 1997 (Veterans)
Awards
8× All-Star

Full name: Willie James Wells

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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

Willie Wells — Batting
PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
260.0 235.0 30.0 48.0 9.0 1.0 1.0 17.0 19.0 1.0 2.0 .204 .268 .264 .532

Pitching

Willie Wells — Pitching
W L GS CG GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA WHIP
0 0 0 0 3 0 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00

Negro Leagues (season totals). Additive Retrosheet-digitized totals for seasons not already in the logs above; they are not summed into the career line. No team/league breakdown is available, and coverage may be partial.

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Willie Wells — Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting
Season PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1944 4.0 3.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.0 0 0 .000 .250 .000 .250
1944 32.0 27.0 1.0 3.0 0 0 0 1.0 3.0 1.0 0 .111 .200 .111 .311
1949 7.0 7.0 1.0 3.0 0 0 1.0 2.0 0 0 0 .429 .429 .857 1.286
1949 24.0 22.0 2.0 3.0 1.0 0 0 1.0 2.0 0 0 .136 .208 .182 .390
Listed seasons · 4 67 59 4 9 1 0 1 4 6 1 0 .153 — — —

Career Batting Statistics

Willie Wells — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,068 4,030 956 1,319 267 70 145 875 176 497 10 .327 .407 .536 .943 21,549

Career AVG .327 vs. league average .276 across their career seasons — +18.7% above league average.

Career OBP .407 vs. league average .341 across their career seasons — +19.3% above league average.

Career SLG .536 vs. league average .390 across their career seasons — +37.5% above league average.

Career OPS .943 vs. league average .731 across their career seasons — +29.0% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Willie Wells 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
1924 SLS NNL 45 170 29 51 12 4 1 37 2 12 0 .300 .283 (+6%) .345 (+2%) .389 (+12%) .734 (+7%) 182.9
1925 SLS NNL 87 338 83 98 19 7 8 53 18 53 0 .290 .288 (+1%) .349 (+10%) .407 (+13%) .756 (+12%) 839.9
1926 SLS NNL 84 279 66 104 12 4 13 64 16 50 1 .373 .279 (+33%) .345 (+36%) .390 (+50%) .735 (+43%) 2472.9
1927 SLS NNL 96 359 90 131 21 5 29 105 13 55 0 .365 .282 (+29%) .344 (+32%) .392 (+77%) .736 (+56%) 3969.5
1928 SLS NNL 78 315 82 113 28 5 22 81 13 25 1 .359 .280 (+28%) .342 (+21%) .395 (+74%) .737 (+50%) 2789.3
1929 CAG NNL 4 16 4 8 2 1 0 4 1 0 0 .500 — — — — 0.0
1929 SLS NNL 95 363 105 129 22 5 27 117 31 49 0 .355 .289 (+23%) .353 (+24%) .415 (+60%) .769 (+44%) 0.0
1930 SLS NNL 91 341 113 136 36 4 18 112 27 56 0 .399 .293 (+36%) .354 (+39%) .429 (+60%) .784 (+50%) 3682.9
1931 SLS NNL 34 122 35 39 12 3 3 27 9 24 0 .320 .276 (+16%) .338 (+30%) .388 (+39%) .726 (+35%) 801.3
1932 DW EWL 29 113 20 32 13 2 0 20 3 9 0 .283 .275 (+3%) .335 (+2%) .391 (+11%) .726 (+7%) 100.7
1932 HG EWL 10 38 5 10 1 1 2 10 0 2 0 .263 — — — — 100.7
1932 KCM IND 16 57 15 15 2 3 0 12 1 8 1 .263 .275 (-4%) .335 (+11%) .391 (+3%) .726 (+7%) 100.7
1933 CAG NN2 36 156 30 41 7 3 0 23 8 7 0 .263 .270 (-3%) .329 (-7%) .377 (-8%) .707 (-8%) -201.6
1934 CAG NN2 38 144 23 30 7 4 0 13 4 17 1 .208 .278 (-25%) .340 (-14%) .392 (-20%) .733 (-18%) -425.7
1935 CAG NN2 47 184 53 65 14 5 5 36 14 25 0 .353 .279 (+26%) .342 (+26%) .399 (+41%) .742 (+35%) 1157.4
1936 NE NN2 29 111 24 35 6 1 2 12 0 12 1 .315 .283 (+11%) .349 (+11%) .404 (+9%) .753 (+10%) 211.0
1937 NE NN2 28 103 28 38 9 5 3 27 2 10 0 .369 .276 (+33%) .342 (+24%) .398 (+61%) .740 (+44%) 729.0
1937 HG NN2 4 17 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 .059 — — — — 729.0
1938 NE NN2 27 90 22 29 7 2 2 15 3 13 0 .322 .272 (+18%) .341 (+23%) .392 (+30%) .734 (+27%) 435.1
1939 NE NN2 38 150 31 40 4 0 3 21 4 19 3 .267 .274 (-3%) .342 (+1%) .393 (-10%) .735 (-5%) -82.5
1942 NE NN2 51 199 50 68 12 1 6 32 3 16 0 .342 .253 (+35%) .323 (+23%) .349 (+44%) .672 (+34%) 1100.1
1945 NE NN2 9 31 6 4 0 0 0 2 0 3 0 .129 — — — — 0.0
1945 NBY NN2 18 69 7 21 6 0 0 8 1 6 0 .304 .260 (+17%) .328 (+12%) .354 (+10%) .683 (+11%) 0.0
1946 NBY NN2 9 32 3 8 0 0 0 2 1 3 0 .250 — — — — 0.0
1946 BEG NN2 53 197 20 59 13 3 1 36 1 18 0 .299 .256 (+17%) .328 (+9%) .358 (+15%) .687 (+12%) 0.0
1947 CIC NAL 6 19 2 6 0 1 0 3 0 1 0 .316 — — — — 0.0
1948 MRS NAL 6 17 6 8 2 1 0 3 1 2 1 .471 — — — — 0.0
Career · 27 seasons 1,068 4,030 956 1,319 267 70 145 875 176 497 10 .327 — — — — 18,693

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

Willie Wells — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.0

Career ERA 0.00 vs. league average 3.67 across their career seasons — 100.0% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Willie Wells — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1945 NE NN2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0.2 0 0 0 0 0.00 — 0.0
Career · 1 season 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0.2 0 0 0 0 0.00 — 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.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Willie Wells — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
31 118 20 32 5 1 6 19 12 0 .271

Playoff Batting by Year

Willie Wells — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1939 NLP1 NE 4 14 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 .071
1934 NLC CAG 6 23 2 5 1 0 0 0 1 0 .217
1930 NNC SLS 7 31 6 13 2 0 2 9 1 0 .419
1928 NNC SLS 7 26 7 8 1 1 3 9 4 0 .308
1925 NNC SLS 7 24 4 5 1 0 1 1 3 0 .208

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (356 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Willie Wells — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home1715861221951889.333
Away1836171532221672.360

Pitching — Home / Away

Willie Wells — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Away20.200000.00

Last 10 Games — Batting

Willie Wells — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1949-06-23 MEMKCML 100000000
1949-06-20 MEMKCML 100000000
1949-05-29 MEMBLGL 411000000
1948-08-26 MEMKCML 101000100
1948-08-08 MEMKCMW 311100201
1948-07-04 MEMBIRL 433200010
1948-06-24 MEMKCML 412000000
1948-06-14 MEMIN9W 002000000
1948-06-06 MEMCVBW 400000010
1948-06-03 MEMBIRL 111000000

Last 2 Games — Pitching

Willie Wells — Last 2 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1947-05-25 IN9BIR — 0.0000000
1945-06-14 NW2BLG — 0.2000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Willie Wells — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 2 0 0 0 0 0
2B 11 8 24 22 2 3
3B 49 48 53 73 6 4
OF 10 5 9 1 0 0
P 1 0 0 0 0 0
SS 996 907 1972 2954 258 440

Season-by-Season Fielding

Willie Wells — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1924 SLS SS 45 45 115 181 21 30
1925 SLS 1B 1 0 0 0 0 0
1925 SLS SS 88 2 3 2 0 1
1926 SLS SS 81 80 188 271 32 60
1927 SLS 3B 1 1 1 0 0 0
1927 SLS SS 95 94 199 317 35 43
1928 SLS OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
1928 SLS SS 77 77 176 280 24 40
1929 CAG SS 4 4 12 25 2 3
1929 SLS 1B 1 0 0 0 0 0
1929 SLS SS 95 95 201 320 20 41
1930 SLS 2B 1 0 1 1 0 0
1930 SLS OF 3 0 1 0 0 0
1930 SLS SS 90 90 218 325 21 45
1931 SLS SS 34 34 70 117 9 17
1932 DW SS 29 29 67 85 8 12
1932 HG SS 10 10 22 26 3 3
1932 KCM SS 16 16 23 59 2 11
1933 CAG SS 36 36 78 94 9 15
1934 CAG SS 38 38 75 125 7 16
1935 CAG SS 47 47 119 133 13 22
1936 NE SS 29 29 53 84 9 12
1937 NE 2B 1 0 2 2 1 0
1937 NE SS 27 26 51 74 11 14
1937 HG SS 4 4 8 11 1 1
1938 NE 2B 1 0 1 1 0 0
1938 NE SS 27 27 57 74 5 13
1939 NE SS 38 38 71 115 8 9
1942 NE OF 2 2 4 0 0 0
1942 NE SS 48 48 82 118 8 15
1945 NE P 1 0 0 0 0 0
1945 NE SS 8 8 17 24 3 3
1945 NBY OF 1 0 1 0 0 0
1945 NBY SS 18 18 37 61 2 10
1946 NBY OF 1 1 1 0 0 0
1946 NBY SS 8 8 20 27 4 4
1946 BEG 2B 7 7 18 15 0 2
1946 BEG 3B 44 44 50 66 6 4
1946 BEG OF 2 2 2 1 0 0
1947 CIC 2B 1 1 2 3 1 1
1947 CIC SS 4 4 10 6 1 0
1948 MRS 3B 4 3 2 7 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Willie Wells Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 1
First Base 2
Second Base 11
Third Base 49
Shortstop 996
Left Field 8
Center Field 2

Most Similar Players

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

  1. 98
    George Scales
    .329 avg, 76 HR
  2. 95
    Jackie Robinson HOF
    .313 avg, 141 HR
  3. 95
    Jud Wilson HOF
    .357 avg, 100 HR
  4. 90
    Jack Fournier
    .313 avg, 136 HR
  5. 89
    Mule Suttles HOF
    .339 avg, 188 HR
  6. 83
    Joe Harris
    .317 avg, 47 HR

Compare Willie Wells

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

vs Ty Cobb
vs Lou Gehrig
vs Jimmie Foxx
vs Rogers Hornsby
vs Mel Ott
vs Eddie Collins

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

Willie Wells: the record in brief

Willie Wells's record on this page is drawn from the season tables, which run from 1924 to 1948. The team column moves through the St. Louis Stars (1924 through 1931), the Chicago American Giants (1929 to 1935), the Detroit Wolves (1932), the Homestead Grays (1932 to 1937), the Kansas City Monarchs (1932), the Newark Eagles (1936 through 1945), the New York Black Yankees (1945 to 1946), and the Baltimore Elite Giants (1946), with further stops in the season rows. Wells, born on August 10, 1904, in Shawnee, OK, USA, is listed as a shortstop and threw and hit right-handed. Size on record: 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds. The bio records the death on January 22, 1989, in Austin, TX, USA.

Wells finished with 1,319 hits from 4,030 at bats in 1,068 games, which works out to .327, along with 145 home runs, 875 RBI, and 176 stolen bases. The on-base percentage is .407 and the slugging percentage .536, for an OPS of .943.

Frequently Asked Questions about Willie Wells

Was Willie Wells a pitcher?
No. Willie Wells was a position player (Shortstop), though he did pitch in 1 career game.
How many home runs did Willie Wells hit?
Willie Wells hit 145 career home runs with 1,319 hits.
Is Willie Wells in the Hall of Fame?
Yes. Willie Wells was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997.
What teams did Willie Wells play for?
Willie Wells played for 10 teams: the St. Louis Stars (1924–1931), the Chicago American Giants (1929, 1933–1935), the Detroit Wolves (1932), the Homestead Grays (1932, 1937), the Kansas City Monarchs (1932), the Newark Eagles (1936–1939, 1942, 1945), the New York Black Yankees (1945–1946), the Baltimore Elite Giants (1946), the Cincinnati-Indianapolis Clowns (1947), and the Memphis Red Sox (1948).
Did Willie Wells win an MVP award?
No. Willie Wells did not win the MVP award.
What awards did Willie Wells win?
Willie Wells was selected to 8 All-Star Games.
What were Willie Wells's career stats?
In 1,068 games, Willie Wells had 1,319 hits, 145 home runs, 875 RBI, 956 runs, and 176 stolen bases, with a .327 batting average.
What position did Willie Wells play?
Willie Wells played primarily as a shortstop, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Willie Wells and how much did he weigh?
Willie Wells was listed at 5 feet 9 inches and 170 pounds.
How many home runs did Willie Wells hit each season?
Willie Wells's home runs by season: 1 in 1924, 8 in 1925, 13 in 1926, 29 in 1927, 22 in 1928, 27 in 1929, 18 in 1930, 3 in 1931, 2 in 1932, 0 in 1933, 0 in 1934, 5 in 1935, 2 in 1936, 3 in 1937, 2 in 1938, 3 in 1939, 6 in 1942, 0 in 1945, 1 in 1946, 0 in 1947, and 0 in 1948. His most in one season was 29, in 1927.
What was Willie Wells's career batting average?
Willie Wells batted .327 over his career, with 1,319 hits in 4,030 at bats.
How many RBI did Willie Wells have?
Willie Wells drove in 875 runs in his career.
What was Willie Wells's career ERA?
Willie Wells finished with a 0.00 career ERA, going 0-0 with 0 strikeouts.
How many All-Star Games did Willie Wells make?
Willie Wells was selected to 8 All-Star Games.