Harry Byrd Stats

Harry Byrd was born on Tuesday, February 3, 1925, in Darlington, South Carolina. Byrd was 25 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 21, 1950, with the Philadelphia Athletics. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Harry Byrd baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"The powerfully built blond with the yen for work - he asked Manager Jimmy Dykes to pitch a doubleheader this year - won his third victory in seven days and his 12th in his past 17 decisions. But he took it all calmly, even the fact that he beat Vic Raschi, the first time an Athletic pitcher could make that boast since Aug. 13, 1950. In the interim, Vic beat the A's 10 times. Byrd, muscular as any lumberjack is imagined, reviewed the game and in a musically soft voice said it all rested in his control. 'My fast one was good,' Byrd commented. 'But I couldn't ask for better control. Everything else I had was good, but the control was exceptionally fine.'" - The Lebanon Daily News (September 4, 1952, Harry Byrd Hurled 19-inning Shutout in High School, Page 30

Harry Byrd

Harry Byrd Autograph on a 1979 TCMA Baseball Card (#172)

Harry Byrd Autograph on a 1979 TCMA Baseball Card (#172)

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Birth Name:   Harry Gladwin Byrd
Nickname:   None
Born On:   02-03-1925  (Aquarius)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   Darlington, South Carolina
Year of Death Data Died On:   05-14-1985 (1,000 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Darlington, South Carolina
Cemetery:   Darlington Memory Gardens, Hartsville, South Carolina
High School:   St. John’s High School (Darlington, SC)
College:   None Attended
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Right   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Right
Player Height Chart Height:   6-01   Player Weight Chart Weight:   188
First Game:   04-21-1950 (Age 25)
Last Game:   09-27-1957
Draft:   Not Applicable

Harry Byrd

Harry Byrd Pitching Stats

1950 25 Athletics 6 0 2 0 0 .000 16.87 0 0 0 10.2 65 25 20 20 3 9 0 2 3 2 0 -
1952 27 Athletics 37 28 7 15 15 .500 3.31 15 3 2 228.1 1,008 244 84 100 12 98 10 116 4 7 0 -
1953 28 Athletics 40 37 0 11 20 .355 5.51 11 2 0 236.2 1,090 279 145 155 23 115 2 122 6 14 1 -
1954 29 Yankees 25 21 0 9 7 .563 2.99 5 1 0 132.1 567 131 44 56 10 43 2 52 5 7 0 -
1955 30 Orioles 14 8 3 3 2 .600 4.55 1 1 1 65.1 287 64 33 33 7 28 1 25 0 7 0 -
1955 30 White Sox 25 12 6 4 6 .400 4.65 1 1 1 91.0 380 85 47 49 10 30 4 44 1 2 0 -
1956 31 White Sox 3 1 0 0 1 .000 10.39 0 0 0 4.1 26 9 5 6 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 -
1957 32 Tigers 37 1 18 4 3 .571 3.36 0 0 5 59.0 252 53 22 23 6 28 4 20 1 2 0 -
7 Years 187 108 36 46 54 .460 4.35 33 8 9 827.2 3,675 890 400 442 71 355 23 381 20 41 1 -

Harry Byrd

Harry Byrd Hitting Stats

1950 25 Athletics 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1952 27 Athletics 37 75 4 10 2 0 0 0 2 3 0 21 6 0 0 0 .133 .167 .160
1953 28 Athletics 40 81 9 18 0 0 0 0 6 1 0 13 3 0 0 3 .222 .232 .222
1954 29 Yankees 25 46 1 9 0 0 0 0 5 4 0 10 3 0 0 1 .196 .260 .196
1955 30 Orioles 14 19 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 6 3 0 0 1 .158 .200 .158
1955 30 White Sox 25 30 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 3 0 0 0 .067 .067 .067
1956 31 White Sox 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1957 32 Tigers 37 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
7 Years 187 262 16 42 2 0 0 0 14 9 0 60 20 0 0 5 .160 .188 .168

Harry Byrd

Harry Byrd Fielding Stats

1950 Athletics P 6 0 32 2 0.3 2 0 2 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.69
1952 Athletics P 37 28 685 62 1.7 58 26 32 4 5 n/a n/a n/a .935 2.29
1953 Athletics P 40 37 710 43 1.1 41 6 35 2 1 n/a n/a n/a .953 1.56
1954 Yankees P 25 21 397 28 1.1 26 5 21 2 2 n/a n/a n/a .929 1.77
1955 Orioles P 14 8 196 12 0.9 12 4 8 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.65
1955 White Sox P 25 12 273 22 0.9 21 5 16 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .955 2.08
1956 White Sox P 3 1 13 2 0.7 2 0 2 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 4.15
1957 Tigers P 37 1 177 10 0.3 10 0 10 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.53
P Totals 187 108 2,483 181 1.0 172 46 126 9 8 n/a n/a n/a .950 1.87
7 Years 187 108 2,483 181 1.0 172 46 126 9 8 n/a n/a n/a .950 1.87

Harry Byrd

Harry Byrd Miscellaneous Stats

1950 Athletics 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 2.0 0.0 0.22 1.69 7.59
1952 Athletics 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 3.6 37.5 1.18 4.57 3.86
1953 Athletics 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 6.2 13.5 1.06 4.64 4.37
1954 Yankees 0 1 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 4.6 9.2 1.21 3.54 2.92
1955 Orioles 1 0 1.000 0 0 n/a 0.0 3.2 19.0 0.89 3.44 3.86
1955 White Sox 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 4.3 0.0 1.47 4.35 2.97
1956 White Sox 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.00 0.00 8.31
1957 Tigers 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 4.0 0.0 0.71 3.05 4.27
7 Years 1 1 .500 0 0 n/a 0.0 4.4 18.7 1.07 4.14 3.86

Harry Byrd

Harry Byrd Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1950 Philadelphia Athletics 36, 39 $5,000.00 - -
1952 Philadelphia Athletics 39 $4,000.00 - -
1953 Philadelphia Athletics 39 $9,000.00 - -
1954 New York Yankees 19 $12,000.00 - -
1955 Baltimore Orioles 24 $13,000.00 - -
1955 Chicago White Sox 32 "     "     - -
1956 Chicago White Sox 32 $11,000.00 - -
1957 Detroit Tigers 11 $9,000.00 - -

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Harry Gladwin Byrd was a Major League Baseball player who pitched for the Philadelphia Athletics (1950-1953), New York Yankees (1954), Baltimore Orioles (1955), Chicago White Sox (1955-1956), and Detroit Tigers (1957). When Byrd broke into the big leagues on April 21, 1950, he became the first St. John’s High School student to reach the majors. During his senior year, Byrd transferred to Pelzer High School (Pelzer, South Carolina), where he also played baseball. Then, after graduating, Harry enlisted in the United States Army, serving during World War II with the 567th Anti-Aircraft Battalion.

Harry Byrd won the 1952 American League Rookie of the Year Award — the first in franchise history for the Athletics organization who played in Philadelphia from 1901 through 1954, then moved to Kansas City, where they played from 1955 through 1967, then becoming the modern day Oakland Athletics. The next rookie to win the honor for the Athletics, Jose Canseco (1986).

Harry Byrd was the first pitcher from the American League to win a Rookie of the Year, joining Don Newcombe, who won in 1949, with the Brooklyn Dodgers, the first pitcher from the National League to receive the honor.

Harry Byrd, American League Rookie of the Year

Harry Byrd / Rookie of the Year | Mt. Vernon Register | November 21, 1952 | Page 10

Did you know that Harry Byrd was part of a big trade in 1953 which sent him from the Athletics to the Yankees? The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (09/25/1953, Page 18) wrote, "It was pretty hot gossip along the Rialto last night that the World Champion Yankees would land pitcher Harry Byrd, righthander of the Philadelphia Athletics, in a Winter trade. The story was that the A's were in need of ready cash in addition to players for the highly-thought-of chucker of Quakertown." The very next year, Byrd was involved in an even larger trade that baseball historian Bill James wrote about in The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (Free Press Publishing, 06/13/2003, Page 407):

Eventually the Yankees decided that he (Gus Triandos) wasn't going to take Yogi Berra's job, and included him in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles, a trade involving - I am not making this up - Harry Byrd, Jim McDonald, Bill Miller, Hal Smith, Don Leppert, Kal Segrist, Willie Miranda, Gene Woodling, Mike Blyzka, Don Larsen, Bob Turley, Darrell Johnson, Dick Kryhoski, Billy Hunter, Ted del Guercio, and Jim Fridley. Basically, the Orioles traded two pitchers for a dozen or more people the Yankees were never going to use.

In 1953, Harry Byrd plunked an American League leading 14 batters, the last pitcher from the Athletics to lead the league in hit by pitch. Those who came before Byrd were Phil Marchildon (7 in 1947), Russ Christopher (9 in 1944), Whitey Wilshere (10 in 1935), Howard Ehmke (14 in 1927), Willie Adams (12 in 1918), Cy Morgan (21 in 1911 & 18 in 1910), Jimmy Dygert (18 in 1907), Eddie Plank (24 in 1905 & 18 in 1902), Chief Bender (25 in 1903) and Chick Fraser (32 in 1901).