Vern Law Stats

Vern Law was born on Wednesday, March 12, 1930, in Meridian, Idaho. Law was 20 years old when he broke into the big leagues on June 11, 1950, with the Pittsburgh Pirates. 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 Vern Law baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, and the lesson afterwards." - Pittsburgh Pirates Pitcher Vern Law (David Nathan, The McFarland Baseball Quotations Dictionary, McFarland & Company Publishing, 05/2000, Page 232)

Vern Law

Vern 'Deacon' Law Autograph on a 1953 Topps Archives Baseball Card (#324)

Vern 'Deacon' Law Autograph on a 1953 Topps Archives Baseball Card (#324)

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Birth Name:   Vernon Sanders Law
Nickname:   Deacon or Preacher or Vern
Born On:   03-12-1930  (Pisces)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   Meridian, Idaho
Year of Death Data Died On:   Still Living (1,000 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Still Living
Cemetery:   n/a
High School:   Meridian High School (Meridian, ID)
College:   None Attended
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Right   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Right
Player Height Chart Height:   6-02   Player Weight Chart Weight:   195
First Game:   06-11-1950 (Age 20)
Last Game:   08-20-1967
Draft:   Not Applicable / Signing Bonus = $2,000

Vern Law

Vern Law Pitching Stats

1950 20 Pirates 27 17 6 7 9 .438 4.92 5 1 0 128.0 562 137 70 83 11 49 3 57 2 4 0 -
1951 21 Pirates 28 14 8 6 9 .400 4.50 2 1 2 114.0 499 109 57 66 9 51 1 41 2 6 1 -
1954 24 Pirates 39 18 17 9 13 .409 5.51 7 0 3 161.2 728 201 99 109 20 56 4 57 6 3 0 -
1955 25 Pirates 43 24 13 10 10 .500 3.81 8 1 1 200.2 865 221 85 98 19 61 7 82 5 1 0 -
1956 26 Pirates 39 32 6 8 16 .333 4.32 6 0 2 195.2 851 218 94 110 24 49 10 60 8 6 0 -
1957 27 Pirates 31 25 5 10 8 .556 2.87 9 3 1 172.2 716 172 55 72 18 32 8 55 2 2 0 -
1958 28 Pirates 35 29 5 14 12 .538 3.96 6 1 3 202.1 854 235 89 103 16 39 5 56 1 1 0 -
1959 29 Pirates 34 33 1 18 9 .667 2.98 20 2 1 266.0 1,080 245 88 91 25 53 11 110 5 2 0 -
1960 30 Pirates 35 35 0 20 9 .690 3.08 18 3 0 271.2 1,091 266 93 104 25 40 8 120 2 4 1 0
1961 31 Pirates 11 10 1 3 4 .429 4.70 1 0 0 59.1 258 72 31 33 10 18 3 20 0 1 0 -
1962 32 Pirates 23 20 2 10 7 .588 3.94 7 2 0 139.1 596 156 61 67 21 27 4 78 2 1 0 -
1963 33 Pirates 18 12 2 4 5 .444 4.93 1 1 0 76.2 325 91 42 45 11 13 0 31 2 0 0 -
1964 34 Pirates 35 29 1 12 13 .480 3.61 7 5 0 192.0 795 203 77 85 18 32 6 93 1 1 0 -
1965 35 Pirates 29 28 1 17 9 .654 2.15 13 4 0 217.1 847 182 52 66 17 35 2 101 1 3 0 -
1966 36 Pirates 31 28 2 12 8 .600 4.05 8 4 0 177.2 737 203 80 85 19 24 1 88 0 4 1 -
1967 37 Pirates 25 10 7 2 6 .250 4.18 1 0 0 97.0 427 122 45 57 5 18 9 43 0 1 0 -
16 Years 483 364 77 162 147 .524 3.77 119 28 13 2,672.0 11,231 2,833 1,118 1,274 268 597 82 1,092 39 40 3 0

Vern Law

Vern Law Hitting Stats

1950 20 Pirates 27 41 0 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 14 0 0 2 1 .073 .136 .122
1951 21 Pirates 28 32 5 11 2 1 1 0 4 3 0 6 3 0 0 0 .344 .400 .563
1954 24 Pirates 50 52 10 12 5 0 1 0 13 5 0 8 6 0 1 4 .231 .310 .385
1955 25 Pirates 44 63 8 16 3 0 1 0 8 4 0 16 2 0 0 0 .254 .299 .349
1956 26 Pirates 39 57 3 10 1 0 1 0 8 4 0 16 3 1 0 1 .175 .226 .246
1957 27 Pirates 34 63 3 12 1 1 0 0 6 1 0 11 4 0 1 0 .190 .215 .238
1958 28 Pirates 36 62 11 12 3 1 2 0 12 9 0 10 7 2 0 4 .194 .288 .371
1959 29 Pirates 38 96 6 16 2 0 1 0 8 3 0 20 7 0 0 4 .167 .192 .219
1960 30 Pirates 35 94 10 17 5 2 1 0 7 2 0 19 7 1 0 1 .181 .196 .309
1961 31 Pirates 11 19 0 5 1 0 0 0 5 1 0 4 2 1 1 0 .263 .318 .316
1962 32 Pirates 23 45 6 14 4 1 0 0 5 1 0 7 7 2 0 0 .311 .313 .444
1963 33 Pirates 21 23 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 .217 .217 .217
1964 34 Pirates 36 61 9 19 3 0 1 0 3 3 0 11 5 0 1 3 .311 .354 .410
1965 35 Pirates 34 82 9 20 0 0 1 0 6 0 0 19 4 0 0 3 .244 .244 .280
1966 36 Pirates 34 66 11 16 3 0 1 0 3 3 0 11 4 0 0 2 .242 .275 .333
1967 37 Pirates 26 27 3 3 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 6 1 0 0 0 .111 .143 .185
16 Years 516 883 96 191 35 7 11 0 90 41 0 179 63 7 6 24 .216 .254 .309

Vern Law

Vern Law Fielding Stats

1950 Pirates P 27 17 384 22 0.8 20 5 15 2 1 n/a n/a n/a .909 1.41
1951 Pirates P 28 14 342 27 1.0 25 10 15 2 2 n/a n/a n/a .926 1.97
1954 Pirates P 39 18 485 35 0.9 34 11 23 1 2 n/a n/a n/a .971 1.89
1954 Pirates RF 1 1 3 1 1.0 1 1 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 9.00
1955 Pirates P 43 24 602 53 1.2 49 14 35 4 3 n/a n/a n/a .925 2.20
1956 Pirates P 39 32 587 43 1.1 43 12 31 0 3 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.98
1957 Pirates P 31 25 518 38 1.2 36 13 23 2 2 n/a n/a n/a .947 1.88
1958 Pirates P 35 29 607 47 1.3 47 16 31 0 3 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.09
1959 Pirates P 34 33 798 68 2.0 67 20 47 1 5 n/a n/a n/a .985 2.27
1960 Pirates P 35 35 815 80 2.3 78 28 50 2 6 n/a n/a n/a .975 2.58
1961 Pirates P 11 10 178 20 1.8 20 7 13 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 3.03
1962 Pirates P 23 20 418 36 1.6 34 7 27 2 3 n/a n/a n/a .944 2.20
1963 Pirates P 18 12 230 25 1.4 25 5 20 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.93
1964 Pirates P 35 29 576 53 1.5 52 16 36 1 3 n/a n/a n/a .981 2.44
1965 Pirates P 29 28 652 66 2.3 65 29 36 1 2 n/a n/a n/a .985 2.69
1966 Pirates P 31 28 533 47 1.5 47 11 36 0 4 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.38
1967 Pirates P 25 10 291 24 1.0 23 8 15 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .958 2.13
P Totals 483 364 8,016 684 1.4 665 212 453 19 41 n/a n/a n/a .972 2.24
RF Totals 1 1 3 1 1.0 1 1 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 9.00
16 Years 484 365 8,019 685 1.4 666 213 453 19 41 n/a n/a n/a .972 2.24

Vern Law

Vern Law Miscellaneous Stats

1950 Pirates 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 2.9 41.0 1.16 4.01 3.45
1951 Pirates 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 32.0 5.3 8.0 0.80 3.24 4.03
1954 Pirates 0 0 .000 6 7 n/a 52.0 6.5 4.0 1.02 3.17 3.12
1955 Pirates 1 0 1.000 0 1 n/a 63.0 3.9 7.9 1.34 3.68 2.74
1956 Pirates 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 57.0 3.6 7.1 1.22 2.76 2.25
1957 Pirates 0 0 .000 3 0 n/a 0.0 5.7 10.5 1.72 2.87 1.67
1958 Pirates 0 0 .000 0 1 n/a 31.0 6.2 5.2 1.44 2.49 1.73
1959 Pirates 0 0 .000 1 3 n/a 96.0 4.8 12.0 2.08 3.72 1.79
1960 Pirates 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 94.0 4.9 13.4 3.00 3.98 1.33
1961 Pirates 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 4.8 3.8 1.11 3.03 2.73
1962 Pirates 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 6.4 9.0 2.89 5.04 1.74
1963 Pirates 0 0 .000 0 3 n/a 0.0 23.0 0.0 2.38 3.64 1.53
1964 Pirates 0 0 .000 1 0 n/a 61.0 5.5 20.3 2.91 4.36 1.50
1965 Pirates 0 0 .000 0 5 n/a 82.0 4.3 13.7 2.89 4.18 1.45
1966 Pirates 0 0 .000 1 2 n/a 66.0 6.0 22.0 3.67 4.46 1.22
1967 Pirates 0 0 .000 0 1 n/a 0.0 4.5 27.0 2.39 3.99 1.67
16 Years 1 0 1.000 12 23 n/a 80.3 4.9 9.8 1.83 3.68 2.01

Vern Law

Vern Law Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1950 Pittsburgh Pirates 20 $5,000.00 - -
1951 Pittsburgh Pirates 20 $10,000.00 - -
1954 Pittsburgh Pirates 32 Undetermined - -
1955 Pittsburgh Pirates 32 Undetermined - -
1956 Pittsburgh Pirates 32 Undetermined - -
1957 Pittsburgh Pirates 32 Undetermined - -
1958 Pittsburgh Pirates 32 Undetermined - -
1959 Pittsburgh Pirates 32 $35,000.00 - -
1960 Pittsburgh Pirates 32 $50,000.00 Stats Stats
1961 Pittsburgh Pirates 32 Undetermined - -
1962 Pittsburgh Pirates 32 Undetermined - -
1963 Pittsburgh Pirates 32 Undetermined - -
1964 Pittsburgh Pirates 32 Undetermined - -
1965 Pittsburgh Pirates 32 Undetermined - -
1966 Pittsburgh Pirates 32 Undetermined - -
1967 Pittsburgh Pirates 32 Undetermined - -

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What did "Preacher" think of the Major Leagues after his career? In Baseball Digest, 'What Some Old-Timers Think of the Major Leagues Today' (November 1995, Rick Van Blair, Page 51) he said, "Some of the desire to win seems to be lacking in today's game. It seems like some players have their eye on the pocketbook rather than the ball. I don't think many of them are having the fun playing the game like we did. Teammates don't seem to be as close to each other as they were in my day."

The Cy Young Award was given to exactly one pitcher, the best one in Major League Baseball, from 1956 through 1966. In 1960, Vern Law won the Cy Young - the most outstanding pitcher by the Baseball Writers Association of America and Deacon became the first Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher to receive the prestigious honor.

Vern Law pitched his entire big league career with the Pittsburgh Pirates and is one of only four Bucs' pitchers with 350+ games started, joining Bob Friend (477 GS / #1), Wilbur Cooper (369 GS / #2) and Babe Adams (353 GS #4). Only five Pirates pitchers have ever won more games than Law (Wilbur Cooper, 202 wins, #1; Babe Adams, 194 wins, #2; Sam Leever, 194 wins, #3; Bob Friend, 191 wins, #4; Deacon Phillippe, 168 wins, #5) and only four have struck out more hitters (Bob Friend, 1,682 strikeouts, #1; Bob Veale, 1,652 strikeouts, #2; Wilbur Cooper, 1,191 strikeouts, #3; John Candelaria, 1,159 strikeouts, #4)! Deacon is also top ten in team history in bases on balls (5th), earned runs (2nd), games pitched (4th), hits allowed (3rd), home runs allowed (2nd), innings pitched (4th) and runs allowed (2nd).