Herb Score was born on Wednesday, June 7, 1933, in Rosedale, New York. Score was 21 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 15, 1955, with the Cleveland Indians. 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 Herb Score baseball stats page.
"After Score's first two seasons he appeared headed to the Hall of Fame. He was the whole package. He threw a blazing fastball and a nasty curve. George Kell said of Score's curve, 'If he throws it over the plate you're dead, because you've always got to set yourself for his fast ball.' Although Score's fastball was never clocked, A.L. umpires had a rule of thumb for estimating a pitcher's velocity. Former ump Larry Napp once stated, 'The faster the pitcher, the more foul balls are hit in the stands. About for balls are used in an average game. When Score pitches, we need at least an extra dozen.'" - Author Rich Marazzi in Baseball Players of the 1950s: A Biographical Dictionary of All 1,560 Major Leaguers (McFarland Publishing, 11/30/2009, 'Herb Score,' Page 355)
Herb ScoreHerb Score Autograph on a 1954 Topps Archive (#256) |
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Biographical Data | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Herb ScoreHerb Score Pitching Stats |
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Year | Age | Team | G | GS | GF | W | L | PCT | ERA | CG | SHO | SV | IP | BFP | H | ER | R | HR | BB | IBB | SO | WP | HB | BK | HLD |
1955 | 22 | Indians | 33 | 32 | 0 | 16 | 10 | .615 | 2.85 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 227.1 | 978 | 158 | 72 | 85 | 18 | 154 | 1 | 245 | 12 | 1 | 0 | - |
1956 | 23 | Indians | 35 | 33 | 1 | 20 | 9 | .690 | 2.53 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 249.1 | 1,022 | 162 | 70 | 82 | 18 | 129 | 2 | 263 | 11 | 2 | 0 | - |
1957 | 24 | Indians | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .667 | 2.00 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 36.0 | 150 | 18 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 39 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
1958 | 25 | Indians | 12 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 3 | .400 | 3.95 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 41.0 | 182 | 29 | 18 | 19 | 1 | 34 | 1 | 48 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - |
1959 | 26 | Indians | 30 | 25 | 2 | 9 | 11 | .450 | 4.71 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 160.2 | 712 | 123 | 84 | 93 | 28 | 115 | 0 | 147 | 14 | 1 | 1 | - |
1960 | 27 | White Sox | 23 | 22 | 1 | 5 | 10 | .333 | 3.72 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 113.2 | 506 | 91 | 47 | 54 | 10 | 87 | 0 | 78 | 8 | 2 | 0 | - |
1961 | 28 | White Sox | 8 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .333 | 6.66 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24.1 | 119 | 22 | 18 | 19 | 3 | 24 | 1 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - |
1962 | 29 | White Sox | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 4.50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 27 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - |
Career | G | GS | GF | W | L | PCT | ERA | CG | SHO | SV | IP | BFP | H | ER | R | HR | BB | IBB | SO | WP | HB | BK | HLD | ||
8 Years | 150 | 127 | 11 | 55 | 46 | .545 | 3.36 | 47 | 11 | 3 | 858.1 | 3,696 | 609 | 320 | 364 | 79 | 573 | 7 | 837 | 55 | 7 | 2 | 0 |
Herb ScoreHerb Score Hitting Stats |
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Year | Age | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | GRSL | RBI | BB | IBB | SO | SH | SF | HBP | GIDP | AVG | OBP | SLG |
1955 | 22 | Indians | 33 | 84 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 40 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .119 | .149 | .131 |
1956 | 23 | Indians | 35 | 87 | 11 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 32 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .184 | .260 | .253 |
1957 | 24 | Indians | 5 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .091 | .231 | .091 |
1958 | 25 | Indians | 12 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .091 | .231 | .091 |
1959 | 26 | Indians | 30 | 52 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .096 | .127 | .096 |
1960 | 27 | White Sox | 23 | 30 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .100 | .182 | .167 |
1961 | 28 | White Sox | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
1962 | 29 | White Sox | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
Career | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | GRSL | RBI | BB | IBB | SO | SH | SF | HBP | GIDP | AVG | OBP | SLG | ||
8 Years | 150 | 281 | 21 | 36 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 21 | 0 | 126 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .128 | .188 | .160 |
Herb ScoreHerb Score Fielding Stats |
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Team | POS | G | GS | OUTS | TC | TC/G | CH | PO | A | E | DP | PB | CASB | CACS | FLD% | RF |
1955 Indians | P | 33 | 32 | 682 | 23 | 0.7 | 19 | 4 | 15 | 4 | 2 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .826 | 0.75 |
1956 Indians | P | 35 | 33 | 748 | 22 | 0.6 | 20 | 1 | 19 | 2 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .909 | 0.72 |
1957 Indians | P | 5 | 5 | 108 | 7 | 1.4 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .857 | 1.50 |
1958 Indians | P | 12 | 5 | 123 | 5 | 0.4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .400 | 0.44 |
1959 Indians | P | 30 | 25 | 482 | 21 | 0.7 | 16 | 1 | 15 | 5 | 1 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .762 | 0.90 |
1960 White Sox | P | 23 | 22 | 341 | 17 | 0.7 | 17 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 1.35 |
1961 White Sox | P | 8 | 5 | 73 | 6 | 0.8 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 2.22 |
1962 White Sox | P | 4 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 0.5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 3.00 |
Career | POS | G | GS | OUTS | TC | TC/G | CH | PO | A | E | DP | PB | CASB | CACS | FLD% | RF |
P Totals | 150 | 127 | 2,575 | 103 | 0.7 | 88 | 8 | 80 | 15 | 3 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .854 | 0.92 | |
8 Years | 150 | 127 | 2,575 | 103 | 0.7 | 88 | 8 | 80 | 15 | 3 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .854 | 0.92 |
Herb ScoreHerb Score Miscellaneous Stats |
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Baserunning Statistics | Other Positions | Common Hitting Ratios | Common Pitching Ratios | |||||||||
Team | SB | CS | SB% | PH | PR | DH | AB/HR | AB/K | AB/RBI | K/BB | K/9 | BB/9 |
1955 Indians | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 0.0 | 2.1 | 42.0 | 1.59 | 9.70 | 6.10 |
1956 Indians | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 87.0 | 2.7 | 10.9 | 2.04 | 9.49 | 4.66 |
1957 Indians | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 0.0 | 1.8 | 0.0 | 1.50 | 9.75 | 6.50 |
1958 Indians | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 0.0 | 2.2 | 0.0 | 1.41 | 10.54 | 7.46 |
1959 Indians | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 0.0 | 2.4 | 52.0 | 1.28 | 8.23 | 6.44 |
1960 White Sox | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 0.0 | 1.9 | 30.0 | 0.90 | 6.18 | 6.89 |
1961 White Sox | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 0.0 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.58 | 5.18 | 8.88 |
1962 White Sox | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.75 | 4.50 | 6.00 |
Career | SB | CS | SB% | PH | PR | DH | AB/HR | AB/K | AB/RBI | K/BB | K/9 | BB/9 |
8 Years | 0 | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 281.0 | 2.2 | 23.4 | 1.46 | 8.78 | 6.01 |
Herb ScoreHerb Score Miscellaneous Items of Interest |
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Team | Roster | Uniform Numbers | Salary | All-Star | World Series |
1955 Cleveland Indians | 27 | Undetermined | Stats | - |
1956 Cleveland Indians | 27 | Undetermined | Stats | - |
1957 Cleveland Indians | 27 | Undetermined | - | - |
1958 Cleveland Indians | 27 | Undetermined | - | - |
1959 Cleveland Indians | 27 | Undetermined | - | - |
1960 Chicago White Sox | 18 | Undetermined | - | - |
1961 Chicago White Sox | 18 | Undetermined | - | - |
1962 Chicago White Sox | 18 | Undetermined | - | - |
Herb Score Stats by Baseball Almanac |
In 1955, Herb Score finished the season with 245 strikeouts, the first American League pitcher to ever strike out more than 200-batters during his first season, since joined by Mark Langston (204 strikeouts in 1984), Daisuke Matsuzaka (201 strikeouts in 2007), and Yu Darvish (221 strikeouts in 2012).
Herb Score set the American League record that season (1955) for most strikeouts in a season by a rookie, a mark that remains in the Strikeout Record Book through today. His National League counterpart is Dwight Gooden, who mowed down 276 batters in 1984.
Herb Score followed-up his first season - one where he was also the first Cleveland Indian to win Rookie of the Year - with a second league leading strikeout total, a twenty-win campaign (2nd most wins in the AL / Top 25), and five shutouts - tops in the junior circuit as well. A year later, his career changed:
Herb Score Injury (Hit by Pitch) | Photo by Life Magazine | May 20, 1957 | Page 135
On May 7, 1957, Gil McDougald hit a fastball back to the mound, striking Herb Score in the face, an injury that ended his season. Life Magazine included the following story with the graphic photo seen above, "Because of his blinding fast ball and his youth (he is 23), Herb Score of the Cleveland Indians has been considered the most valuable pitcher in baseball. The Boston Red Sox offered $1 million for him, the highest bid ever made for a player. Last week Score's speed boomeranged cruelly and he lay crumpled on the mound, his eyesight and his baseball future in danger. Yankee batter Gil McDougald drove one of Score's fast balls directly back at him. Score, whose follow-through leaves him off balance, was unable to protect himself and the ball struck him in the right eye. He had been hit often but never in a frightening place. Although medical reports grew optimistic about his regaining use of the eye, there were doubts when he would pitch again and how well."
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