George Witt Stats

George Witt was born on Monday, November 9, 1931, in Long Beach, California. Witt was 25 years old when he broke into the big leagues on September 21, 1957, 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 George Witt baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"Baseball wasn't something I enjoyed, it was something I thought I had to do because I could excel in it. Basketball was my favorite sport and track was my next favorite, but I had nowhere to go in those sports. Baseball was something I could do well enough to make a living. I wanted to be an outfielder, but I didn't hit well enough. So I pitched, and pitching wasn't my idea of fun. I guess you can't expect it to be fun when you had the arm injuries I did." - George Witt in The Pittsburgh Press (Ron Cook, To Witt, baseball was unhappy time, 05/11/1987, Page D2)

George Witt

George 'Red' Witt Autograph on a 1962 Topps Baseball Card (#287 | <a href='../baseball_cards/baseball_cards_oneset.php?s=1962top01' title='1962 Topps Baseball Card Checklist'>Checklist</a>)

George 'Red' Witt Autograph on a 1962 Topps Baseball Card (#287 | Checklist)

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Birth Name:   George Adrian Witt
Nickname:   Red
Born On:   11-09-1931  (Scorpio)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   Long Beach, California
Year of Death Data Died On:   01-30-2013 (1,000 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Los Angeles, California
Cemetery:   Cremated
High School:   Phineas Banning High School (Wilmington, CA)
College:   None Attended
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Right   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Right
Player Height Chart Height:   6-03   Player Weight Chart Weight:   200
First Game:   09-21-1957 (Age 25)
Last Game:   06-10-1962
Draft:   Not Applicable

George Witt

George Witt Pitching Stats

1957 26 Pirates 1 1 0 0 1 .000 40.51 0 0 0 1.1 13 4 6 6 1 5 0 1 0 0 0 0
1958 27 Pirates 18 15 0 9 2 .818 1.61 5 3 0 106.0 442 78 19 22 2 59 3 81 5 2 0 -
1959 28 Pirates 15 11 2 0 7 .000 6.93 0 0 0 50.2 234 58 39 43 7 32 2 30 0 1 1 -
1960 29 Pirates 10 6 0 1 2 .333 4.20 0 0 0 30.0 128 33 14 18 3 12 0 15 0 0 0 -
1961 30 Pirates 9 1 3 0 1 .000 6.32 0 0 0 15.2 67 17 11 12 5 5 0 9 0 0 0 -
1962 31 Angels 5 2 1 1 1 .500 8.10 0 0 0 10.0 49 15 9 12 4 5 0 10 0 0 0 -
1962 31 Colt .45s 8 2 2 0 2 .000 7.04 0 0 0 15.1 73 20 12 14 2 9 0 10 0 1 0 -
6 Years 66 38 8 11 16 .407 4.32 5 3 0 229.0 1,006 225 110 127 24 127 5 156 5 4 1 0

George Witt

George Witt Hitting Stats

1957 26 Pirates 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1958 27 Pirates 18 39 5 6 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 13 1 0 0 0 .154 .154 .154
1959 28 Pirates 15 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 8 2 0 0 0 .000 .077 .000
1960 29 Pirates 10 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1961 30 Pirates 9 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .500 .500 1.000
1962 31 Angels 5 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333
1962 31 Colt .45s 8 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 .250 .250 .250
6 Years 66 69 6 9 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 27 4 0 0 0 .130 .143 .145

George Witt

George Witt Fielding Stats

1957 Pirates P 1 1 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1958 Pirates P 18 15 318 19 1.1 18 4 14 1 1 n/a n/a n/a .947 1.53
1959 Pirates P 15 11 152 10 0.7 9 2 7 1 1 n/a n/a n/a .900 1.60
1960 Pirates P 10 6 90 5 0.5 5 1 4 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.50
1961 Pirates P 9 1 47 1 0.1 1 0 1 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.57
1962 Angels P 5 2 30 1 0.2 1 0 1 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.90
1962 Colt .45s P 8 2 46 4 0.5 4 1 3 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.35
P Totals 66 38 687 40 0.6 38 8 30 2 2 n/a n/a n/a .950 1.49
6 Years 66 38 687 40 0.6 38 8 30 2 2 n/a n/a n/a .950 1.49

George Witt

George Witt Miscellaneous Stats

1957 Pirates 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.20 6.75 33.76
1958 Pirates 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 3.0 39.0 1.37 6.88 5.01
1959 Pirates 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 1.5 0.0 0.94 5.33 5.68
1960 Pirates 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 2.3 0.0 1.25 4.50 3.60
1961 Pirates 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.80 5.17 2.87
1962 Angels 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.00 9.00 4.50
1962 Colt .45s 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 2.0 0.0 1.11 5.87 5.28
6 Years 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 2.6 69.0 1.23 6.13 4.99

George Witt

George Witt Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1957 Pittsburgh Pirates 38, 52 Undetermined - -
1958 Pittsburgh Pirates 29, 30 Undetermined - -
1959 Pittsburgh Pirates 30 Undetermined - -
1960 Pittsburgh Pirates 30, 39 Undetermined - Stats
1961 Pittsburgh Pirates 39 Undetermined - -
1962 Los Angeles Angels 48 Undetermined - -
1962 Houston Colt .45s 36 Undetermined - -

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George Adrian Witt was a Major League Baseball player who pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1957-1961), Los Angeles Angels (1962), and Houston Colt .45s (1962). When Red, his nickname, made it to big leagues on September 21, 1957, he became the first graduate from Phineas Banning High School to pitch in the majors, joining Nanny Fernandez (3B) and Sal Madrid (SS).

George Witt won his first major league game on June 20, 1958. He threw his first shutout on August 8, 1958. During that game, he struck out ten batters, a personal best he had done once before, on July 30, 1958, and once later that same year, on August 17, 1958. George's 1958 season was memorable, and exceptional, as he finished the year with a 9-2 record, a 1.61 earned run average, five complete games, and three shutouts!

George Witt Baseball Card

George Witt Baseball Card | 1961 Topps Baseball Card (#286 | Checklist)
Baseball Almanac Collection

Did you know that George Witt, during the 1960 World Series, was the only pitcher on the staff who did not surrender a single run to the New York Yankees? Too easy? Did you know the back of Witt's baseball cards (example above) have his date of birth (1933) wrong, but not because of a mistake they made, but rather due to a lie? Witt told the Pittsburgh Press in 1987, "Actually, I'm 55. I know the Baseball Encyclopedia says I was born in 1933. I lied about my age a long time ago. You know how it is when you play sports, you look for any edge you can find."