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 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 WittGeorge 'Red' Witt Autograph on a 1962 Topps Baseball Card (#287 | Checklist) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Biographical Data | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
George WittGeorge Witt Pitching Stats |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 |
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 | - |
Career | G | GS | GF | W | L | PCT | ERA | CG | SHO | SV | IP | BFP | H | ER | R | HR | BB | IBB | SO | WP | HB | BK | HLD | ||
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 WittGeorge Witt Hitting Stats |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Year | Age | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | GRSL | RBI | BB | IBB | SO | SH | SF | HBP | GIDP | AVG | OBP | SLG |
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 |
Career | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | GRSL | RBI | BB | IBB | SO | SH | SF | HBP | GIDP | AVG | OBP | SLG | ||
6 Years | 66 | 69 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .130 | .143 | .145 |
George WittGeorge Witt Fielding Stats |
||||||||||||||||
Team | POS | G | GS | OUTS | TC | TC/G | CH | PO | A | E | DP | PB | CASB | CACS | FLD% | RF |
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 |
Career | POS | G | GS | OUTS | TC | TC/G | CH | PO | A | E | DP | PB | CASB | CACS | FLD% | RF |
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 WittGeorge Witt Miscellaneous Stats |
||||||||||||
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 |
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 |
Career | SB | CS | SB% | PH | PR | DH | AB/HR | AB/K | AB/RBI | K/BB | K/9 | BB/9 |
6 Years | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 0.0 | 2.6 | 69.0 | 1.23 | 6.13 | 4.99 |
George WittGeorge Witt Miscellaneous Items of Interest |
||||
Team | Roster | Uniform Numbers | Salary | All-Star | World Series |
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 | - | - |
George Witt Stats by Baseball Almanac |
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 | 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."