Wally Berger Stats

Wally Berger was born on Tuesday, October 10, 1905, in Chicago, Illinois. Berger was 24 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 15, 1930, with the Boston Braves. 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 Wally Berger baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"(Wally) Berger was modest, quiet, hard-working, conscientious, and disciplined. He didn't kick dirt on umpires, become engaged in scandal, or engage in wacky behavior. He didn't make good copy for the boys in the press box. In his prime he played in a 'pitchers park' with a team that never came close to winning all the marbles. It was a club out of the mainstream. It was inadequately financed, poorly administered, and usually overmatched on the field. Despite all this, the Braves were always an interesting team, a team that had its great moments. They were led by the best manager of the times and supported by devoted and hopeful fans. And for seven seasons their most brilliant, courageous, and persevering player was Walter Anton Berger." - Snyder, George. Author. Freshly Remember'd. Schneider McGuirk Publishing, Redondo Beach, California. 1 June 1993.

Wally Berger

Wally Berger Autograph on a 1978 Grand Slam Baseball Card (#20)

Wally Berger Autograph on a 1978 Grand Slam Baseball Card (#20)

CareerCollegeAll-StarWild CardDivisionLCSWorld SeriesManagerTradesAwardsVideosCardsmlb   espn
Birth Name:   Walter Anton Berger
Nickname:   Biff or Walt or Wally
Born On:   10-10-1905  (Libra)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   Chicago, Illinois
Year of Death Data Died On:   11-30-1988 (1,000 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Redondo Beach, California
Cemetery:   Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California
High School:   Mission High School (San Francisco, CA)
College:   None Attended
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Right   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Right
Player Height Chart Height:   6-02   Player Weight Chart Weight:   198
First Game:   04-15-1930 (Age 24)
Last Game:   07-04-1940
Draft:   Not Applicable

Wally Berger

Wally Berger Pitching Stats

- - Did Not Pitch - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Wally Berger

Wally Berger Hitting Stats

1930 25 Braves 151 555 98 172 27 14 38 1 119 54 5 69 12 0 4 6 .310 .375 .614
1931 26 Braves 156 617 94 199 44 8 19 0 84 55 4 70 4 0 2 8 .323 .380 .512
1932 27 Braves 145 602 90 185 34 6 17 0 73 33 2 66 1 0 3 8 .307 .346 .468
1933 28 Braves 137 528 84 165 37 8 27 1 106 41 3 77 2 0 3 6 .313 .365 .566
1934 29 Braves 150 615 92 183 35 8 34 0 121 49 5 65 1 0 3 14 .298 .352 .546
1935 30 Braves 150 589 91 174 39 4 34 3 130 50 4 80 1 0 4 14 .295 .355 .548
1936 31 Bees 138 534 88 154 23 3 25 1 91 53 7 84 0 0 8 13 .288 .361 .483
1937 32 Bees 30 113 14 31 9 1 5 0 22 11 0 33 1 0 1 1 .274 .344 .504
1937 32 Giants 59 199 40 58 11 2 12 0 43 18 0 30 1 0 3 5 .291 .359 .548
1938 33 Giants 16 32 5 6 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 4 0 0 0 0 .188 .235 .188
1938 33 Reds 99 407 74 125 23 4 16 0 56 29 0 44 0 0 2 9 .307 .356 .501
1939 34 Reds 97 329 36 85 15 1 14 1 44 36 2 63 4 0 5 6 .258 .341 .438
1940 35 Reds 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1940 35 Phillies 20 41 3 13 2 0 1 0 5 4 0 8 0 0 0 1 .317 .378 .439
11 Years 1,350 5,163 809 1,550 299 59 242 7 898 435 32 694 27 0 38 91 .300 .359 .522

Wally Berger

Wally Berger Fielding Stats

1930 Braves LF 145 145 3,790 328 2.3 317 307 10 11 3 n/a n/a n/a .966 2.26
1931 Braves 1B 1 0 6 2 2.0 2 2 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 9.00
1931 Braves CF 156 156 4,109 484 3.1 473 457 16 11 5 n/a n/a n/a .977 3.11
1932 Braves 1B 11 10 267 106 9.6 106 102 4 0 7 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 10.72
1932 Braves CF 134 133 3,557 409 3.1 406 396 10 3 3 n/a n/a n/a .993 3.08
1933 Braves CF 136 136 3,640 397 2.9 388 382 6 9 4 n/a n/a n/a .977 2.88
1934 Braves CF 150 150 4,026 403 2.7 394 385 9 9 2 n/a n/a n/a .978 2.64
1935 Braves CF 149 149 3,669 483 3.2 466 458 8 17 1 n/a n/a n/a .965 3.43
1936 Bees CF 133 133 3,539 408 3.1 394 384 10 14 1 n/a n/a n/a .966 3.01
1937 Bees LF 28 28 713 52 1.9 52 51 1 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.97
1937 Giants CF 45 44 743 102 2.3 98 96 2 4 0 n/a n/a n/a .961 3.56
1937 Giants LF 2 1 24 3 1.5 3 3 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 3.38
1937 Giants RF 5 5 51 10 2.0 10 8 2 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 5.29
1938 Giants CF 8 7 192 28 3.5 28 28 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 3.94
1938 Giants RF 1 0 3 1 1.0 1 1 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 9.00
1938 Reds LF 98 95 2,549 206 2.1 199 192 7 7 2 n/a n/a n/a .966 2.11
1939 Reds CF 26 22 504 52 2.0 49 49 0 3 0 n/a n/a n/a .942 2.63
1939 Reds LF 69 67 1,552 118 1.7 115 109 6 3 0 n/a n/a n/a .975 2.00
1940 Phillies 1B 1 0 6 2 2.0 2 2 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 9.00
1940 Phillies CF 1 0 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1940 Phillies LF 5 4 105 9 1.8 9 9 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.31
1940 Phillies RF 5 4 78 10 2.0 9 9 0 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .900 3.12
CF Totals 938 930 23,982 2,766 2.9 2,696 2,635 61 70 16 n/a n/a n/a .975 3.04
LF Totals 347 340 8,733 716 2.1 695 671 24 21 5 n/a n/a n/a .971 2.15
1B Totals 13 10 279 110 8.5 110 106 4 0 7 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 10.65
RF Totals 11 9 132 21 1.9 20 18 2 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .952 4.09
11 Years 1,309 1,289 33,126 3,613 2.8 3,521 3,430 91 92 28 n/a n/a n/a .975 2.87

Wally Berger

Wally Berger Miscellaneous Stats

1930 Braves 3 4 .429 6 0 n/a 14.6 8.0 4.7 - - -
1931 Braves 13 7 .650 0 0 n/a 32.5 8.8 7.3 - - -
1932 Braves 5 7 .417 1 0 n/a 35.4 9.1 8.2 - - -
1933 Braves 2 3 .400 1 0 n/a 19.6 6.9 5.0 - - -
1934 Braves 2 2 .500 0 0 n/a 18.1 9.5 5.1 - - -
1935 Braves 3 2 .600 1 0 n/a 17.3 7.4 4.5 - - -
1936 Bees 1 5 .167 5 0 n/a 21.4 6.4 5.9 - - -
1937 Bees 0 1 .000 2 0 n/a 22.6 3.4 5.1 - - -
1937 Giants 3 3 .500 7 0 n/a 16.6 6.6 4.6 - - -
1938 Giants 0 0 .000 6 1 n/a 0.0 8.0 8.0 - - -
1938 Reds 2 2 .500 1 0 n/a 25.4 9.3 7.3 - - -
1939 Reds 1 2 .333 2 0 n/a 23.5 5.2 7.5 - - -
1940 Reds 0 0 .000 2 0 n/a 0.0 2.0 0.0 - - -
1940 Phillies 1 1 .500 8 0 n/a 41.0 5.1 8.2 - - -
11 Years 36 39 .480 42 1 n/a 21.3 7.4 5.7 - - -

Wally Berger

Wally Berger Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1930 Boston Braves n/a $4,000.00 n/a -
1931 Boston Braves n/a $8,500.00 n/a -
1932 Boston Braves 3 $10,000.00 n/a -
1933 Boston Braves 3 $10,000.00 Stats -
1934 Boston Braves 3 $11,500.00 Stats -
1935 Boston Braves 4 $12,500.00 Stats -
1936 Boston Bees 4 $12,500.00 Stats -
1937 Boston Bees 4 $12,000.00 - Stats
1937 New York Giants 3 "     "     - Stats
1938 New York Giants 21 $11,000.00 - -
1938 Cincinnati Reds 62 "     "     - -
1939 Cincinnati Reds 22 $10,000.00 - Stats
1940 Cincinnati Reds 22 $7,250.00 - -
1940 Philadelphia Phillies 7 "     "     - -

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Walter Anton Berger was a Major League Baseball player with the Boston Braves (19301935), Boston Bees (1936-1937), New York Giants (1937-1938), Cincinnati Reds (19381940), and Philadelphia Phillies (1940). Did you know that when Wally, his nickname, made his big league debut on April 15, 1930, he became the first Mission High School graduate to play in the majors?

Did you know that when Wally Berger hit thirty-eight home runs in his first season, he set the Major League record for Most Home Runs in a Season by a Rookie? In 1956, Hall of Fame outfielder Frank Robinson tied Berger, and the duo held the mark until 2017, when Cody Bellinger hit thirty-nine homers his rookie season. His record, however, only lasted two years, when it was crushed. Do you remember what National League rookie hit fifty-three home runs in 2019? [Answer]

Wally Berger Baseball Card

Wally Berger | 1991 Conlon Baseball Card (#229) | Baseball Almanac Collection

Contemporaries, opponents (like Babe Ruth) and authors thought Berger was one of the best center fielders, including Bill James (The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. Free Press Publishing. 13 June 2003. Page 780.), who ranked Berger as the thirteenth greatest center fielder in baseball history; behind Willie Mays (#1), Ty Cobb (#2), Mickey Mantle (#3), Tris Speaker (#4), Joe DiMaggio (#5), Duke Snider (#6), Ken Griffey, Jr. (#7), Kirby Puckett (#8), Billy Hamilton (#9), Jimmy Wynn (#10), Larry Doby (#11), and Dale Murphy (#12)!

Wally Berger was the starting centerfielder in the first All-Star Game ever played (1933). And the second (1934). And the third (1935)! [Note: Berger was selected by his peers, and sent to 1936 All-Star Game as well, but did not play.]