Tommy Byrne Stats

Tommy Byrne was born on Wednesday, December 31, 1919, in Baltimore, Maryland. Byrne was 23 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 27, 1943, with the New York Yankees. 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 Tommy Byrne baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"The slow-working southpaw and $10,000 Yankee bonus baby sometimes enjoyed informing batters what pitch was coming. Good thing, since he led the league in hit batsmen five times. He paced the AL in walks in 1949, '50, and '51, but triumphed despite his wildness, thrice winning 15 or more and leading the league with a .762 winning percentage (16-5) in 1955. A fine hitter who manager Joe McCarthy tried to talk into converting to first base, Byrne amassed 14 homers and pinch hit 80 times." - Former SABR Director Tom Jozwik on Baseball Library (The Idea Logical Company, 2006, 'Tommy Byrne', Source)

Tommy Byrne

Tommy Byrne Autograph on a 1991 Topps Archives Baseball Card (#123 | <a href='../baseball_cards/baseball_cards_oneset.php?s=1991top05' title='1991 Topps Archives Baseball Card Checklist'>Checklist</a>)

Tommy Byrne Autograph on a 1991 Topps Archives Baseball Card (#123 | Checklist)

CareerCollegeAll-StarWild CardDivisionLCSWorld SeriesManagerTradesAwardsVideosCardsmlb   espn
Birth Name:   Thomas Joseph Byrne
Nickname:   The Wildman or Tommy
Born On:   12-31-1919  (Capricorn)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   Baltimore, Maryland
Year of Death Data Died On:   12-20-2007 (1,000 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Wake Forest, North Carolina
Cemetery:   Wake Forest Cemetery, Wake Forest, North Carolina
High School:   City College High School (Baltimore, MD)
College:   Wake Forest College
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Left   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Left
Player Height Chart Height:   6-01   Player Weight Chart Weight:   182
First Game:   04-27-1943 (Age 23)
Last Game:   09-21-1957
Draft:   Not Applicable / Signing Bonus = $10,000

Tommy Byrne

Tommy Byrne Pitching Stats

1943 24 Yankees 11 2 8 2 1 .667 6.54 0 0 0 31.2 157 28 23 26 1 35 1 22 3 3 0 -
1946 27 Yankees 4 1 3 0 1 .000 5.79 0 0 0 9.1 45 7 6 8 1 8 0 5 0 1 0 -
1947 28 Yankees 4 1 2 0 0 .000 4.15 0 0 0 4.1 23 5 2 2 0 6 0 2 0 0 0 -
1948 29 Yankees 31 11 11 8 5 .615 3.30 5 1 2 133.2 579 79 49 55 8 101 2 93 3 9 0 -
1949 30 Yankees 32 30 2 15 7 .682 3.72 12 3 0 196.0 880 125 81 84 11 179 0 129 4 13 1 -
1950 31 Yankees 31 31 0 15 9 .625 4.74 10 2 0 203.1 951 188 107 115 23 160 2 118 3 17 2 0
1951 32 Yankees 9 3 1 2 1 .667 6.86 0 0 0 21.0 115 16 16 17 0 36 0 14 2 3 0 -
1951 32 Browns 19 17 2 4 10 .286 3.82 7 2 0 122.2 577 104 52 56 5 114 0 57 2 12 0 -
1952 33 Browns 29 24 5 7 14 .333 4.68 14 0 0 196.0 876 182 102 117 16 112 2 91 5 10 1 -
1953 34 White Sox 6 6 0 2 0 1.000 10.13 0 0 0 16.0 89 18 18 18 0 26 0 4 0 0 0 0
1953 34 Senators 6 5 0 0 5 .000 4.28 2 0 0 33.2 155 35 16 17 3 22 0 22 0 1 0 -
1954 35 Yankees 5 5 0 3 2 .600 2.70 4 1 0 40.0 169 36 12 13 1 19 0 24 0 0 0 0
1955 36 Yankees 27 22 4 16 5 .762 3.15 9 3 2 160.0 689 137 56 69 12 87 3 76 3 7 0 -
1956 37 Yankees 37 8 18 7 3 .700 3.36 1 0 6 109.2 493 108 41 50 9 72 5 52 0 2 0 -
1957 38 Yankees 30 4 16 4 6 .400 4.36 1 0 2 84.2 383 70 41 41 8 60 2 57 3 7 0 -
13 Years 281 170 72 85 69 .552 4.11 65 12 12 1,362.0 6,181 1,138 622 688 98 1,037 17 766 28 85 4 0

Tommy Byrne

Tommy Byrne Hitting Stats

1943 24 Yankees 13 11 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 1 0 0 1 .091 .231 .091
1946 27 Yankees 14 9 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .222 .300 .222
1947 28 Yankees 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 1.000 .000
1948 29 Yankees 31 46 8 15 3 1 1 0 7 1 0 7 4 0 1 0 .326 .354 .500
1949 30 Yankees 35 83 8 16 4 2 0 0 13 2 0 20 1 0 0 2 .193 .212 .289
1950 31 Yankees 34 81 14 22 3 1 2 0 16 4 0 15 0 0 2 0 .272 .322 .407
1951 32 Yankees 9 9 2 2 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 .222 .222 .556
1951 32 Browns 34 57 7 16 3 0 1 1 12 4 0 8 2 0 0 3 .281 .328 .386
1952 33 Browns 40 84 9 21 5 1 1 0 12 5 1 18 0 0 0 1 .250 .292 .369
1953 34 White Sox 18 18 2 3 0 0 1 1 5 2 0 6 0 0 0 0 .167 .250 .333
1953 34 Senators 14 17 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 7 0 0 0 0 .059 .200 .059
1954 35 Yankees 7 19 2 7 4 1 0 0 6 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 .368 .368 .684
1955 36 Yankees 45 78 6 16 1 1 1 0 6 8 0 15 1 2 0 3 .205 .273 .282
1956 37 Yankees 44 52 8 14 1 1 3 0 10 2 1 11 2 0 0 1 .269 .296 .500
1957 38 Yankees 35 37 5 7 2 0 3 0 8 3 0 11 0 0 0 0 .189 .250 .486
13 Years 377 601 73 143 26 8 14 2 98 38 3 126 11 2 3 11 .238 .286 .378

Tommy Byrne

Tommy Byrne Fielding Stats

1943 Yankees P 11 2 95 11 1.0 10 2 8 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .909 2.84
1946 Yankees P 4 1 28 3 0.8 3 1 2 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.89
1947 Yankees P 4 1 13 1 0.3 1 0 1 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.08
1948 Yankees P 31 11 401 19 0.6 19 2 17 0 2 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.28
1949 Yankees P 32 30 588 29 0.9 26 7 19 3 4 n/a n/a n/a .897 1.19
1950 Yankees P 31 31 610 32 1.0 32 9 23 0 2 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.42
1951 Yankees P 9 3 63 3 0.3 3 1 2 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.29
1951 Browns P 19 17 368 24 1.3 23 5 18 1 2 n/a n/a n/a .958 1.69
1952 Browns P 29 24 588 27 0.9 25 10 15 2 1 n/a n/a n/a .926 1.15
1953 White Sox P 6 6 48 6 1.0 6 3 3 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 3.38
1953 Senators P 6 5 101 11 1.8 9 1 8 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .818 2.41
1954 Yankees P 5 5 120 9 1.8 8 0 8 1 1 n/a n/a n/a .889 1.80
1955 Yankees P 27 22 480 28 1.0 26 4 22 2 3 n/a n/a n/a .929 1.46
1956 Yankees P 37 8 329 27 0.7 26 8 18 1 4 n/a n/a n/a .963 2.13
1957 Yankees P 30 4 254 16 0.5 15 6 9 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .938 1.59
P Totals 281 170 4,086 246 0.9 232 59 173 14 19 n/a n/a n/a .943 1.53
13 Years 281 170 4,086 246 0.9 232 59 173 14 19 n/a n/a n/a .943 1.53

Tommy Byrne

Tommy Byrne Miscellaneous Stats

1943 Yankees 0 0 .000 2 0 n/a 0.0 3.7 0.0 0.63 6.25 9.95
1946 Yankees 0 0 .000 6 4 n/a 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.63 4.82 7.71
1947 Yankees 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.33 4.15 12.46
1948 Yankees 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 46.0 6.6 6.6 0.92 6.26 6.80
1949 Yankees 0 0 .000 1 2 n/a 0.0 4.2 6.4 0.72 5.92 8.22
1950 Yankees 1 0 1.000 1 2 n/a 40.5 5.4 5.1 0.74 5.22 7.08
1951 Yankees 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 9.0 4.5 3.0 0.39 6.00 15.43
1951 Browns 0 0 .000 15 1 n/a 57.0 7.1 4.8 0.50 4.18 8.36
1952 Browns 0 0 .000 10 1 n/a 84.0 4.7 7.0 0.81 4.18 5.14
1953 White Sox 0 0 .000 12 0 n/a 18.0 3.0 3.6 0.15 2.25 14.63
1953 Senators 0 0 .000 9 0 n/a 0.0 2.4 0.0 1.00 5.88 5.88
1954 Yankees 0 0 .000 2 0 n/a 0.0 6.3 3.2 1.26 5.40 4.28
1955 Yankees 0 0 .000 18 0 n/a 78.0 5.2 13.0 0.87 4.28 4.89
1956 Yankees 0 0 .000 9 0 n/a 17.3 4.7 5.2 0.72 4.27 5.91
1957 Yankees 0 0 .000 7 0 n/a 12.3 3.4 4.6 0.95 6.06 6.38
13 Years 1 0 1.000 92 10 n/a 42.9 4.8 6.1 0.74 5.06 6.85

Tommy Byrne

Tommy Byrne Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1943 New York Yankees 11 $5,000.00 - -
1946 New York Yankees 39, 28 $7,000.00 - -
1947 New York Yankees 28 $6,000.00 - -
1948 New York Yankees 28 $9,000.00 - -
1949 New York Yankees 28 $9,000.00 - Stats
1950 New York Yankees 28 $13,000.00 Stats -
1951 New York Yankees 28 $18,000.00 - -
1951 St. Louis Browns 47 "     "     - -
1952 St. Louis Browns 15 $19,250.00 - -
1953 Chicago White Sox 27 $17,250.00 - -
1953 Washington Senators 27, 30 "     "     - -
1954 New York Yankees 28 $12,000.00 - -
1955 New York Yankees 23 $12,000.00 - Stats
1956 New York Yankees 23 $21,250.00 - Stats
1957 New York Yankees 23 $18,000.00 - Stats

search this site site glossary Print Friendly and PDF

baseball almanac flat baseball

baseball almanac fast facts

Did you know that Tommy Byrne led the American League in hit batsmen five times (1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952) during his career? No pitcher in Major League history has matched his record for Most Consecutive Seasons Leading The League in Hit by Pitch (5), the next closest is National League record holder Don Drysdale, who led the senior circuit four times, from 1958 through 1961.

Tommy Byrne pinch hit ninety-two times during his career, had his final hit during Game 7 of the 1957 World Series, hit his first home run on July 11, 1948, an inside the park homer off Walt Masterson, and hit two grand slams - one after being asked to go up there and hit us a home run:

After posting a 7-14 record in 1952, the Browns traded Byrne to the Chicago White Sox with shortstop Joe DeMaestri for outfielder Hank Edwards and shortstop Willie Miranda. His tenure with the White Sox was brief, but he did have one shining moment. On May 16, White Sox manager Paul Richards summoned him from the bullpen to pinch-hit for infielder Vern Stephens with the bases loaded and two men out in the ninth inning. Right-handed pitcher Ewell Blackwell had just entered the game for New York.

Byrne recalled: “Richards asked me, ‘You ever hit this guy?’ ‘Yeah,’ I said, ‘about 11 years ago.’ ‘Well,’ said Richards, ‘How about going up and hitting one out of here?’ So I go up there and, after getting the count to 2-2, I don’t even remember swinging the bat, but I hit a line drive, 20 rows back in right field.” The grand slam won the game. During his career, Byrne batted .238 with 14 home runs, 98 RBIs, and a .378 slugging percentage.

Source: Jimmy Keenan. SABR Baseball Biography Project. Tommy Bryne. Link.

On August 22, 1951, Tommy Byrne pitched 12.2 innings of a 13-inning game, threw 248 pitches, and walked 16 batters - the American League (and Major League) record for most bases on balls in an extra inning game. Eight of the nine Boston Red Sox starters walked that day, 22 men were left on base, only Billy Goodman missed out, and Dom DiMaggio led the pack with four bases on balls.