1964
Born May 11, 1964
Arlington, VA, USA
Bobby Witt Marquee
b. May 11, 1964 · Texas Rangers 1986–1992, 1995–1998, Oakland Athletics 1992–1994, Florida Marlins 1995, St. Louis Cardinals 1998, Tampa Bay Devil Rays 1999, Cleveland Indians 2000, Arizona Diamondbacks 2001
As a rookie in 1986 he walked 143 batters in 157 innings and struck out 174, which is a line almost nobody has matched in either direction. Sixteen seasons gave him 142 wins against 157, a 4.83 earned run average, 2,465 innings, 1,955 strikeouts and 1,375 walks.
He was the third pick of the 1985 draft out of Oklahoma, having pitched for the 1984 United States Olympic team, and Texas put him in the major leagues without a full season in the minors. He got the control partly under control by 1990, when he went 17-10 with a 3.36 earned run average and 221 strikeouts.
His son Bobby Witt was the second pick of the 2019 draft and has been an All-Star shortstop for Kansas City. The 2007 ballot gave him no votes at all.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Pitcher of the Month | 1 | 1990 |
| Player of the Week | 1 | 1994 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | TEX | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1987 | TEX | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 1988 | TEX | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1989 | TEX | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1990 | TEX | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1991 | TEX | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1992 | OAK/TEX | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1993 | OAK | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1994 | OAK | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1995 | FLA/TEX | 31 | 32 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 0 | .063 |
| 1996 | TEX | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1997 | TEX | 35 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .333 |
| 1998 | STL/TEX | 32 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | .182 |
| 1999 | TBD | 32 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 2000 | CLE | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2001 | ARI | 14 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | .250 |
| Career | — | 438 | 64 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 25 | 0 | .141 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | TEX | 11 | 9 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 157.2 | 130 | 96 | 143 | 174 | 5.48 |
| 1987 | TEX | 8 | 10 | 26 | 25 | 0 | 143.0 | 114 | 78 | 140 | 160 | 4.91 |
| 1988 | TEX | 8 | 10 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 174.1 | 134 | 76 | 101 | 148 | 3.92 |
| 1989 | TEX | 12 | 13 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 194.1 | 182 | 111 | 114 | 166 | 5.14 |
| 1990 | TEX | 17 | 10 | 33 | 32 | 0 | 222.0 | 197 | 83 | 110 | 221 | 3.36 |
| 1991 | TEX | 3 | 7 | 17 | 16 | 0 | 88.2 | 84 | 60 | 74 | 82 | 6.09 |
| 1992 | OAK/TEX | 10 | 14 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 193.0 | 183 | 92 | 114 | 125 | 4.29 |
| 1993 | OAK | 14 | 13 | 35 | 33 | 0 | 220.0 | 226 | 103 | 91 | 131 | 4.21 |
| 1994 | OAK | 8 | 10 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 135.2 | 151 | 76 | 70 | 111 | 5.04 |
| 1995 | FLA/TEX | 5 | 11 | 29 | 29 | 0 | 172.0 | 185 | 79 | 68 | 141 | 4.13 |
| 1996 | TEX | 16 | 12 | 33 | 32 | 0 | 199.2 | 235 | 120 | 96 | 157 | 5.41 |
| 1997 | TEX | 12 | 12 | 34 | 32 | 0 | 209.0 | 245 | 112 | 74 | 121 | 4.82 |
| 1998 | STL/TEX | 7 | 9 | 31 | 18 | 0 | 116.2 | 150 | 85 | 53 | 58 | 6.56 |
| 1999 | TBD | 7 | 15 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 180.1 | 213 | 117 | 96 | 123 | 5.84 |
| 2000 | CLE | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 15.1 | 28 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 7.63 |
| 2001 | ARI | 4 | 1 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 43.1 | 36 | 23 | 25 | 31 | 4.78 |
| Career | — | 142 | 157 | 430 | 397 | 0 | 2465.0 | 2493 | 1324 | 1375 | 1955 | 4.83 |
On this day & linked events
1986
Major-league debut: Bobby Witt
Bobby Witt made a major-league debut on April 10, 1986.
2001
Final major-league game: Bobby Witt
Bobby Witt played a final major-league game on October 7, 2001.
Image: Performance Printing / Texas Rangers, public domain