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Sonny Dixon

John Craig Dixon

Position: Pitcher
Bats: Both, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 2", Weight: 205 lb.

Born: November 5, 1924 in Charlotte, NC
High School: Charlotte HS (Charlotte, NC)
Signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent in 1941. (All Transactions)
Debut: April 20, 1953
Teams (by GP): Senators/Athletics/Yankees 1953-1956

Final Game: September 29, 1956
Died: November 19, 2011 in Charlotte, NC
Buried: Steele Creek Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Charlotte, NC
About biographical information

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Standard Pitching

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB	Awards
1941	16	MIN-min	B	1	1	.500		3						12.0	13	6			2								1.250	9.8		1.5			CHR · PIED
1942	17	MIN-min	B	5	12	.294	2.98	26						151.0	147	65	50		40								1.238	8.8		2.4			CHR · PIED
1946	21	MIN-min	B	19	11	.633	2.62	32						244.0	246	98	71		53								1.225	9.1		2.0			CHR · TRIS
1947	22	MIN-min	B,AA	12	11	.522	3.77	34						191.0	218	97	80		50								1.403	10.3		2.4			CHR,CNG · TRIS,SOUA
1948	23	NYY-MIN-min	A,AA	11	8	.579	4.14	45						198.0	237	116	91		67								1.535	10.8		3.0			AUG,CNG · SALL,SOUA
1949	24	NYY-min	A	14	14	.500	3.24	38						217.0	230	97	78		70								1.382	9.5		2.9			AUG · SALL
1950	25	MIN-min	A	14	13	.519	4.16	45						223.0	255	144	103	11	87								1.534	10.3	0.4	3.5			AUG · SALL
1951	26	MIN-min	AA	14	13	.519	5.36	42	27					205.0	253	143	122		63								1.541	11.1		2.8			CNG · SOUA
1952	27	MIN-min	AA	19	14	.576	3.19	47	31					271.0	260	115	96		71								1.221	8.6		2.4			CNG · SOUA
1953	28	WSH	AL	5	8	.385	3.75	43	6	20	3	0	3	120.0	123	57	50	13	31		40	2	0	1	504	104	1.283	9.2	1.0	2.3	3.0	1.29
1954	29	TOT	AL	6	9	.400	4.47	54	6	29	1	0	5	137.0	162	78	68	11	39		49	3	1	1	608	86	1.467	10.6	0.7	2.6	3.2	1.26
1954	29	WSH	AL	1	2	.333	3.03	16	0	6	0	0	1	29.2	26	15	10	3	12		7	0	0	0	125	120	1.281	7.9	0.9	3.6	2.1	0.58
1954	29	PHA	AL	5	7	.417	4.86	38	6	23	1	0	4	107.1	136	63	58	8	27		42	3	1	1	483	81	1.519	11.4	0.7	2.3	3.5	1.56
1955	30	NYY-min	AAA	3	3	.500	4.19	18	2		1	0		58.0	71	33	27	7	15	2	21	0	0	1			1.483	11.0	1.1	2.3	3.3	1.40	DEN · AA
1955	30	KCA	AL	0	0		16.20	2	0	1	0	0	0	1.2	6	3	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	31	3.600	32.4	5.4	0.0	0.0
1956	31	NYY-min	AAA	6	5	.545	2.88	46	0		0	0		75.0	63	29	24	10	20		40	0	0	0			1.107	7.6	1.2	2.4	4.8	2.00	RMD · IL
1956	31	NYY	AL	0	1	.000	2.08	3	0	2	0	0	1	4.1	5	3	1	0	5	1	1	0	0	0	23	203	2.308	10.4	0.0	10.4	2.1	0.20
1957	32	NYY-min	AAA	4	4	.500	3.54	44	0		0	0		61.0	68	25	24	6	13		27	2	0	0			1.328	10.0	0.9	1.9	4.0	2.08	RMD · IL
1958	33	CHW-NYY-min	A,AAA	8	2	.800	2.52	34	6					50.0	43	18	14	6	16								1.180	7.7	1.1	2.9			CSP,TTO,RMD · WL,IL
1959	34	MIN-min	A	11	10	.524	3.26	36	20		13	2		171.0	169	73	62	12	25	3	94	4	0	5			1.135	8.9	0.6	1.3	4.9	3.76	CHR · SALL
1960	35	MIN-min	A	3	1	.750	3.70	16	6					48.2	58	22	20	1	7								1.336	10.7	0.2	1.3			CHR · SALL
1961	36	MIN-min	AA	0	0		3.00	4						6.0			2																NVL · SOUA
4 Yrs				11	18	.379	4.17	102	12	52	4	0	9	263.0	296	141	122	25	75	1	90	5	1	2	1146	93	1.411	10.1	0.9	2.6	3.1	1.20
162 Game Avg.				7	11	.379	4.17	61	7	31	2	0	5	157	177	84	73	15	45		54	3	1	1	684	93	1.411	10.1	0.9	2.6	3.1	1.20

WSH (2 yrs)				6	10	.375	3.61	59	6	26	3	0	4	149.2	149	72	60	16	43		47	2	0	1	629	106	1.283	9.0	1.0	2.6	2.8	1.09
KCA (2 yrs)				5	7	.417	5.04	40	6	24	1	0	4	109.0	142	66	61	9	27	0	42	3	1	1	494	78	1.550	11.7	0.7	2.2	3.5	1.56
NYY (1 yr)				0	1	.000	2.08	3	0	2	0	0	1	4.1	5	3	1	0	5	1	1	0	0	0	23	203	2.308	10.4	0.0	10.4	2.1	0.20

Player Value--Pitchers

WAR Explained (v2.1): 8+ MVP, 5+ A-S, 2+ Starter, 0-2 Sub, < 0 Repl

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	IP	G	GS	R	RA9	RA9opp	RA9def	RA9role	PPFp	RA9avg	RAA	WAA	gmLI	WAAadj	WAR	RAR	waaWL%	162WL%	Salary
1953	28	WSH	AL	119.2	43	6	57	4.29	4.32	0.34	0.00	97.2	3.87	-6	-0.6	1.6	-0.2	0.1	5	.486	.496	$
1954	29	WSH	AL	29.2	16	0	15	4.55	4.39	-0.18	0.00	94.7	4.32	-1	-0.1	.9	-0.1	0.1	2	.495	.500	$
1954	29	PHA	AL	108.1	38	6	63	5.23	4.24	-0.36	0.00	105.7	4.86	-4	-0.5	1.4	-0.3	0.1	5	.488	.497	$
1955	30	KCA	AL	1.2	2	0	3	16.20	4.44	-0.44	0.00	102.4	5.00	-2	-0.2	.0	0.1	-0.1	-2	.400	.499	$
1956	31	NYY	AL	4.1	3	0	3	6.23	4.33	0.23	0.00	87.6	3.60	-1	-0.1	1.1	-0.0	-0.1	-1	.458	.499	$
4 Seasons				263.2	102	12	141	4.81	4.30	-0.01	0.00	100.3	4.33	-14	-1.5	1.3	-0.5	0.1	9	.486	.498	$

WSH (2 yrs)				149.1	59	6	72	4.34	4.33	0.24	0.00	96.7	3.96	-6	-0.7	1.4	-0.3	0.2	7	.489	.498	$
KCA (2 yrs)				110.0	40	6	66	5.40	4.24	-0.36	0.00	105.7	4.87	-6	-0.7	1.3	-0.2	0.0	3	.483	.498	$
NYY (1 yr)				4.1	3	0	3	6.23	4.33	0.23	0.00	87.6	3.60	-1	-0.1	1.1	-0.0	-0.1	-1	.458	.499	$

Batting Against -- Pitching*

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	BAbip	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE
1953	28	WSH	AL	43	505	461	57	123	21	3	13	2	4	31	40	.267	.316	.410	.726	.270	189	8	2	10	0		9
1954	29	TOT	AL	54	581	556	78	162	25	5	11	4	2	39	49	.291	.339	.414	.753	.303	230	14	3	10	3		11
1954	29	PHA	AL	38	456	446	63	136	24	4	8	3	1	27	42	.305	.347	.430	.778	.322	192	10	3	8	2		8
1954	29	WSH	AL	16	125	110	15	26	1	1	3	1	1	12	7	.236	.309	.345	.654	.228	38	4	0	2	1		3
1955	30	KCA	AL	2	11	11	3	6	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	.545	.545	1.000	1.545	.500	11	0	0	0	0	0	0
1956	31	NYY	AL	3	23	17	3	5	1	0	0	0	0	5	1	.294	.455	.353	.807	.313	6	0	0	1	0	1	0
4 Yrs				102	1120	1045	141	296	47	9	25	6	6	75	90	.283	.333	.417	.751	.290	436	22	5	21	3	1	20
162 Game Avg.				61	668	623	84	177	28	5	15	4	4	45	54	.283	.333	.417	.751	.290	260	13	3	13	2		12
MLB Averages																.261	.333	.391	.724	.275

Win Probability

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	PtchR	PitchW	Plays	WPA	WPA+	WPA-	aLI	WPA/LI	Clutch	RE24	REW	boLI	RE24/boLI	LevHi	LevMd	LevLo
1953	28	WSH	AL	2.0	0.2	513	-1.0	9.2	-10.2	1.09	-0.1	-0.8	3.4	0.4	1.09	1.1	14	6	17
1954	29	TOT	AL	-9.2	-0.9	593	-1.8	9.1	-10.8	.96	-1.1	-0.8	-11.8	-1.2	0.96	-14.6	17	5	22
1954	29	WSH	AL	0.4	0.0	127	-0.5	1.1	-1.7	.57	-0.1	-0.8	-0.3	-0.0	0.57	-0.6	4	2	10
1954	29	PHA	AL	-9.5	-1.0	466	-1.2	7.9	-9.2	1.06	-0.9	-0.2	-11.5	-1.1	1.07	-13.9	13	3	12
1955	30	KCA	AL	-1.8	-0.2	11	-0.0	0.0	-0.0	.03	-0.1	-0.3	-3.6	-0.3	0.03	-2.9	0	0	1
1956	31	NYY	AL	0.2	0.0	24	-0.2	0.5	-0.7	2.04	-0.0	-0.1	-0.7	-0.1	2.04	-1.2	1	1	1
4 Yrs				-8.7	-0.9	1141	-3.0	18.8	-21.7	1.03	-1.3	-1.6	-12.6	-1.2	1.03	-17.6	32	12	41

Starting Pitching*

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	GS	Wgs	Lgs	ND	Wchp	Ltuf	Wtm	Ltm	tmW-L%	Wlst	Lsv	CG	SHO	QS	QS%	GmScA	Best	Wrst	BQR	BQS	sDR	lDR	RS/GS	RS/IP	IP/GS
1953	28	WSH	AL	43	6	3	3	0	1	1	3	3	.500	0	0	3	0	3	50%	54.0	72	30	11	1	4	1	4.4	4.3	7.4
1954	29	TOT	AL	54	6	2	3	1	1	0	2	4	.333	0	0	1	0	2	33%		73	23	14	11	5	0	3.4	4.5	5.8
1954	29	PHA	AL	38	6	2	3	1	1	0	2	4	.333	0	0	1	0	2	33%	41.7	73	23	8	8	5	0	3.4	4.5	5.8
2 Yrs				81	12	5	6	1	2	1	5	7	.417	0	0	4	0	5	42%	48	73	23	19	9	9	1	3.9	4.4	6.6
MLB Averages													.500						49%	51	118	-2					4.5	4.5	6.4

Reliever Pitching*

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	GR	GF	Wgr	Lgr	SVOpp	SV	BSv	SV%	SVSit	Hold	IR	IS	IS%	1^stIP	aLI	LevHi	LevMd	LevLo	Ahd	Tie	Bhd	Runr	Empt	>3o	<3o	IPmult	0DR	Out/GR
1953	28	WSH	AL	43	37	20	2	5	8	3	5	38%	9	1	33	8	24%	8	1.094	14	6	17	10	5	22	16	21	19	5	22	4	6.1
1954	29	TOT	AL	54	48	29	4	6	10	5	5	50%	11	1	32	9	28%		.958	17	5	22	11	9	26	16	30	33	5	32	15	6.4
1954	29	WSH	AL	16	16	6	1	2	3	1	2	33%	4	1	9	2	22%	8	.573	4	2	10	4	1	11	5	11	9	4	9	2	5.6
1954	29	PHA	AL	38	32	23	3	4	7	4	3	57%	7	0	23	7	30%	7	1.063	13	3	12	7	8	15	11	19	24	1	23	13	6.9
1955	30	KCA	AL	2	2	1	0	0	0	0	0		0	0	2	2	100%	8	.025	0	0	1	0	0	2	1	1	0	1	0	0	2.5
1956	31	NYY	AL	3	3	2	0	1	0	1	0		0	0	1	0	0%	3	2.036	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	2	0	4.3
4 Yrs				102	90	52	6	12	18	9	10	50%	20	2	68	19	28%		1.032	32	12	41	22	15	51	34	54	54	12	56	19	6.1

Ratio Pitching*

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	PA	Ptn%	HR%	SO%	BB%	XBH%	X/H%	GO/AO	IP%	DPopp	DPs	DP%
1953	28	WSH	AL	505	63%	2.6%	7.9%	6.1%	7.3%	30%	0.89	81%	104	8	8%
1954	29	TOT	AL	611	59%	1.9%	8.4%	6.7%	7.1%	25%	0.99	86%	137	14	10%
1954	29	WSH	AL	125	66%	2.4%	5.6%	9.6%	4.0%	19%	1.31	81%	26	4	15%
1954	29	PHA	AL	486	57%	1.8%	9.2%	5.9%	7.9%	27%	0.90	87%	111	10	9%
1955	30	KCA	AL	11	91%	9.1%	0.0%	0.0%	18.2%	33%	1.50	91%	5	0	0%
1956	31	NYY	AL	23	65%	0.0%	4.4%	21.7%	4.4%	20%	0.71	70%	5	0	0%
4 Yrs				1150	61%	2.2%	8.0%	6.7%	7.2%	27%	0.94	83%	251	22	9%
MLB Averages					51%	2.4%	12.0%	10.0%	6.8%	28%	0.95	80%			10%

Baserunning & Situational Stats*

					Hits			Home Runs							Advances				Baserunning
Year	Age	Tm	Lg	PA	H	Inf	Bnt	All	GS	GSo	vRH	vLH	Hm	Rd	<2,3B	Scr	SO	%	ROE	WP	PB	SBO	SB	CS	SB%	SB2	CS2	SB3	CS3	SBH	CSH	PO	PCS	BT	PAu
1953	28	WSH	AL	505	123			13	0	20	9	4	4	9	29	15	3	52%	9	1	0	190	2	4	33%	2	3	0	0	0	1	2	0	2	0
1954	29	TOT	AL	581	162			11	2	21	5	6	8	3	44	22	3	50%	11	1	0	250	4	2	67%	4	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	5	30
1954	29	WSH	AL	125	26			3	0	2	1	2	3	0	7	3	0	43%	3	0	0	50	1	1	50%	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
1954	29	PHA	AL	456	136			8	2	19	4	4	5	3	37	19	3	51%	8	1	0	200	3	1	75%	3	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	4	30
1955	30	KCA	AL	11	6			1	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	100%	0	0	0	8	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1956	31	NYY	AL	23	5			0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	16	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
4 Yrs				1120	296			25	2	42	15	10	13	12	74	38	6	51%	20	2	0	464	6	6	50%	6	5	0	0	0	1	4	0	7	30
MLB Averages																		52%							55%

Cumulative Pitching

Year	Age	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB	ERA+
1953	28	5	8	.385	3.75	43	6	20	3	3	120.0	123	57	50	13	31		40	2	0	1	504	104	1.283	9.2	1.0	2.3	3.0	1.29	104
1954	29	11	17	.393	4.13	97	12	49	4	8	257.0	285	135	118	24	70		89	5	1	2	1112	94	1.381	10.0	0.8	2.5	3.1	1.27	94
1955	30	11	17	.393	4.21	99	12	50	4	8	258.2	291	138	121	25	70	0	89	5	1	2	1123	92	1.396	10.1	0.9	2.4	3.1	1.27	92
1956	31	11	18	.379	4.17	102	12	52	4	9	263.0	296	141	122	25	75	1	90	5	1	2	1146	93	1.411	10.1	0.9	2.6	3.1	1.20	93

Neutralized Pitching

Change to: / / / or

All seasons are converted to 162-game seasons &
average team scoring of 716 total runs (4.42 R/G) How this works

Year	Age	W	L	W-L%	ERA	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	HBP	WHIP	H/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB	HR/9	Gact
1953	28	7	6	.538	3.94	121.0	130	59	53	14	33	40	2	1.347	9.7	2.5	3.0	1.21	1.0	43
1954	29	6	9	.400	4.69	140.0	171	81	73	12	41	50	3	1.514	11.0	2.6	3.2	1.22	0.8	54
1955	30	0	0		6.75	4.0	0	3	3	0	0	0	0	0.000	0.0	0.0	0.0		0.0	2
1956	31	0	0		1.80	5.0	5	1	1	0	5	1	0	2.000	9.0	9.0	1.8	0.20	0.0	3
4 Yrs		13	15	.464	4.33	270.0	306	144	130	26	79	91	5	1.426	10.2		3.0	1.15	0.9	102

* Many Detailed Statistics are based on play-by-play accounts accumulated by RetroSheet. These totals may be incomplete (3.6% of all plays from 1918 to 1973 are missing or have incomplete accounts, click link for year and team summary) for some players prior to 1974 and even complete seasons may not match the official totals due to errors in both the official totals and the play-by-play accounts. Pre-1954 seasons have a substantial numbers of games missing play-by-play accounts and should be viewed as essentially incomplete.

Appearances on Leader Boards, Awards, and Honors

Stats are Year-Value-Rank · Glossary

Games Played s c a p y 1953 AL 43 (6th) 1954 AL 54 (1st)	Saves s c a p y 1954 AL 5 (9th)	Games Finished s c a p y 1953 AL 20 (9th) 1954 AL 29 (4th)

Games Played s c a p y
1953 AL 43 (6th)
1954 AL 54 (1st)

Saves s c a p y
1954 AL 5 (9th)

Games Finished s c a p y
1953 AL 20 (9th)
1954 AL 29 (4th)

Hall Of Fame Statistics

Player rank in (·)

Black Ink	Pitching - 1 (845), Average HOFer ≈ 40
Gray Ink	Pitching - 5 (1889), Average HOFer ≈ 185
Hall of Fame Monitor	Pitching - 1 (1951), Likely HOFer ≈ 100

Similarity Scores

Explanation of Similarity Scores

Similar Pitchers

Compare Stats to Similars

Murray Wall (984)
John Gelnar (983)
Rick Lysander (982)
Ron Piche (982)
Hal Haid (981)
Dave Keefe (980)
Buddy Lively (980)
Bob Gibson (979)
Jeff Pico (979)
Clyde Barfoot (978)

Most Similar by Ages

Hold mouse over #'s to see names

By Speece (989) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
Hi Bell (993) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
Hi Bell (989) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
Hi Bell (989) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C

Other Resources & Links

Error? Compare Search SABR's Baseball Index Other Links@google.com Baseball Library Baseball-Almanac.com Retrosheet The Baseball Cube The Baseball Page WhatIfSports: Sonny Dixon

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Name and misspellings: John Craig sammy Sonny Dixon

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Summation of season totals only works for the initial case when the table is in year order. On a sorted table the results may get a bit goofy.

HIGHLIGHTING: Adding a range or series of player's career seasons or career game numbers (like '#1972:batting_standard', '#1970-1980-sum:batting_standard', or '#1998,1999,2001,2002,sum:pitching_standard') onto the end of a player page url causes the seasons to the highlighted and summed. After changing address bar, reload the page to see highlighting. This will work even in links e-mailed to others. Note that for tables with multiple pages the first table is the default. If you want to create a sum for a table other than the first one, select the rows and after the summation window appears click on "permanent link" link.

The play-by-play information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet.

Automatic Player Linking / Statistical Sharing Tool / Basic Player Linking / Data Coverage

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Much of the play-by-play, game results, and transaction information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet.

Win Expectancy, Run Expectancy, and Leverage Index calculations provided by Tom Tango of InsideTheBook.com, and co-author of The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball.

Total Zone Rating and Wins above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith of BaseballProjection.com.

Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of 24-7 Baseball.

Player head shots courtesy of David Davis. Many thanks to him. We have only selected seasons (players who debuted before 1960) for which we believe the image has reverted into the public domain. We will quickly remove any images for which that can be shown to not be the case.Please let us know if you are aware of any such images on this site.

Play Index Loading Photos from the George Grantham Bain Collection at the Library of Congress.

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