You Are Here > Baseball-Reference.com > Encyclopedia of Players > H Listing > Mel Harder Statistics and History

Mel Harder
Melvin Leroy Harder (Chief)
All-Star Player
Bats: Right , Throws: Right
Height: 6' 1" , Weight: 195 lb.

Born: October 15, 1909 in Beemer, NE
High School: Technical (Omaha, NE) (All Transactions)
Debut: April 24, 1928
Final Game: September 7, 1947
Died: October 20, 2002 in Chardon, OH
    About biographical information

Standard Pitching

More Stats

Glossary · Click headers to sort · SHARE  · CSV · PRE · LINK · Click rows to sum (Clear)
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
1928 18 CLE AL 0 2 .000 6.61 23 1 12 0 0 1 49.0 64 42 36 4 32 15 0 0 0 241 63 1.959 11.8 0.7 5.9 2.8 0.47
1929 19 CLE AL 1 0 1.000 5.60 11 0 7 0 0 0 17.2 24 15 11 2 5 4 3 0 0 84 79 1.642 12.2 1.0 2.5 2.0 0.80
1930 20 CLE AL 11 10 .524 4.21 36 19 9 7 0 2 175.1 205 108 82 9 68 44 4 0 5 793 115 1.557 10.5 0.5 3.5 2.3 0.65
1931 21 CLE AL 13 14 .481 4.36 40 24 8 9 0 1 194.0 229 119 94 8 72 63 6 1 3 880 105 1.552 10.6 0.4 3.3 2.9 0.88
1932 22 CLE AL 15 13 .536 3.75 39 32 4 17 1 0 254.2 277 125 106 9 68 90 3 0 1 1106 128 1.355 9.8 0.3 2.4 3.2 1.32
1933 23 CLE AL 15 17 .469 2.95 43 31 10 14 2 4 253.0 254 113 83 10 67 81 3 0 2 1073 152 1.269 9.0 0.4 2.4 2.9 1.21
1934 24 CLE AL 20 12 .625 2.61 44 29 12 17 6 4 255.1 246 97 74 6 81 91 7 0 2 1072 171 1.281 8.7 0.2 2.9 3.2 1.12 AS,MVP-16
1935 25 CLE AL 22 11 .667 3.29 42 35 7 17 4 2 287.1 313 120 105 6 53 95 0 0 1 1206 137 1.274 9.8 0.2 1.7 3.0 1.79 AS,MVP-22
1936 26 CLE AL 15 15 .500 5.17 36 30 6 13 0 1 224.2 294 155 129 13 71 84 6 0 4 1031 99 1.625 11.8 0.5 2.8 3.4 1.18 AS
1937 27 CLE AL 15 12 .556 4.28 38 30 7 13 0 2 233.2 269 127 111 9 86 95 4 0 2 1038 105 1.519 10.4 0.3 3.3 3.7 1.10 AS
1938 28 CLE AL 17 10 .630 3.82 38 29 6 15 2 4 240.0 257 115 102 16 62 102 5 0 1 1026 121 1.329 9.6 0.6 2.3 3.8 1.65 MVP-16
1939 29 CLE AL 15 9 .625 3.50 29 26 3 12 1 1 208.0 213 89 81 15 64 67 3 0 1 877 125 1.332 9.2 0.6 2.8 2.9 1.05
1940 30 CLE AL 12 11 .522 4.06 31 25 2 5 0 0 186.1 200 96 84 16 59 76 5 0 2 797 104 1.390 9.7 0.8 2.8 3.7 1.29
1941 31 CLE AL 5 4 .556 5.24 15 10 1 1 0 1 68.2 76 43 40 8 37 21 2 0 1 317 75 1.646 10.0 1.0 4.8 2.8 0.57
1942 32 CLE AL 13 14 .481 3.44 29 29 0 13 4 0 198.2 179 83 76 8 82 74 3 0 1 842 100 1.314 8.1 0.4 3.7 3.4 0.90
1943 33 CLE AL 8 7 .533 3.06 19 18 0 6 1 0 135.1 126 57 46 7 61 40 1 0 0 571 101 1.382 8.4 0.5 4.1 2.7 0.66
1944 34 CLE AL 12 10 .545 3.71 30 27 0 12 2 0 196.1 211 95 81 5 69 64 3 0 3 843 89 1.426 9.7 0.2 3.2 2.9 0.93
1945 35 CLE AL 3 7 .300 3.67 11 11 0 2 0 0 76.0 93 37 31 3 23 16 0 0 4 335 89 1.526 11.0 0.4 2.7 1.9 0.70
1946 36 CLE AL 5 4 .556 3.41 13 12 1 4 1 0 92.1 85 37 35 4 31 21 0 0 0 382 98 1.256 8.3 0.4 3.0 2.0 0.68
1947 37 CLE AL 6 4 .600 4.50 15 15 0 4 1 0 80.0 91 41 40 3 27 17 1 1 0 348 77 1.475 10.2 0.3 3.0 1.9 0.63
20 Seasons 223 186 .545 3.80 582 433 95 181 25 23 3426.1 3706 1714 1447 161 1118 1160 59 2 33 14862 113 1.408 9.7 0.4 2.9 3.0 1.04
162 Game Avg. 15 12 .545 3.80 39 29 6 12 2 2 230 248 115 97 11 75 78 4 0 2 996 113 1.408 9.7 0.4 2.9 3.0 1.04
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

Standard Batting

More Stats

Glossary · Click headers to sort · SHARE  · CSV · PRE · LINK · Click rows to sum (Clear)
Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards
1928 18 CLE AL 23 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 .000 .000 .000 .000 -100 0 0 0 1
1929 19 CLE AL 11 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 -100 0 0 0 1
1930 20 CLE AL 36 67 63 8 9 2 1 0 4 1 0 2 28 .143 .169 .206 .376 -7 13 0 2 1
1931 21 CLE AL 40 81 75 7 19 2 1 0 10 0 0 2 24 .253 .273 .307 .579 48 23 0 4 1
1932 22 CLE AL 39 101 94 11 17 7 1 0 13 0 0 5 25 .181 .222 .277 .499 24 26 0 2 1
1933 23 CLE AL 44 88 84 2 16 3 0 1 5 0 0 2 26 .190 .209 .262 .471 22 22 0 2 1
1934 24 CLE AL 44 99 87 9 14 6 0 0 5 0 0 3 24 .161 .189 .230 .419 8 20 0 9 1 AS,MVP-16
1935 25 CLE AL 42 111 102 11 21 1 0 2 10 0 0 2 29 .206 .221 .275 .496 26 28 0 7 1 AS,MVP-22
1936 26 CLE AL 36 87 80 3 11 4 0 0 3 0 0 0 19 .138 .148 .188 .336 -19 15 1 6 1 AS
1937 27 CLE AL 38 98 86 5 15 4 0 0 10 0 0 5 33 .174 .220 .221 .441 12 19 0 7 1 AS
1938 28 CLE AL 39 94 88 3 10 2 0 0 6 0 0 4 31 .114 .152 .136 .289 -27 12 0 2 1 MVP-16
1939 29 CLE AL 29 83 72 8 10 0 1 1 9 0 0 3 17 .139 .195 .208 .403 4 15 2 2 6 1
1940 30 CLE AL 31 71 62 4 11 1 0 0 4 1 0 4 17 .177 .227 .194 .421 12 12 0 0 5 1
1941 31 CLE AL 15 25 25 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 .080 .080 .080 .160 -57 2 1 0 0 1
1942 32 CLE AL 29 72 67 3 8 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 19 .119 .145 .119 .264 -23 8 0 0 3 1
1943 33 CLE AL 19 53 47 2 10 1 1 0 4 0 0 2 11 .213 .245 .277 .521 56 13 0 0 4 1
1944 34 CLE AL 30 76 74 9 16 3 0 0 6 0 0 0 19 .216 .216 .257 .473 37 19 2 0 2 1
1945 35 CLE AL 11 28 25 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 .080 .080 .120 .200 -41 3 3 0 3 1
1946 36 CLE AL 13 36 35 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 14 .086 .111 .086 .197 -43 3 2 0 0 1
1947 37 CLE AL 15 35 28 2 5 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 10 .179 .233 .214 .448 27 6 1 0 5 1
20 Seasons 584 1314 1203 89 199 38 5 4 93 2 0 39 369 .165 .194 .215 .409 7 259 11 3 69
162 Game Avg. 162 365 334 25 55 11 1 1 26 1 0 11 102 .165 .194 .215 .409 7 72 1 19
G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards

Standard Fielding

More Stats

Glossary · Click headers to sort · SHARE  · CSV · PRE · LINK
Year Tm Lg Age Pos G GS Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% RF/9 RF/G lgFld% lgRF9 lgRFG Awards
1928 CLE AL 18 P 23 10 0 8 2 0 .800 0.35 .960 1.37
1929 CLE AL 19 P 11 4 0 3 1 0 .750 0.27 .975 1.29
1930 CLE AL 20 P 36 48 9 32 7 3 .854 1.14 .952 1.18
1931 CLE AL 21 P 40 56 14 38 4 4 .929 1.30 .955 1.19
1932 CLE AL 22 P 39 85 18 65 2 0 .976 2.13 .958 1.21
1933 CLE AL 23 P 43 112 22 87 3 4 .973 2.53 .960 1.18
1934 CLE AL 24 P 44 78 10 61 7 2 .910 1.61 .958 1.11 AS,MVP-16
1935 CLE AL 25 P 42 103 18 81 4 0 .961 2.36 .949 1.12 AS,MVP-22
1936 CLE AL 26 P 36 54 13 38 3 3 .944 1.42 .957 1.04 AS
1937 CLE AL 27 P 38 61 12 48 1 3 .984 1.58 .952 1.09 AS
1938 CLE AL 28 P 38 71 21 49 1 2 .986 1.84 .951 1.12 MVP-16
1939 CLE AL 29 P 29 41 14 26 1 1 .976 1.38 .949 0.98
1940 CLE AL 30 P 31 49 9 38 2 4 .959 1.52 .955 1.05
1941 CLE AL 31 P 15 24 7 16 1 0 .958 1.53 .958 1.16
1942 CLE AL 32 P 29 61 14 44 3 5 .951 2.00 .957 1.30
1943 CLE AL 33 P 19 33 6 27 0 2 1.000 1.74 .961 1.27
1944 CLE AL 34 P 30 47 11 34 2 3 .957 1.50 .960 1.14
1945 CLE AL 35 P 11 25 6 19 0 1 1.000 2.27 .952 1.28
1946 CLE AL 36 P 13 14 5 9 0 1 1.000 1.08 .950 1.01
1947 CLE AL 37 P 15 12 0 11 1 0 .917 0.73 .958 0.95
20 Seasons P 582 988 209 734 45 38 .954 1.62 .955 1.15
20 Seasons TOT 582 988 209 734 45 38 .954 1.62 .910 1.15
Pos G GS Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% RF/9 RF/G lgFld% lgRF9 lgRFG Awards

Appearances on Leader Boards, Awards, and Honors

Stats are Year-Value-Rank, Glossary

Hall of Fame
1949 BBWAA ( 2.6%)
1950 BBWAA ( 1.2%)
1951 BBWAA ( 0.4%)
1952 BBWAA ( 4.3%)
1953 BBWAA ( 3.0%)
1958 BBWAA ( 2.3%)
1960 BBWAA ( 4.5%)
1962 BBWAA ( 4.4%)
1964 BBWAA (25.4%)
1964 Run Off ( 7.0%)
1966 BBWAA (11.3%)
1967 BBWAA (17.8%)
1967 Run Off ( 4.6%)

All-Star Games
1934 *
1935 *
1936 *
1937 *

MVP (yr lg (rk, shr))
1934 AL (16, 5%)
1935 AL (22, 2%)
1938 AL (16, 4%)
0.11 Career Shares (872nd)

Earned Run Average s c a p y
1932 AL  3.746 (10th)
1933 AL  2.953 (1st)
1934 AL  2.608 (2nd)
1935 AL  3.289 (5th)
1938 AL  3.825 (9th)
1939 AL  3.505 (8th)

Wins s c a p y
1933 AL  15 (7th)
1934 AL  20 (4th)
1935 AL  22 (2nd)
1937 AL  15 (8th)
1938 AL  17 (4th)
1939 AL  15 (6th)
Career  223 (70th)

Win-Loss % s c a p y
1934 AL  .625 (8th)
1935 AL  .667 (5th)
1938 AL  .630 (7th)

Walks & Hits per IP s c a p y
1932 AL  1.355 (8th)
1933 AL  1.269 (3rd)
1934 AL  1.281 (3rd)
1935 AL  1.274 (6th)
1938 AL  1.329 (4th)
1939 AL  1.332 (8th)

Hits per 9 IP s c a p y
1934 AL  8.671 (7th)

Bases On Balls per 9 IP s c a p y
1932 AL  2.403 (4th)
1933 AL  2.383 (4th)
1934 AL  2.855 (7th)
1935 AL  1.660 (1st)
1936 AL  2.844 (6th)
1938 AL  2.325 (2nd)
1939 AL  2.769 (6th)
1940 AL  2.850 (7th)

Games Played s c a p y
1933 AL  43 (8th)
1934 AL  44 (5th)
1935 AL  42 (9th)
1937 AL  38 (8th)
Career  582 (200th)

Saves s c a p y
1933 AL  4 (8th)
1934 AL  4 (4th)
1938 AL  4 (6th)

Innings Pitched s c a p y
1932 AL  254.7 (10th)
1933 AL  253.0 (6th)
1934 AL  255.3 (6th)
1935 AL  287.3 (2nd)
1937 AL  233.7 (9th)
1938 AL  240.0 (6th)
Career  3426.3 (80th)

Strikeouts s c a p y
1934 AL  91 (10th)
1935 AL  95 (9th)
1938 AL  102 (9th)

Games Started s c a p y
1932 AL  32 (7th)
1933 AL  31 (7th)
1935 AL  35 (2nd)
1937 AL  30 (10th)
1938 AL  29 (8th)
1942 AL  29 (7th)
Career  433 (85th)

Complete Games s c a p y
1934 AL  17 (7th)
1938 AL  15 (10th)
Career  181 (170th)

Shutouts s c a p y
1933 AL  2 (4th)
1934 AL  6 (1st)
1935 AL  4 (2nd)
1938 AL  2 (5th)
1942 AL  4 (2nd)
Career  25 (173rd)

Home Runs s c a p y
1938 AL  16 (10th)

Bases on Balls s c a p y
Career  1118 (71st)

Hits s c a p y
1932 AL  277 (6th)
1933 AL  254 (7th)
1935 AL  313 (3rd)
1936 AL  294 (2nd)
1937 AL  269 (3rd)
1938 AL  257 (4th)
Career  3706 (52nd)

Strikeouts / Base On Balls s c a p y
1932 AL  1.324 (7th)
1933 AL  1.209 (9th)
1935 AL  1.793 (4th)
1936 AL  1.183 (6th)
1937 AL  1.105 (10th)
1938 AL  1.645 (2nd)
1940 AL  1.288 (10th)

Home Runs per 9 IP s c a p y
1931 AL  .371 (10th)
1932 AL  .318 (2nd)
1933 AL  .356 (9th)
1934 AL  .212 (3rd)
1935 AL  .188 (1st)
1937 AL  .347 (5th)

Losses s c a p y
1931 AL  14 (10th)
1933 AL  17 (4th)
1936 AL  15 (8th)
1942 AL  14 (9th)
Career  186 (58th)

Earned Runs s c a p y
1936 AL  129 (8th)
1944 AL  81 (9th)
Career  1447 (45th)

Wild Pitches s c a p y
1930 AL  5 (6th)

Hit By Pitch s c a p y
1931 AL  6 (4th)
1934 AL  7 (2nd)
1936 AL  6 (3rd)
1937 AL  4 (10th)
1938 AL  5 (7th)
1939 AL  3 (10th)
1940 AL  5 (3rd)

Batters Faced s c a p y
1932 AL  1106 (10th)
1933 AL  1073 (6th)
1934 AL  1072 (7th)
1935 AL  1206 (3rd)
1936 AL  1031 (9th)
1937 AL  1038 (9th)
1938 AL  1026 (7th)
Career  14862 (58th)

Adjusted ERA+ s c a p y
1932 AL  128 (8th)
1933 AL  152 (1st)
1934 AL  171 (2nd)
1935 AL  137 (3rd)

Youngest s c a p y
1928 AL  born 1909-10-15 (1st)
1929 AL  born 1909-10-15 (2nd)
1930 AL  born 1909-10-15 (10th)

Hall Of Fame Statistics

Player rank in (·)

Black InkPitching - 7 (331), Average HOFer ≈ 40
Gray InkPitching - 133 (122), Average HOFer ≈ 185
Hall of Fame MonitorPitching - 51 (252), Likely HOFer ≈ 100
Hall of Fame StandardsPitching - 21 (267), Average HOFer ≈ 50

Similar Pitchers 
 View Player Links in Pop-up
 Compare Stats to Similars
  1. Hooks Dauss (940)
  2. Jerry Reuss (920)
  3. Waite Hoyt (915) *
  4. George Uhle (914)
  5. Jim Perry (909)
  6. Doyle Alexander (903)
  7. Joe Niekro (902)
  8. Jesse Haines (901) *
  9. Sam Jones (896)
  10. Earl Whitehill (895)
* - Signifies Hall of Famer
Most Similar by Ages 
 View Player Links in Pop-up
 Hold mouse over #'s to see names
  1. Carl Scheib (966)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  2. Pedro Ramos (961)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  3. Chuck Stobbs (963)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  4. Art Houtteman (956)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  5. Kid Gleason (952)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  6. Waite Hoyt (978) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  7. Waite Hoyt (966) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  8. George Uhle (967)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  9. George Uhle (947)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  10. George Uhle (952)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  11. George Uhle (960)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  12. George Uhle (979)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  13. George Uhle (978)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  14. George Uhle (970)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  15. George Uhle (953)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  16. Hooks Dauss (946)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  17. Hooks Dauss (945)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  18. Ted Lyons (919) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
* - Signifies Hall of Famer
Similar Batters 
 View Player Links in Pop-up
 Compare Stats to Similars
  1. Rick Reuschel (990)
  2. Jim Bunning (983) *
  3. Juan Marichal (980) *
  4. Paul Derringer (976)
  5. Rube Waddell (974) *
  6. Curt Simmons (972)
  7. Tom Seaver (972) *
  8. Phil Niekro (970) *
  9. Jerry Reuss (970)
  10. Bob Feller (970) *
* - Signifies Hall of Famer
Most Similar by Ages 
 View Player Links in Pop-up
 Hold mouse over #'s to see names
  1. Hal Newhouser (976) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  2. Bert Cunningham (977)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  3. Noodles Hahn (979)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  4. Lee Meadows (986)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  5. Robin Roberts (980) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  6. Bob Feller (981) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  7. Rube Waddell (984) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  8. Rube Waddell (985) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  9. Rube Waddell (985) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  10. Robin Roberts (980) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  11. Robin Roberts (980) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  12. Juan Marichal (980) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  13. Jim Bunning (980) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
* - Signifies Hall of Famer

September 10, 1941: Released by the Cleveland Indians.

October 24, 1947: Released by the Cleveland Indians.

The transaction information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. Last transaction is September 30, 2009.

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: Mel Harder    

Viewed 67,932 times through December 24, 2009.
Name and misspellings: Melvin Chief Leroy Mel mell melvin Harder


Player Page Tricks and Tips

Sum any set of rows by clicking anywhere (not red or blue) on the first and last rows of your selection. We will then compute the totals for the player between and including those two seasons.
Default Setting for this feature: Turn On / Turn Off
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 (like '#1972', '#1970-1980-sum', or '#1998,1999,2001,2002,sum') 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.