Mobile Site You Are Here > Home > Encyclopedia of Players > H Listing > Ken Holcombe Statistics and History

News: s-r blog:Sports Reference Mobile Sites: Baseball, Football, Basketball, and Hockey

Photo of Ken Holcombe

Ken Holcombe

Kenneth Edward Holcombe

Position: Pitcher
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 5' 11", Weight: 169 lb.

Born: August 23, 1918 in Burnsville, NC (All Transactions)
Debut: April 27, 1945
Teams (by GP): WhiteSox/Yankees/Browns/RedSox/Reds 1945-1953

Final Game: May 10, 1953
Died: March 15, 2010 in Weaverville, NC
Cremated
About biographical information

View team uniforms at Dressed to the Nines a Baseball Hall of Fame on-line exhibit / Report an error

Let people know you like this site. Sponsor this page for $10. Your message will replace this ad.

Fan EloRater

Fine Details · Last Updated Dec 23, 2011, 8:12AM

All-Time Rank (among Pitchers): #1. Walter Johnson… #2. Cy Young… #3. Greg Maddux… #4. Christy Mathewson… #5. Pete Alexander… #6. Tom Seaver… #7. Randy Johnson…

All-Time Rank (among Pitchers): #1. Walter Johnson… #2. Cy Young… #3. Greg Maddux… #4. Christy Mathewson… #5. Pete Alexander… #6. Tom Seaver… #7. Randy Johnson…

Standard Pitching

More Stats

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB	Awards
1938	19	-min	D	9	8	.529	3.21	34						171.0	172	89	61		72							1.427	9.1		3.8			GBG · PASA
1939	20	STL-min	D	14	12	.538	4.62	31	26					218.0	225	134	112		96							1.472	9.3		4.0			WLM · MTNS
1940	21	STL-min	D,B	1	5	.167	5.29	9	4					34.0	30	24	20		22							1.529	7.9		5.8			HAM,AVL · PONY,PIED
1941	22	NYY-min	B	15	11	.577	3.53	34						222.0	209	97	87		97							1.378	8.5		3.9			NFK · PIED
1942	23	NYY-min	AA	1	1	.500	0.26	15	0		0	0		34.0	18	6	1		21	25	0	0	2			1.147	4.8		5.6	6.6	1.19	NWK · IL
1943	24	NYY-min	AA	9	7	.563	3.66	28	20		9	0		160.0	134	72	65		97	84	3	0	4			1.444	7.5		5.5	4.7	0.87	NWK · IL
1944	25	NYY-min	AA	17	10	.630	3.82	33	28		16	2		205.0	193	112	87		116	123	4	0	4			1.507	8.5		5.1	5.4	1.06	NWK · IL
1945	26	NYY	AL	3	3	.500	1.79	23	2	15	0	0	0	55.1	43	19	11	2	27	20	0	0	2	227	195	1.265	7.0	0.3	4.4	3.3	0.74

1948	29	-min	AAA	9	10	.474	5.04	27			8	1		150.0	173	101	84		65	58	3	0	3			1.587	10.4		3.9	3.5	0.89	SAC · PCL
1948	29	CIN	NL	0	0		7.71	2	0	1	0	0	0	2.1	3	2	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	10	59	1.286	11.6	0.0	0.0	7.7

1950	31	CHW	AL	3	10	.231	4.59	24	15	5	5	0	1	96.0	122	68	49	10	45	37	0	0	2	449	98	1.740	11.4	0.9	4.2	3.5	0.82
1951	32	CHW	AL	11	12	.478	3.78	28	23	3	12	2	0	159.1	142	69	67	9	68	39	1	0	2	670	107	1.318	8.0	0.5	3.8	2.2	0.57
1952	33	BOS-min	AAA	5	2	.714	3.86	9	9		4	3		63.0	57	29	27		12	30	0	1	2			1.095	8.1		1.7	4.3	2.50	LOU · AA
1952	33	TOT	AL	0	7	.000	5.30	19	8	6	1	0	0	56.0	58	34	33	4	27	19	2	0	1	244	71	1.518	9.3	0.6	4.3	3.1	0.70
1952	33	CHW	AL	0	5	.000	6.17	7	7	0	1	0	0	35.0	38	24	24	3	18	12	2	0	1	155	60	1.600	9.8	0.8	4.6	3.1	0.67
1952	33	SLB	AL	0	2	.000	3.86	12	1	6	0	0	0	21.0	20	10	9	1	9	7	0	0	0	89	103	1.381	8.6	0.4	3.9	3.0	0.78
1953	34	BOS-min	AAA	10	8	.556	2.98	23	23		8	2		154.0	156	61	51	7	41	57	2	0	0			1.279	9.1	0.4	2.4	3.3	1.39	LOU · AA
1953	34	BOS	AL	1	0	1.000	6.00	3	0	2	0	0	1	6.0	9	4	4	0	3	1	0	0	1	30	74	2.000	13.5	0.0	4.5	1.5	0.33
1954	35	-min	Opn	10	10	.500	3.07	34	30		8	3		205.0	191	73	70	8	85	75	4	1	4			1.346	8.4	0.4	3.7	3.3	0.88	SFR · PCL
6 Seasons				18	32	.360	3.98	99	48	32	18	2	2	375.0	377	196	166	25	170	118	3	0	8	1630	102	1.459	9.0	0.6	4.1	2.8	0.69
162 Game Avg.				8	15	.360	3.98	46	22	15	8	1	1	173	174	91	77	12	79	55	1	0	4	754	102	1.459	9.0	0.6	4.1	2.8	0.69

CHW (3 yrs)				14	27	.341	4.34	59	45	8	18	2	1	290.1	302	161	140	22	131	88	3	0	5	1274	96	1.491	9.4	0.7	4.1	2.7	0.67
BOS (1 yr)				1	0	1.000	6.00	3	0	2	0	0	1	6.0	9	4	4	0	3	1	0	0	1	30	74	2.000	13.5	0.0	4.5	1.5	0.33
CIN (1 yr)				0	0		7.71	2	0	1	0	0	0	2.1	3	2	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	10	59	1.286	11.6	0.0	0.0	7.7
NYY (1 yr)				3	3	.500	1.79	23	2	15	0	0	0	55.1	43	19	11	2	27	20	0	0	2	227	195	1.265	7.0	0.3	4.4	3.3	0.74
SLB (1 yr)				0	2	.000	3.86	12	1	6	0	0	0	21.0	20	10	9	1	9	7	0	0	0	89	103	1.381	8.6	0.4	3.9	3.0	0.78

AL (5 yrs)			AL	18	32	.360	3.96	97	48	31	18	2	2	372.2	374	194	164	25	170	116	3	0	8	1620	102	1.460	9.0	0.6	4.1	2.8	0.68
NL (1 yr)			NL	0	0		7.71	2	0	1	0	0	0	2.1	3	2	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	10	59	1.286	11.6	0.0	0.0	7.7

Player Value--Pitchers

WAR: 8+ MVP, 5+ A-S, 2+ Strtr, 0-2 Sub, < 0 Repl.

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	IP	GS	R	Rrep	Rdef	aLI	RAR	WAR	Salary
1945	26	NYY	AL	55.1	2	19	27	1	1.0	8	0.8	$

1948	29	CIN	NL	2.1	0	2	1	0	1.0	-1	-0.1	$

1950	31	CHW	AL	96.0	15	68	64	1	1.0	-4	-0.6	$
1951	32	CHW	AL	159.1	23	69	96	2	1.0	27	2.4	$
1952	33	CHW	AL	35.0	7	24	19	0	1.0	-5	-0.6	$
1952	33	SLB	AL	21.0	1	10	11	0	1.0	1	0.2	$
1953	34	BOS	AL	6.0	0	4	4	0	1.0	0	0.0	$
6 Seasons				375.0	48	196	222	4	1.0	26	2.1	$

CHW (3 yrs)				290.1	45	161	179	3	1.0	18	1.2	$
BOS (1 yr)				6.0	0	4	4	0	1.0	0	0.0	$
CIN (1 yr)				2.1	0	2	1	0	1.0	-1	-0.1	$
NYY (1 yr)				55.1	2	19	27	1	1.0	8	0.8	$
SLB (1 yr)				21.0	1	10	11	0	1.0	1	0.2	$

Standard Batting

More Stats

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	Pos
1938	19	-min	D	34	65	65		9	0	0	0						.138	.138	.138	.277		9					GBG · PASA
1939	20	STL-min	D	33	83	83		14	1	0	0						.169	.169	.181	.349		15					WLM · MTNS
1940	21	STL-min	B,D																								AVL,HAM · PIED,PONY
1941	22	NYY-min	B	35	78	78		11	1	0	0						.141	.141	.154	.295		12					NFK · PIED
1942	23	NYY-min	AA	15	11	10	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	6	.200	.273	.200	.473		2	0	0	0		NWK · IL
1943	24	NYY-min	AA	28	59	53	4	10	1	0	0	1	0	0	4	12	.189	.246	.208	.453		11		0	2		NWK · IL
1944	25	NYY-min	AA	33	82	71	8	10	1	0	0	6	0	0	7	17	.141	.218	.155	.373		11	1	0	4		NWK · IL
1945	26	NYY	AL	23	15	15	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	.133	.133	.133	.267	-24	2	0	0	0		1

1948	29	-min	AAA	27	51	49	2	7	0	0	0	4	0		0	18	.143	.143	.143	.286		7		0	2		SAC · PCL
1948	29	CIN	NL	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	0						0	0	0	0		/1

1950	31	CHW	AL	24	34	32	2	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	.156	.156	.188	.344	-11	6	1	0	2		1
1951	32	CHW	AL	28	57	44	5	11	1	0	0	3	0	0	3	16	.250	.298	.273	.571	56	12	1	0	10		1
1952	33	BOS-min	AAA	9	25	25		6									.240	.240									LOU · AA
1952	33	TOT	AL	19	14	13	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	.077	.077	.077	.154	-57	1	0	0	1		1
1952	33	CHW	AL	7	11	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	.000	.000	.000	.000	-100	0	0	0	1		/1
1952	33	SLB	AL	12	3	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333	.333	.333	.667	84	1	0	0	0		1
1953	34	BOS-min	AAA	23	60	53	3	5	2	0	0	5	0		3	18	.094	.143	.132	.275		7	0	0	4		LOU · AA
1953	34	BOS	AL	3	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	-100	0	0	0	1		/1
1954	35	-min	Opn	35	73	63	6	11	3	0	0	6	0		6	21	.175	.246	.222	.469		14	0	0	4	0	SFR · PCL
6 Seasons				99	123	106	7	19	2	0	0	3	0	0	3	36	.179	.202	.198	.400	8	21	2	0	14
162 Game Avg.				162	201	173	11	31	3	0	0	5	0		5	59	.179	.202	.198	.400	8	34	3	0	23

CHW (3 yrs)				59	102	86	7	16	2	0	0	3	0	0	3	28	.186	.213	.209	.423	14	18	2	0	13
BOS (1 yr)				3	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	-100	0	0	0	1
CIN (1 yr)				2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	0						0	0	0	0
NYY (1 yr)				23	15	15	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	.133	.133	.133	.267	-24	2	0	0	0
SLB (1 yr)				12	3	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333	.333	.333	.667	84	1	0	0	0

AL (5 yrs)				97	123	106	7	19	2	0	0	3	0	0	3	36	.179	.202	.198	.400	8	21	2	0	14
NL (1 yr)				2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	0						0	0	0	0

Player Value--Batters

WAR: 8+ MVP, 5+ A-S, 2+ Strtr, 0-2 Sub, < 0 Repl.

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	PA	Rbat	Rbaser	Rroe	Rdp	Rfield	Rpos	Rrep	RAR	WAR	oRAR	oWAR	dWAR	Salary	Pos
1945	26	NYY	AL	15	-2	0	0	0	0	1	0	-1	-0.1	-1	-0.1	0.0	$	1

1950	31	CHW	AL	34	-6	0	0	0	0	3	1	-2	-0.2	-2	-0.2	0.0	$	1
1951	32	CHW	AL	57	-3	0	0	0	0	3	1	1	0.1	1	0.1	0.0	$	1
1952	33	CHW	AL	11	-3	0	0	0	0	1	0	-2	-0.2	-2	-0.2	0.0	$	/1
1952	33	SLB	AL	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0.0	$	1
1953	34	BOS	AL	3	-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	-1	-0.1	-1	-0.1	0.0	$	/1
5 Seasons				123	-15	0	0	0	0	8	2	-5	-0.5	-5	-0.5	0.0	$

CHW (3 yrs)				102	-12	0	0	0	0	7	2	-3	-0.3	-3	-0.3	0.0	$
BOS (1 yr)				3	-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	-1	-0.1	-1	-0.1	0.0	$
NYY (1 yr)				15	-2	0	0	0	0	1	0	-1	-0.1	-1	-0.1	0.0	$
SLB (1 yr)				3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0.0	$

Standard Fielding

More Stats

Year	Tm	Lg	Age	Pos	G	GS	CG	Inn	Ch	PO	A	E	DP	Fld%	RF/9	RF/G	lgFld%	lgRF9	lgRFG	SB	CS	CS%	PO
1945	NYY	AL	26	P	23	2	0	55.1	13	2	10	1	1	.923	1.95	0.52	.955	2.24	2.23
1948	CIN	NL	29	P	2	0	0	2.1	0	0	0	0	0		0.00	0.00		1.93	2.10
1950	CHW	AL	31	P	24	15	5	96.0	24	6	16	2	1	.917	2.06	0.92	.950	2.03	1.99	2	1	33%	0
1951	CHW	AL	32	P	28	23	12	159.1	53	8	42	3	5	.943	2.82	1.79	.953	2.07	2.06	7	2	22%	2
1952	TOT	AL	33	P	19	8	1	56.0	19	2	15	2	0	.895	2.73	0.89	.966	2.11	2.10	5	3	38%	0
1952	CHW	AL	33	P	7	7	1	35.0	13	1	10	2	0	.846	2.83	1.57	.966	2.11	2.10	3	2	40%	0
1952	SLB	AL	33	P	12	1	0	21.0	6	1	5	0	0	1.000	2.57	0.50	.967	2.10	2.10	2	1	33%	0
1953	BOS	AL	34	P	3	0	0	6.0	2	1	1	0	0	1.000	3.00	0.67	.955	1.95	1.93	0	0		0
	6 Seasons			P	99	48	18	375.0	111	19	84	8	7	.928	2.47	1.04	.955	2.09	2.09	14	6	30%	2
	6 Seasons			TOT	99	48	18	375.0	111	19	84	8	7	.928	2.47	1.04	.955	2.09	2.09	14	6	30%	2

Note: Fielding stats are a combination of official records and RetroSheet records. Both are likely to have substantial errors and will not match perfectly.

View Complete Notes on Fielding Data

Leagues historically made no effort to balance team, league, and player fielding stats. Since 1990 or so, computers have made this feasible, but prior to that there are hundreds or thousands of discrepancies each year in games played (even whether a player played a position), putouts, assists, double plays and errors.

Pre-1950 SB & CS data for catchers is estimated from catcher assists, games started and opposition stolen bases.
From 1950 on SB, CS, Pickoff, & WP data for catchers and pitchers is taken from play-by-play accounts in the retrosheet files. There are several hundred games without pbp from 1950 to 1973 and for those we may not have any data.
CG & GS come from the retrosheet data and should be complete and pretty accurate from 1919 on.
Innings played (like SB and CS) come from the retrosheet play-by-play data and should be considered mostly complete from 1950 to 1973 and complete from then on.
Stats (PO,A,G, etc) for LF-CF-RF positions (since 1919) is taken from play-by-play or box score data as available.
Stats (PO,A,G,etc) for C,P,1B,2B,3B,SS,OF positions is taken from the official reported totals and may have been corrected at various times since their publication.
For detailed information on which games retrosheet is missing play-by-play from 1950 to 1973, please see their most wanted games list
For detailed information on the availability of data on this site by year, see our data coverage page

Appearances on Leader Boards, Awards, and Honors

Stats are Year-Value-Rank · Glossary

Walks & Hits per IP s c a p y 1951 AL 1.318 (10th)	Hits per 9 IP s c a p y 1951 AL 8.021 (6th)	Shutouts s c a p y 1951 AL 2 (10th)	Home Runs per 9 IP s c a p y 1951 AL 0.508 (7th)
Losses s c a p y 1951 AL 12 (9th)	Games Finished s c a p y 1945 AL 15 (8th)	Errors Committed as P s c a p y 1951 AL 3 (4th)

Hall Of Fame Statistics

Player rank in (·)

Gray Ink

Pitching - 3 (2106), Average HOFer ≈ 185

Similarity Scores

Explanation of Similarity Scores

Similar Pitchers

Compare Stats to Similars

Bob Stoddard (984)
Jake Mooty (977)
Harry Taylor (977)
Tom Earley (977)
Ad Liska (975)
James McDonald (975)
Al Corwin (973)
Rube Geyer (972)
Bob Sadowski (971)
Ed Wright (970)

Most Similar by Ages

Hold mouse over #'s to see names

By Speece (988) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
Tot Pressnell (976) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
Boom-Boom Beck (972) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
Bill Harris (969) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C

Transactions

Before 1939 Season: Sent from Greensburg (Pennsylvania State Associatio) to the St. Louis Cardinals in an unknown transaction.
Before 1941 Season: Sent from the St. Louis Cardinals to the New York Yankees in an unknown transaction.
November 1, 1946: Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates from the New York Yankees in the 1946 rule 5 draft.
April 1, 1947: Returned (earlier draft pick) by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the New York Yankees.
April 15, 1947: Purchased by Sacramento (PCL) from the New York Yankees. (Date given is approximate. Exact date is uncertain.)
November 10, 1947: Drafted by the Cincinnati Reds from Sacramento (PCL) in the 1947 rule 5 draft.
May 10, 1948: Returned (earlier draft pick) by the Cincinnati Reds to Sacramento (PCL).
September 30, 1949: Purchased by the Chicago White Sox from Sacramento (PCL) for $25,000. (Date given is approximate. Exact date is uncertain.)
June 16, 1952: Selected off waivers by the St. Louis Browns from the Chicago White Sox.
July 24, 1952: Released by the St. Louis Browns.
July 24, 1952: Signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.

The transaction information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. We attempt to update transactions throughout the season.

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: Ken Holcombe

Viewed 14,390 times through February 12, 2012.
Name and misspellings: Kenneth Edward Ken kenny keny king Holcombe

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 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

See Front Page for time of last update

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.

A Sports Reference Site: About Baseball Reference | Found a bug or have a suggestion?
Privacy Statement | Conditions & Terms of Service | Use of Data

Part of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group.