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Jim Sundberg

James Howard Sundberg

Position: Catcher
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 0", Weight: 190 lb.

Born: May 18, 1951 in Galesburg, IL
High School: Galesburg (Galesburg, IL)
School: University of Iowa
Drafted
by the Texas Rangers in the 1st round (2nd pick) of the 1973 amateur draft (January Secondary). (All Transactions)
Debut: April 4, 1974
Teams (by GP): Rangers/Royals/Brewers/Cubs 1974-1989

Final Game: September 24, 1989
    About biographical information


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Fan EloRater

Fine Details  · Last Updated Feb 11, 2012, 8:21PM
All-Time Rank (among Batters): #518. Frank Thomas… #519. Frank White… #520. Benito Santiago… #521. JIM SUNDBERG… #522. Arlie Latham… #523. John Anderson… #524. Jimmy Dykes… 

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 IBB Pos Awards
1974 23 TEX AL 132 449 368 45 91 13 3 3 36 2 4 62 61 .247 .354 .323 .678 99 119 16 0 17 2 0 *2 AS,RoY-4
1975 24 TEX AL 155 540 472 45 94 9 0 6 36 3 1 51 77 .199 .283 .256 .539 55 121 16 4 13 0 0 *2
1976 25 TEX AL 140 496 448 33 102 24 2 3 34 0 0 37 61 .228 .285 .310 .596 74 139 15 0 9 2 0 *2 GG
1977 26 TEX AL 149 533 453 61 132 20 3 6 65 2 3 53 77 .291 .365 .389 .753 105 176 8 2 20 5 0 *2 MVP-15,GG
1978 27 TEX AL 149 592 518 54 144 23 6 6 58 2 5 64 70 .278 .358 .380 .739 109 197 18 3 3 4 6 *2 AS,MVP-15,GG
1979 28 TEX AL 150 561 495 50 136 23 4 5 64 3 3 51 51 .275 .345 .368 .713 94 182 17 5 5 5 5 *2 GG
1980 29 TEX AL 151 581 505 59 138 24 1 10 63 2 2 64 67 .273 .353 .384 .737 105 194 15 1 6 5 3 *2 GG
1981 30 TEX AL 102 396 339 42 94 17 2 3 28 2 5 50 48 .277 .369 .366 .735 119 124 5 1 3 3 6 *2/ GG
1982 31 TEX AL 139 530 470 37 118 22 5 10 47 2 6 49 57 .251 .322 .383 .705 98 180 11 1 9 1 2 *2/
1983 32 TEX AL 131 423 378 30 76 14 0 2 28 0 4 35 64 .201 .272 .254 .526 48 96 8 2 7 1 0 *2
1984 33 MIL AL 110 395 348 43 91 19 4 7 43 1 1 38 63 .261 .332 .399 .731 105 139 5 0 6 3 2 *2 AS
1985 34 KCR AL 115 407 367 38 90 12 4 10 35 0 2 33 67 .245 .308 .381 .689 88 140 9 1 4 2 3 *2
1986 35 KCR AL 140 491 429 41 91 9 1 12 42 1 1 57 91 .212 .303 .322 .624 69 138 7 0 2 3 1 *2
1987 36 CHC NL 61 161 139 9 28 2 0 4 15 0 0 19 40 .201 .306 .302 .608 61 42 3 2 1 0 3 2
1988 37 TOT MLB 62 165 145 21 39 5 0 6 22 0 0 13 32 .269 .327 .428 .755 110 62 3 0 6 1 0 2
1988 37 TEX AL 38 99 91 13 26 4 0 4 13 0 0 5 17 .286 .323 .462 .784 116 42 2 0 3 0 0 22
1988 37 CHC NL 24 66 54 8 13 1 0 2 9 0 0 8 15 .241 .333 .370 .704 98 20 1 0 3 1 0 22
1989 38 TEX AL 76 178 147 13 29 7 1 2 8 0 0 23 37 .197 .304 .299 .603 70 44 3 0 7 1 0 2
16 Seasons 1962 6898 6021 621 1493 243 36 95 624 20 37 699 963 .248 .327 .348 .674 89 2093 159 22 118 38 31
162 Game Avg. 162 570 497 51 123 20 3 8 52 2 3 58 80 .248 .327 .348 .674 89 173 13 2 10 3 3
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
TEX (12 yrs) 1512 5378 4684 482 1180 200 27 60 480 18 33 544 687 .252 .330 .345 .675 91 1614 134 19 102 29 22
KCR (2 yrs) 255 898 796 79 181 21 5 22 77 1 3 90 158 .227 .305 .349 .654 78 278 16 1 6 5 4
CHC (2 yrs) 85 227 193 17 41 3 0 6 24 0 0 27 55 .212 .314 .321 .635 71 62 4 2 4 1 3
MIL (1 yr) 110 395 348 43 91 19 4 7 43 1 1 38 63 .261 .332 .399 .731 105 139 5 0 6 3 2
AL (15 yrs) 1877 6671 5828 604 1452 240 36 89 600 20 37 672 908 .249 .327 .348 .675 90 2031 155 20 114 37 28
NL (2 yrs) 85 227 193 17 41 3 0 6 24 0 0 27 55 .212 .314 .321 .635 71 62 4 2 4 1 3

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 Awards
1974 23 TEX AL 449 2 0 3 -2 6 8 14 31 3.2 25 2.7 0.5 $ *2 AS,RoY-4
1975 24 TEX AL 540 -30 -2 1 -2 13 10 18 8 0.5 -5 -0.5 1.0 $ *2
1976 25 TEX AL 496 -14 1 0 0 14 9 16 26 2.5 12 1.3 1.2 $ *2 GG
1977 26 TEX AL 533 4 2 -1 1 14 9 17 46 4.6 32 3.3 1.3 $80,000 *2 MVP-15,GG
1978 27 TEX AL 592 7 -1 -1 -2 17 9 20 49 4.9 32 3.4 1.5 $ *2 AS,MVP-15,GG
1979 28 TEX AL 561 -1 -2 0 -2 10 9 19 33 3.3 23 2.3 1.0 $ *2 GG
1980 29 TEX AL 581 5 -1 4 -1 -3 10 18 32 3.3 35 3.6 -0.3 $ *2 GG
1981 30 TEX AL 396 12 -1 1 0 8 6 12 38 4.0 30 3.1 0.9 $ *2/ GG
1982 31 TEX AL 531 -1 -3 0 1 6 8 17 29 2.9 22 2.3 0.6 $ *2/
1983 32 TEX AL 423 -27 -1 -1 0 9 8 13 1 0.0 -8 -0.8 0.8 $ *2
1984 33 MIL AL 395 5 -1 -2 0 11 7 12 32 3.3 21 2.2 1.1 $ *2 AS
1985 34 KCR AL 407 -8 -1 -1 -1 -1 7 13 8 0.8 9 0.9 -0.1 $608,333 *2
1986 35 KCR AL 491 -20 -2 -1 0 7 8 16 8 0.7 1 0.1 0.6 $653,128 *2
1987 36 CHC NL 161 -9 0 0 0 1 3 5 0 0.0 -1 -0.1 0.1 $791,667 2
1988 37 CHC NL 66 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 4 0.4 4 0.4 0.0 $650,000 22
1988 37 TEX AL 99 1 0 -1 0 -1 2 3 4 0.4 5 0.5 -0.1 $62,500 22
1989 38 TEX AL 178 -6 -1 -1 0 3 3 5 3 0.3 0 0.0 0.3 $475,000 2
16 Seasons 6899 -80 -13 1 -8 114 117 220 352 35.1 237 24.7 10.4 $3,320,628
Lg PA Rbat Rbaser Rroe Rdp Rfield Rpos Rrep RAR WAR oRAR oWAR dWAR Salary Pos Awards
TEX (12 yrs) 5379 -48 -9 4 -7 96 91 172 300 29.9 203 21.2 8.7 $617,500
KCR (2 yrs) 898 -28 -3 -2 -1 6 15 29 16 1.5 10 1.0 0.5 $1,261,461
CHC (2 yrs) 227 -9 0 1 0 1 4 7 4 0.4 3 0.3 0.1 $1,441,667
MIL (1 yr) 395 5 -1 -2 0 11 7 12 32 3.3 21 2.2 1.1 $

Postseason Batting

Year Age Tm Lg Series Opp Rslt G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB
1985 34 KCR AL ALCS TOR W 7 25 24 3 4 1 1 1 6 0 0 1 7 .167 .200 .417 .617 10 0 0 0 0 0
1985 34 KCR AL WS STL W 7 30 24 6 6 2 0 0 1 0 0 6 4 .250 .400 .333 .733 8 1 0 0 0 0
1 Season (2 Series) 14 55 48 9 10 3 1 1 7 0 0 7 11 .208 .309 .375 .684 18 1 0 0 0 0
1 ALCS 7 25 24 3 4 1 1 1 6 0 0 1 7 .167 .200 .417 .617 10 0 0 0 0 0
1 WS 7 30 24 6 6 2 0 0 1 0 0 6 4 .250 .400 .333 .733 8 1 0 0 0 0

Standard Fielding

More Stats

Adv Fielding w/ run summary
Year Tm Lg Age Pos G GS CG Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% Rtot Rtot/yr RF/9 RF/G lgFld% lgRF9 lgRFG PB WP SB CS CS% PO Awards
1974 TEX AL 23 C 132 799 722 69 8 15 .990 6 5.99 .983 5.87 6 67 43 39% AS,RoY-4
1975 TEX AL 24 C 155 909 791 101 17 11 .981 13 5.75 .983 5.98 9 77 65 46%
1976 TEX AL 25 C 140 822 719 96 7 11 .991 14 5.82 .981 5.77 6 95 69 42% GG
1977 TEX AL 26 C 149 909 801 103 5 12 .994 14 6.07 .986 5.97 5 43 55 56% MVP-15,GG
1978 TEX AL 27 C 148 863 769 91 3 14 .997 17 5.81 .983 5.48 8 75 70 48% AS,MVP-15,GG
1978 TEX AL 27 DH 1 1 AS,MVP-15,GG
1979 TEX AL 28 C 150 833 754 75 4 14 .995 10 5.53 .982 5.39 8 76 53 41% GG
1980 TEX AL 29 C 151 936 853 76 7 7 .993 -3 6.15 .986 5.47 17 102 52 34% GG
1981 TEX AL 30 C 98 518 464 52 2 9 .996 8 5.27 .987 5.49 8 41 38 48% GG
1981 TEX AL 30 OF 2 1 1 0 0 0 1.000 -0 0.50 .980 2.45 GG
1981 TEX AL 30 LF 2 1 1 11.0 1 1 0 0 0 1.000 -0 -44 0.82 0.50 .980 2.37 2.40 GG
1982 TEX AL 31 C 132 682 607 69 6 15 .991 6 5.12 .988 5.66 16 77 51 40%
1982 TEX AL 31 OF 1 5 5 0 0 0 1.000 0 5.00 .982 2.50
1982 TEX AL 31 LF 1 1 1 8.2 5 5 0 0 0 1.000 0 69 5.19 5.00 .980 2.28 2.30
1983 TEX AL 32 C 131 679 618 56 5 2 .993 9 5.15 .986 5.66 10 79 51 39%
1984 MIL AL 33 C 109 614 556 55 3 6 .995 11 5.61 .987 5.92 2 42 42 50% AS
1985 KCR AL 34 C 112 618 572 41 5 10 .992 -1 5.47 .987 5.99 6 60 25 29%
1986 KCR AL 35 C 134 736 686 46 4 11 .995 7 5.46 .989 6.56 13 68 43 39%
1987 CHC NL 36 C 57 309 273 34 2 2 .994 1 5.39 .987 6.90 1 43 17 28%
1988 TOT MLB 37 C 56 245 229 16 0 3 1.000 -1 4.38 .988 6.31 5 33 13 28%
1988 TEX AL 37 C 36 150 141 9 0 2 1.000 -1 4.17 .989 6.16 3 18 6 25%
1988 CHC NL 37 C 20 95 88 7 0 1 1.000 0 4.75 .987 6.57 2 15 7 32%
1989 TEX AL 38 C 73 383 353 27 3 3 .992 3 5.21 .989 6.17 10 34 21 38%
16 Seasons C 1927 10855 9767 1007 81 145 .993 114 5.59 .985 5.84 130 1012 708 41%
2 Seasons LF 3 2 2 19.2 6 6 0 0 0 1.000 0 6 2.75 2.00 .980 2.33 2.37
2 Seasons OF 3 6 6 0 0 0 1.000 0 2.00 .982 2.47
16 Seasons TOT 1930 10861 9773 1007 81 145 .993 114 5.59 .985 5.84 130 1012 708 41%
Lg Pos G GS CG Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% Rtot Rtot/yr RF/9 RF/G lgFld% lgRF9 lgRFG PB WP SB CS CS% PO Awards
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

Hall of Fame
1995 BBWAA ( 0.2%)

MVP (yr lg (rk, shr))
1977 AL (15, 8%)
1978 AL (15, 6%)
0.14 Career Shares (826th)

Gold Gloves
1976 AL (C)
1977 AL (C)
1978 AL (C)
1979 AL (C)
1980 AL (C)
1981 AL (C)
All multiple winners

WAR Position Playerss c a p y
1978 AL  4.9 (10th)

Defensive WARs c a p y
1975 AL  1.0 (10th)
1976 AL  1.2 (10th)
1977 AL  1.3 (5th)
1978 AL  1.5 (4th)
1981 AL  0.9 (10th)
Career  10.4 (64th)

Sacrifice Hits s c a p y
1974 AL  17 (3rd)
1975 AL  13 (8th)
1977 AL  20 (3rd)

Double Plays Grounded Into s c a p y
1978 AL  18 (7th)
1979 AL  17 (10th)
Career  159 (225th)

Total Zone Runss c a p y
1977 AL  14 (5th)
1978 AL  17 (3rd)
Career  114 (36th)

Def. Games as C s c a p y
1974 AL  132 (5th)
1975 AL  155 (1st)
1976 AL  140 (1st)
1977 AL  149 (2nd)
1978 AL  148 (2nd)
1979 AL  150 (1st)
1980 AL  151 (1st)
1981 AL  98 (1st)
1982 AL  132 (3rd)
1983 AL  131 (3rd)
1986 AL  134 (2nd)
Career  1,927 (8th)

Putouts as C s c a p y
1974 AL  722 (3rd)
1975 AL  791 (1st)
1976 AL  719 (1st)
1977 AL  801 (1st)
1978 AL  769 (1st)
1979 AL  754 (1st)
1980 AL  853 (1st)
1981 AL  464 (2nd)
1982 AL  607 (4th)
1983 AL  618 (3rd)
1986 AL  686 (4th)
Career  9,767 (13th)

Assists as C s c a p y
1974 AL  69 (3rd)
1975 AL  101 (1st)
1976 AL  96 (1st)
1977 AL  103 (1st)
1978 AL  91 (1st)
1979 AL  75 (3rd)
1980 AL  76 (1st)
1981 AL  52 (1st)
1982 AL  69 (3rd)
1983 AL  56 (4th)
1986 AL  46 (5th)
Career  1,007 (45th)

Errors Committed as C s c a p y
1975 AL  17 (2nd)

Passed Balls s c a p y
1975 AL  9 (4th)
1976 AL  6 (5th)
1978 AL  8 (2nd)
1979 AL  8 (5th)
1980 AL  17 (1st)
1981 AL  8 (1st)
1982 AL  16 (1st)
1983 AL  10 (2nd)
1986 AL  13 (2nd)
1989 AL  10 (5th)
Career  130 (88th)

Stolen Bases Allowed as C s c a p y
1974 AL  67 (5th)
1975 AL  77 (4th)
1976 AL  95 (2nd)
1978 AL  75 (5th)
1979 AL  76 (4th)
1980 AL  102 (1st)
1982 AL  77 (4th)
1983 AL  79 (2nd)
1986 AL  68 (2nd)
Career  1,012 (33rd)

Caught Stealing as C s c a p y
1974 AL  43 (5th)
1975 AL  65 (2nd)
1976 AL  69 (1st)
1977 AL  55 (4th)
1978 AL  70 (1st)
1979 AL  53 (4th)
1980 AL  52 (2nd)
1981 AL  38 (1st)
1982 AL  51 (3rd)
1983 AL  51 (2nd)
1984 AL  42 (3rd)
1986 AL  43 (2nd)
Career  708 (30th)

Caught Stealing %s c a p y
1975 AL  45.8 (2nd)
1976 AL  42.1 (4th)
1977 AL  56.1 (2nd)
1978 AL  48.3 (2nd)
1981 AL  48.1 (3rd)
1983 AL  39.2 (4th)
1984 AL  50.0 (1st)

Total Zone Runs as C s c a p y
1974 AL  6 (1st)
1975 AL  13 (1st)
1976 AL  14 (1st)
1977 AL  14 (1st)
1978 AL  17 (1st)
1979 AL  10 (3rd)
1981 AL  8 (1st)
1982 AL  6 (3rd)
1983 AL  9 (2nd)
1984 AL  11 (1st)
1986 AL  7 (3rd)
Career  114 (2nd)

Range Factor/9Inn as Cs c a p y
1974 AL  6.51 (3rd)
1976 AL  6.09 (4th)
1977 AL  6.70 (3rd)
1978 AL  5.98 (3rd)
1979 AL  5.87 (3rd)
1980 AL  6.43 (1st)

Range Factor/Game as C s c a p y
1974 AL  5.99 (2nd)
1975 AL  5.75 (4th)
1976 AL  5.82 (3rd)
1977 AL  6.07 (1st)
1978 AL  5.81 (3rd)
1979 AL  5.53 (3rd)
1980 AL  6.15 (1st)
1981 AL  5.27 (5th)
1983 AL  5.15 (5th)
1984 AL  5.61 (5th)

Fielding % as C s c a p y
1974 AL  .990 (3rd)
1976 AL  .991 (1st)
1977 AL  .994 (1st)
1978 AL  .997 (1st)
1979 AL  .995 (1st)
1980 AL  .993 (3rd)
1981 AL  .996 (3rd)
1983 AL  .993 (4th)
1984 AL  .995 (1st)
1985 AL  .992 (3rd)
1986 AL  .995 (1st)
Career  .993 (31st)

                                         

Hall Of Fame Statistics

Player rank in (·)

Hall of Fame MonitorBatting - 87 (200), Likely HOFer ≈ 100
Hall of Fame StandardsBatting - 24 (547), Average HOFer ≈ 50

Transactions

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

Salaries

Salaries may not be complete (especially pre-1985) and may not include some earned bonuses
Year Age Team Salary Sources Notes
197726Texas Rangers$80,000TSN salary survey, 4/23/77
198534Kansas City Royals$608,3331985 USA Today survey
198635Kansas City Royals$653,1281986 USA Today surveyIncludes $20,000 earned bonus
198736Chicago Cubs$791,6671987 USA Today survey
198837Chicago Cubs$650,00012/13/88 NYT
37Texas Rangers$62,50012/13/88 NYT
198938Texas Rangers$475,000*
Career to date (may be incomplete)$3,320,628
Disputed Salaries
*1989 - $375,000 - 11/1/89 NYT -
Salary Data (about) courtesy Doug Pappas, and the Society for American Baseball Research.
Salaries for mid-season call-ups or traded players may not be shown.

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Name and misspellings: James jimmy jimmie Jim james Howard sanberg sandberg sunberg Sundberg

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