Tom Gordon, baseball player, 1988-2009

Tom Gordon

Born: 11/18/1967 in Sebring, FL, USA

MLB Debut: 1988-09-08 | Final Game: 2009-05-03

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 5'9" | Weight: 160 lbs

Full name: Thomas Gordon

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Biography

Tom Gordon, born in 1967, was a prominent pitcher in Major League Baseball, known for his dynamic presence on the mound from 1988 until his retirement in 2009. Over the course of his career, he compiled a record of 138-126, with an earned run average (ERA) of 3.96. Gordon was a striking force in the league, amassing a total of 1,928 strikeouts and securing 158 saves. His ability to dominate hitters and close out games made him a valuable asset to any team he played for, and he left a lasting impact on the franchises he represented. Gordon's performance earned him recognition as TSN Rookie Pitcher of the Year and led to three All-Star selections during his career, highlighting his status as one of the top pitchers of his era. He played in a time when the game was evolving, with increased emphasis on strikeout capabilities and specialized relief roles, positioning himself as an effective closer and starter throughout his tenure. Tom Gordon's contributions to baseball were marked by his resilience and competitive spirit, making him a respected figure in the sport's history.

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
138 126 890 203 18 4 158 2108.0 1889 927 176 977 1928 3.96 0

Career ERA 3.96 vs. league average 4.28 across their career seasons — 7.6% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1988 KCR AL 0 2 5 2 0 0 0 15.7 16 9 7 18 5.17 3.73 (-38%) -
1989 KCR AL 17 9 49 16 1 1 1 163.0 122 66 86 153 3.64 3.71 (+2%) -
1990 KCR AL 12 11 32 32 6 1 0 195.3 192 81 99 175 3.73 3.86 (+3%) -
1991 KCR AL 9 14 45 14 1 0 1 158.0 129 68 87 167 3.87 3.91 (+1%) -
1992 KCR AL 6 10 40 11 0 0 0 117.7 116 60 55 98 4.59 3.75 (-23%) -
1993 KCR AL 12 6 48 14 2 0 1 155.7 125 62 77 143 3.58 4.19 (+14%) -
1994 KCR AL 11 7 24 24 0 0 0 155.3 136 75 87 126 4.35 4.51 (+4%) -
1995 KCR AL 12 12 31 31 2 0 0 189.0 204 93 89 119 4.43 4.45 (+1%) -
1996 BOS AL 12 9 34 34 4 1 0 215.7 249 134 105 171 5.59 4.61 (-21%) -1007.3
1997 BOS AL 6 10 42 25 2 1 11 182.7 155 76 78 159 3.74 4.39 (+15%) 4639.5
1998 BOS AL 7 4 73 0 0 0 46 79.3 55 24 25 78 2.72 4.43 (+39%) 4002.7
1999 BOS AL 0 2 21 0 0 0 11 17.7 17 11 12 24 5.60 4.71 (-19%) 271.4
2001 CHC NL 1 2 47 0 0 0 27 45.3 32 17 16 67 3.38 4.42 (+24%) -
2002 CHC NL 1 1 19 0 0 0 0 23.7 27 9 10 31 3.42 4.28 (+20%) -
2002 HOU NL 0 2 15 0 0 0 0 19.0 15 7 6 17 3.32 4.28 (+23%) 376.6
2003 CHW AL 7 6 66 0 0 0 12 74.0 57 26 31 91 3.16 4.40 (+28%) -
2004 NYY AL 9 4 80 0 0 0 4 89.7 56 22 23 96 2.21 4.46 (+51%) -
2005 NYY AL 5 4 79 0 0 0 2 80.7 59 23 29 69 2.57 4.29 (+40%) -
2006 PHI NL 3 4 59 0 0 0 34 59.3 53 22 22 68 3.34 4.53 (+26%) 806.9
2007 PHI NL 3 2 44 0 0 0 6 40.0 40 21 13 32 4.72 4.47 (-6%) -571.2
2008 PHI NL 5 4 34 0 0 0 2 29.7 31 17 17 26 5.16 4.32 (-19%) -66.5
2009 AZ NL 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 1.7 3 4 3 0 21.60 — -

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
893 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.0

Career AVG .000 vs. league average .264 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Career OBP .000 vs. league average .332 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Career SLG .000 vs. league average .413 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Career OPS 0.000 vs. league average 0.745 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1988 KCR AL 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1989 KCR AL 49 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1990 KCR AL 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1991 KCR AL 46 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1992 KCR AL 40 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1993 KCR AL 48 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1994 KCR AL 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1995 KCR AL 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1996 BOS AL 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1997 BOS AL 42 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1998 BOS AL 73 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1999 BOS AL 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2001 CHC NL 47 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2002 CHC NL 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2002 HOU NL 15 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 — — — — 0.0
2003 CHW AL 66 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2004 NYY AL 80 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 — — — — 0.0
2005 NYY AL 79 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2006 PHI NL 59 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2007 PHI NL 44 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2008 PHI NL 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2009 AZ NL 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
2007 NLDS2 PHI 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2005 ALDS2 NYA 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2004 ALCS NYA 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2004 ALDS2 NYA 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1999 ALCS BOS 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1999 ALDS1 BOS 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1998 ALDS1 BOS 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
0 1 21 0 0 21.7 24 17 9 19 7.06

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
2007 NLDS2 PHI 0 0 2 0 0 2.0 2 1 1 4 4.50
2005 ALDS2 NYA 0 0 3 0 0 2.3 2 1 0 2 3.86
2004 ALCS NYA 0 0 6 0 0 6.7 10 6 2 3 8.10
2004 ALDS2 NYA 0 0 3 0 0 3.7 2 2 0 3 4.91
1999 ALCS BOS 0 0 3 0 0 2.0 3 3 1 3 13.50
1999 ALDS1 BOS 0 0 2 0 0 2.0 1 1 1 3 4.50
1998 ALDS1 BOS 0 1 2 0 0 3.0 4 3 4 1 9.00

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 890 203 185 268 20 23

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1988 KCA P 5 2 2 2 0 0
1989 KCA P 49 16 15 26 0 7
1990 KCA P 32 32 17 24 1 1
1991 KCA P 45 14 12 17 2 1
1992 KCA P 40 11 11 14 1 1
1993 KCA P 48 14 18 21 2 0
1994 KCA P 24 24 12 25 2 3
1995 KCA P 31 31 25 26 2 3
1996 BOS P 34 34 14 30 3 3
1997 BOS P 42 25 18 20 2 1
1998 BOS P 73 0 7 1 0 0
1999 BOS P 21 0 0 1 0 0
2001 CHN P 47 0 1 1 0 0
2002 CHN P 19 0 1 4 0 1
2002 HOU P 15 0 0 2 1 0
2003 CHA P 66 0 6 10 0 1
2004 NYA P 80 0 6 13 1 1
2005 NYA P 79 0 7 13 1 0
2006 PHI P 59 0 5 8 0 0
2007 PHI P 44 0 6 7 0 0
2008 PHI P 34 0 1 3 2 0
2009 ARI P 3 0 1 0 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 890
Designated Hitter 1

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1998 Reliever of the Year Award
1998 TSN Fireman of the Year
1989 TSN Rookie Pitcher of the Year

Salary History

Year Team League Salary
2009 ARI NL $500,000
2008 PHI NL $5,500,000
2007 PHI NL $7,000,000
2006 PHI NL $4,500,000
2005 NYA AL $3,750,000
2004 NYA AL $3,500,000
2003 CHA AL $1,400,000
2002 CHN NL $2,800,000
2001 CHN NL $2,000,000
2000 BOS AL $3,750,000
1999 BOS AL $3,750,000
1998 BOS AL $3,300,000
1997 BOS AL $2,900,000
1996 BOS AL $3,050,000
1995 KCA AL $3,300,000
1994 KCA AL $2,635,000
1993 KCA AL $890,000
1992 KCA AL $815,000
1991 KCA AL $325,000
1990 KCA AL $185,000
1989 KCA AL $68,000
Total Career Earnings $55,918,000

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1998 Most Valuable Player AL 13th 27.0 392 0
1989 Rookie of the Year AL 2nd 67.0 140 1