Jim Sundberg

Born: 5/18/1951 in Galesburg, IL, USA

MLB Debut: 1974-04-04 | Final Game: 1989-09-24

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'0" | Weight: 190 lbs

Full name: James Howard Sundberg

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Biography

Jim Sundberg was a prominent Major League Baseball player whose career spanned from 1974 to 1989. Born in 1951, Sundberg established himself as a skilled position player known for his defensive prowess behind the plate. Over the course of his career, he played in 1,962 games, amassing a total of 1,493 hits, 95 home runs, and 624 RBIs, while maintaining a batting average of .248. His ability to contribute both offensively and defensively made him a valuable asset to his teams, which included the Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, and Kansas City Royals. Sundberg was recognized for his talents with three All-Star selections, a testament to his standing among the game's elite catchers during the late 1970s and 1980s. He played in an era marked by a transition in baseball, as the game began to embrace more offensive production and the role of the catcher evolved. Additionally, Sundberg's speed on the bases, reflected in his 20 stolen bases, highlighted his versatility as a player. His contributions on and off the field have left a lasting impact on the teams he represented and on the game of baseball as a whole.

Career Batting Statistics

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
1962	6021	621	1493	243	36	95	624	20	699	963	0.248	0.327	0.348	0.674	-4580.4

Career AVG .248 vs. league average .259 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .327 vs. league average .325 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .348 vs. league average .385 across their career seasons — 9.8% below league average.

Career OPS 0.674 vs. league average 0.710 across their career seasons — near 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
1974	TEX	AL	132	368	45	91	13	3	3	36	2	62	61	0.247	.256 (-4%)	.324 (+9%)	.369 (-12%)	.693 (-2%)	59.3
1975	TEX	AL	155	472	45	94	9	0	6	36	3	51	77	0.199	.257 (-23%)	.327 (-14%)	.374 (-31%)	.701 (-23%)	-2047.7
1976	TEX	AL	140	448	33	102	24	2	3	34	0	37	61	0.228	.255 (-11%)	.320 (-11%)	.360 (-14%)	.681 (-13%)	-1104.4
1977	TEX	AL	149	453	61	132	20	3	6	65	2	53	77	0.291	.264 (+10%)	.329 (+11%)	.401 (-3%)	.730 (+3%)	431.9
1978	TEX	AL	149	518	54	144	23	6	6	58	2	64	70	0.278	.257 (+8%)	.323 (+11%)	.378 (avg)	.702 (+5%)	689.8
1979	TEX	AL	150	495	50	136	23	4	5	64	3	51	51	0.275	.265 (+3%)	.329 (+5%)	.397 (-7%)	.727 (-2%)	-97.3
1980	TEX	AL	151	505	59	138	24	1	10	63	2	64	67	0.273	.264 (+3%)	.326 (+8%)	.387 (-1%)	.714 (+3%)	490.6
1981	TEX	AL	102	339	42	94	17	2	3	28	2	50	48	0.277	.255 (+8%)	.320 (+15%)	.368 (-1%)	.688 (+7%)	583.3
1982	TEX	AL	139	470	37	118	22	5	10	47	2	49	57	0.251	.261 (-4%)	.324 (avg)	.388 (-1%)	.712 (-1%)	-67.7
1983	TEX	AL	131	378	30	76	14	0	2	28	0	35	64	0.201	.260 (-23%)	.324 (-16%)	.389 (-35%)	.714 (-26%)	-1883.7
1984	ATL	AL	110	348	43	91	19	4	7	43	1	38	63	0.261	.259 (+1%)	.322 (+3%)	.384 (+4%)	.707 (+3%)	211.9
1985	KCR	AL	115	367	38	90	12	4	10	35	0	33	67	0.245	.257 (-5%)	.323 (-5%)	.390 (-2%)	.714 (-4%)	-269.9
1986	KCR	AL	140	429	41	91	9	1	12	42	1	57	91	0.212	.257 (-18%)	.325 (-7%)	.395 (-19%)	.720 (-13%)	-1059.6
1987	CHC	NL	61	139	9	28	2	0	4	15	0	19	40	0.201	.262 (-23%)	.331 (-8%)	.415 (-27%)	.746 (-19%)	-413.7
1988	CHC	NL	24	54	8	13	1	0	2	9	0	8	15	0.241	.254 (-5%)	.317 (+5%)	.377 (-2%)	.695 (+1%)	24.5
1988	TEX	AL	38	91	13	26	4	0	4	13	0	5	17	0.286	.254 (+12%)	.317 (+2%)	.377 (+22%)	.695 (+13%)	24.5
1989	TEX	AL	76	147	13	29	7	1	2	8	0	23	37	0.197	.254 (-22%)	.319 (-5%)	.375 (-20%)	.694 (-13%)	-300.8

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
14	48	9	10	3	1	1	7	7	11	0.208

Playoff Batting by Year

Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1985	ALCS	KCA	7	24	3	4	1	1	1	6	1	7	0.167
1985	WS	KCA	7	24	6	6	2	0	0	1	6	4	0.250

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
C	1927	1775	9767	1007	81	145
OF	3	2	6	0	0	0

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1974	TEX	C	132	121	722	69	8	15
1975	TEX	C	155	148	791	101	17	11
1976	TEX	C	140	135	719	96	7	11
1977	TEX	C	149	137	801	103	5	12
1978	TEX	C	148	145	769	91	3	14
1979	TEX	C	150	144	754	75	4	14
1980	TEX	C	151	145	853	76	7	7
1981	TEX	C	98	97	464	52	2	9
1981	TEX	OF	2	1	1	0	0	0
1982	TEX	C	132	129	607	69	6	15
1982	TEX	OF	1	1	5	0	0	0
1983	TEX	C	131	116	618	56	5	2
1984	ML4	C	109	100	556	55	3	6
1985	KCA	C	112	107	572	41	5	10
1986	KCA	C	134	124	686	46	4	11
1987	CHN	C	57	35	273	34	2	2
1988	CHN	C	20	14	88	7	0	1
1988	TEX	C	36	25	141	9	0	2
1989	TEX	C	73	53	353	27	3	3

Career Games by Position

Position	Games
Catcher	1927
Left Field	3
Designated Hitter	2

Awards & Honors

Year	Award	Notes
1981	Gold Glove	C
1981	TSN All-Star	C
1980	Gold Glove	C
1979	Gold Glove	C
1978	Gold Glove	C
1978	Player of the Week	Week of 1978-05-19
1978	TSN All-Star	C
1977	Gold Glove	C
1976	Gold Glove	C