MLB / Players

Brian Downing

HandednessBats Right · Throws Right

Listed at5 ft 10 in · 170 lb

BornOctober 9, 1950 · Los Angeles, CA, USA

MLB debutMay 31, 1973

Final gameOctober 4, 1992

Seasons20 (1973–1992)

Chicago White Sox 1973–1977; California Angels 1978–1990; Texas Rangers 1991–1992

Percentile snapshot

1989 season — qualified batters

142

25.6

610

47.2

544

50.4

20.8

154

65.6

46.4

24.8

58.4

RBI

43.2

52.8

37.6

74.4

.283

70.4

OBP

.354

SLG

.414

59.2

OPS

.768

64.8

wRC+

120.7

71.2

OPS+

118.4

66.4

wOBA

.353

71.2

sWAR

1.9

35.2

of 126 qualified 1989 batters (min 502 PA)

Career, era-adjusted

wRC+

126.1

86.7

OPS+

122.1

82.3

sWAR

53.1

wRC+ measured against qualified careers (3,000+ PA), 2,078 of them; OPS+ measured against qualified careers (3,000+ PA), 2,078 of them; sWAR measured against every career in history, 24,011 of them. Only era-adjusted career stats carry a percentile — a raw career total gets a rank instead, because pooling the 1890s with the 2020s is a choice, not a measurement.

Season by season

Batting

Season	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	wRC+	OPS+	wOBA	sWAR
1973	34	85	73	5	13	1	0	2	4	10	17	0	0	.178	.277	.274	.551	52.2	54.2	.263	-0.2
1974	108	350	293	41	66	12	1	10	39	51	72	0	1	.225	.344	.375	.719	110.2	105.3	.341	1.9
1975	138	516	420	58	101	12	1	7	41	76	75	13	4	.240	.356	.324	.680	97.7	92.3	.327	2.8
1976	104	365	317	38	81	14	0	3	30	40	55	7	3	.256	.338	.328	.666	100.7	95.4	.323	2.0
1977	69	214	169	28	48	4	2	4	25	34	21	1	2	.284	.402	.402	.804	128.3	120.5	.373	1.9
1978	133	476	412	42	105	15	0	7	46	52	47	3	2	.255	.345	.342	.688	102.8	98.3	.325	3.0
1979	148	596	509	87	166	27	3	12	75	77	57	3	3	.326	.418	.462	.880	146.0	141.5	.400	6.3
1980	30	108	93	5	27	6	0	2	25	12	12	0	2	.290	.364	.419	.784	118.5	117.9	.355	0.6
1981	93	370	317	47	79	14	0	9	41	46	35	1	1	.249	.351	.379	.730	118.0	111.7	.345	2.1
1982	158	725	623	109	175	37	2	28	84	86	58	2	1	.281	.368	.482	.850	135.5	132.8	.379	4.8
1983	113	473	403	68	99	15	1	19	53	62	59	1	2	.246	.352	.429	.781	118.2	115.6	.353	1.9
1984	156	628	539	65	148	28	2	23	91	70	66	0	4	.275	.360	.462	.822	129.1	127.3	.367	3.4
1985	150	620	520	80	137	23	1	20	85	78	61	5	3	.263	.371	.427	.798	123.9	119.8	.361	3.0
1986	152	631	513	90	137	27	4	20	95	90	84	4	4	.267	.389	.452	.841	134.5	130.4	.379	4.0
1987	155	695	567	110	154	29	3	29	77	106	85	5	5	.272	.400	.487	.886	139.9	137.6	.390	4.3
1988	135	590	484	80	117	18	2	25	64	81	63	3	4	.242	.362	.442	.805	130.0	127.6	.365	2.6
1989	142	610	544	59	154	25	2	14	59	56	87	0	2	.283	.354	.414	.768	120.7	118.4	.353	1.9
1990	96	390	330	47	90	18	2	14	51	50	45	0	0	.273	.374	.467	.841	140.3	137.5	.382	2.2
1991	123	476	407	76	113	17	2	17	49	58	70	1	1	.278	.377	.455	.831	132.3	131.2	.375	2.2
1992	107	391	320	53	89	18	0	10	39	62	58	1	0	.278	.407	.428	.835	146.1	138.2	.392	2.4

Career totals

2,344

104th-most career G

9,309

136th-most career PA

7,853

173rd-most career AB

1,188

197th-most career R

2,099

240th-most career H

360

289th-most career 2B

275

209th-most career HR

RBI

1,073

241st-most career RBI

1,197

64th-most career BB

1,127

283rd-most career SO

.2673

OBP

.3703

280th-highest career on-base percentage

SLG

.4253

OPS

.7956

A total is called out only where it ranks in the all-time top 500; hover a figure for its rank and the size of the field it was ranked in. Ranks are absolute facts and carry no percentile — the population for "career home runs" would be an editorial choice, and the rank is not.

Best games

Batting

Date	Game	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	TB
1987-09-26	LAA @ CLE Gameday	5	3	4	1	0	2	2	0	11
1982-08-31	LAA @ DET Gameday	5	3	4	0	0	2	5	1	10
1982-04-17	MIN @ LAA Gameday	5	3	3	0	0	2	2	0	9
1983-08-04	LAA @ SEA Gameday	4	2	3	1	1	1	2	1	9
1991-05-25	TEX @ SEA Gameday	5	2	3	0	0	2	2	1	9

Ranked from our own play-by-play game log, which begins in 1901 — not from the record book, so a career played outside it shows nothing here rather than a short list.

Honors

1× All-Star

Major awards only — the awards table also records Player of the Week, and forty of those would bury seven MVPs. Hover for the years.