MLB / Players

Len Barker

HandednessBats Right · Throws Right
Listed at6 ft 5 in · 225 lb
BornJuly 7, 1955 · Fort Knox, KY, USA
MLB debutSeptember 14, 1976
Final gameSeptember 26, 1987
Seasons11 (1976–1987)

Texas Rangers 1976–1978; Cleveland Indians 1979–1982; Atlanta Braves 1983; Cleveland Indians 1983; Atlanta Braves 1984–1985; Milwaukee Brewers 1987

Percentile snapshot

1983 season — qualified pitchers

G
30
13.8
GS
30
33.3
W
9
13.8
L
16
3.4
SV
0
0
CG
4
19.5
SHO
1
20.7
H
181
73.6
ER
99
24.1
BB
66
54
SO
126
59.8
HR
16
57.5
IP
182.7
23
ERA
4.88
3.4
WHIP
1.352
37.9
K/9
6.21
82.8
FIP
3.67
59.8
FIP-
88.2
74.7
ERA+
85.1
13.8
sWAR
0.3
8

of 88 qualified 1983 pitchers (min 162 IP)

Career, era-adjusted

ERA+
92.6
11.3
sWAR
7.7
83.9

ERA+ measured against qualified careers (1,000+ IP), 1,334 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

SeasonGPAABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSOSBCSBAOBPSLGOPSwRC+OPS+wOBAsWAR
197620000000000000.4
1977150000000000001.2
197829000000000000-0.1
1979290000000000000.4
1980360000000000002.2
1981220000000000001.0
1982330000000000003.0
1983301081100000500.125.125.125.250-53.5-32.2.1160.3
198421483822100161900.053.182.079.261-26.3-26.2.1541.1
19852017170000000701.000.000.000.000-133.1-100.0.000-1.8
1987110000000000000.1

Pitching

SeasonGGSWLSVCGSHOHERBBSOHRIPERAWHIPK/9FIPFIP-ERA+sWAR
197622100117467015.02.40.8674.203.2891.9148.90.4
19771534110036142451147.32.661.2689.702.4560.0153.21.2
19782901540063282933652.34.821.7585.684.56121.478.0-0.1
19792919660201467570936137.34.921.5736.093.5583.286.90.4
1980363619120812371149218717246.34.171.3366.833.2980.398.52.2
198122228709315067461277154.33.911.2707.412.4065.793.41.0
19823333151101012111068818717244.73.901.2226.883.1877.5105.23.0
19833030916041181996612616182.74.881.3526.213.6788.285.10.3
198421207801012054389510126.33.851.2516.773.2785.799.11.1
1985201829000845237471073.76.351.6435.744.65122.659.8-1.8
198711112100054261722643.75.361.6264.534.96109.084.90.1

sWAR is the season TOTAL for a player who both hit and pitched: the record book carries one figure per season, not a split, so the same number appears on both lines rather than being counted twice.

Career totals

Batting

G
248
PA
75
AB
63
R
3
H
3
2B
1
3B
0
HR
0
RBI
1
BB
6
SO
31
SB
0
BA
.0476
OBP
.1304
SLG
.0635
OPS
.1939

Pitching

G (P)
248
GS
194
W
74
L
76
SV
5
CG
35
SHO
7
IP
1,324
SO (P)
975
BB allowed
513
ERA
4.345
WHIP
1.3614
K/9
6.63
263rd-highest career K/9

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

DateGameABRH2B3BHRRBIBBTB
1984-04-18ATL @ CIN Gameday211100002
1983-09-05HOU @ ATL Gameday211000001
1984-07-20PHI @ ATL Gameday411000001
1984-06-20SF @ ATL Gameday100000120
1983-08-31STL @ ATL Gameday000000000

Pitching

DateGameIPHRERBBSOHR
1982-10-01DET @ CLE Gameday9.04224130
1980-08-18CLE @ CWS Gameday9.03224120
1980-09-01CLE @ MIN Gameday9.07221111
1981-05-15TOR @ CLE Gameday9.00000110
1982-06-14DET @ CLE Gameday9.04002110

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

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.