MLB / Players

Vern Olsen

HandednessBats Right · Throws Left
Listed at6 ft 0 in · 175 lb
BornMarch 16, 1918 · Hillsboro, OR, USA
MLB debutSeptember 8, 1939
Final gameSeptember 13, 1946
Seasons5 (1939–1946)

Chicago Cubs 1939–1942; Chicago Cubs 1946

Percentile snapshot

1941 season — qualified pitchers

G
37
85.6
GS
23
52.6
W
10
54.6
L
8
58.8
SV
1
53.6
CG
10
50.5
SHO
2
54.6
H
202
28.9
ER
65
52.6
BB
59
46.4
SO
73
64.9
HR
7
58.8
IP
185.7
58.8
ERA
3.15
72.2
WHIP
1.406
40.2
K/9
3.54
47.4
FIP
3.24
86.6
FIP-
91.6
68
ERA+
112.2
57.7
sWAR
3.0
68

of 98 qualified 1941 pitchers (min 155 IP)

Career, era-adjusted

sWAR
6.5
82.2

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
19394311000002100.000.667.000.667202.992.3.5020.5
194035625741530052920.263.288.316.60463.468.1.2793.6
1941376763715201521000.238.262.317.57957.664.8.2703.0
19423254484910045200.188.264.208.47239.441.0.239-0.7
194650000000000000.2

Pitching

SeasonGGSWLSVCGSHOHERBBSOHRIPERAWHIPK/9FIPFIP-ERA+sWAR
19394010000207307.70.001.1743.524.77121.10.5
194034201390941725762715172.72.971.3553.703.4190.5127.03.6
1941372310811022026559737185.73.151.4063.543.2491.6112.23.0
19423217691411617055466140.34.491.5392.953.38104.971.9-0.7
194650000001039809.72.791.9667.453.46104.5118.50.2

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
113
PA
186
AB
169
R
16
H
39
2B
6
3B
0
HR
1
RBI
14
BB
11
SO
22
SB
2
BA
.2308
OBP
.2778
SLG
.2840
OPS
.5618

Pitching

G (P)
112
GS
60
W
30
L
26
SV
2
CG
23
SHO
7
IP
516
SO (P)
201
BB allowed
192
ERA
3.401
WHIP
1.4322
K/9
3.51

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
1941-05-08CHC @ PHI Gameday411001304
1941-07-27SF @ CHC Gameday422100003
1941-08-12CHC @ STL Gameday302000102
1942-06-19CHC @ SF Gameday412000102
1942-07-21CHC @ ATL Gameday302000112

Pitching

DateGameIPHRERBBSOHR
1940-09-21STL @ CHC Gameday11.0833390
1940-07-12ATL @ CHC Gameday9.0500770
1942-08-30SF @ CHC Gameday7.0633571
1942-05-26STL @ CHC Gameday10.0833561
1940-08-22LAD @ CHC Gameday9.0200160

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.