Roger Wolff

Roger Francis Wolff

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1½", Weight 208 lb.
• High School Chester (IL) High School
• Debut September 20, 1941
• Final Game August 25, 1947
• Born April 10, 1911 in Evansville, IL USA
• Died March 23, 1994 in Chester, IL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

"Roger Wolff was one of four starters who threw the knuckleball for the Washington Senators in 1944 and 1945." - from Baseball Digest, December 1992

Roger Wolff, who pitched seven seasons in the big leagues, had a great year in 1945 when he went 20-10 with a 2.12 ERA. Both marks (wins and ERA) were third-best in the 1945 American League.

Wolff was born in Evansville, IL in 1911. By 1930 he was pitching for the team in Danville, IL, and went on to pitch 12 seasons in the minors before getting his shot at the majors in 1941. He had 141 victories in the minors during the period 1930-1941.

In September 1941, at the age of 30, Roger Wolff finally came to the majors. In two games with the 1941 Philadelphia Athletics, Roger posted an ERA of 3.18 even though he lost both games. He came back the next year to go 12-15 with a 3.32 ERA for a team which went 55-99 with a 4.45 ERA overall.

In 1943 the A's did even worse, going 49-105, while Roger went 10-15 with 6 saves. Although Roger had the second-highest win total on the 1943 Athletics, in early 1944 he was traded to the 1944 Senators, for whom he went 4-15 with a terrible ERA of 4.99 (the team ERA was 3.49 and the league ERA was 3.43).

Things did not look good for Wolff's career, but the next year he turned it around totally with a 20-10 season in 1945. In 1946 he had a 2.58 ERA in 21 games.

He closed out his major league career in 1947 with the Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates at age 36.

According to the similarity scores method, the second-most-similar player is Jesse Flores, his teammate on the wartime Athletics.

Through 2009 he and Bill Wolff are the only major leaguers with the last name Wolff.

Notable Achievements

• 15 Wins Seasons: 1 (1945)
• 20 Wins Seasons: 1 (1945)
• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 3 (1942, 1943 & 1945)

Related Sites

• Roger Wolff at the SABR Bio Project