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Brian Downing played 20 major-league seasons (1973-1992) as a OF (777), C (675), 3B (8). Career totals and every year-by-year line below come from the SABR/Lahman database (CC BY-SA), covering 1871-2025.
Showing 20 season lines
| Year | Age | Team | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 23 | CHA | 34 | 73 | 5 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 17 | .178 | .551 | 56 |
| 1974 | 24 | CHA | 108 | 293 | 41 | 66 | 10 | 39 | 0 | 51 | 72 | .225 | .719 | 108 |
| 1975 | 25 | CHA | 138 | 420 | 58 | 101 | 7 | 41 | 13 | 76 | 75 | .240 | .680 | 94 |
| 1976 | 26 | CHA | 104 | 317 | 38 | 81 | 3 | 30 | 7 | 40 | 55 | .256 | .666 | 96 |
| 1977 | 27 | CHA | 69 | 169 | 28 | 48 | 4 | 25 | 1 | 34 | 21 | .284 | .804 | 121 |
| 1978 | 28 | CAL | 133 | 412 | 42 | 105 | 7 | 46 | 3 | 52 | 47 | .255 | .688 | 95 |
| 1979 | 29 | CAL | 148 | 509 | 87 | 166 | 12 | 75 | 3 | 77 | 57 | .326 | .880 | 138 |
| 1980 | 30 | CAL | 30 | 93 | 5 | 27 | 2 | 25 | 0 | 12 | 12 | .290 | .784 | 115 |
| 1981 | 31 | CAL | 93 | 317 | 47 | 79 | 9 | 41 | 1 | 46 | 35 | .249 | .730 | 111 |
| 1982 | 32 | CAL | 158 | 623 | 109 | 175 | 28 | 84 | 2 | 86 | 58 | .281 | .850 | 132 |
| 1983 | 33 | CAL | 113 | 403 | 68 | 99 | 19 | 53 | 1 | 62 | 59 | .246 | .781 | 115 |
| 1984 | 34 | CAL | 156 | 539 | 65 | 148 | 23 | 91 | 0 | 70 | 66 | .275 | .822 | 126 |
| 1985 | 35 | CAL | 150 | 520 | 80 | 137 | 20 | 85 | 5 | 78 | 61 | .263 | .798 | 119 |
| 1986 | 36 | CAL | 152 | 513 | 90 | 137 | 20 | 95 | 4 | 90 | 84 | .267 | .841 | 129 |
| 1987 | 37 | CAL | 155 | 567 | 110 | 154 | 29 | 77 | 5 | 106 | 85 | .272 | .886 | 134 |
| 1988 | 38 | CAL | 135 | 484 | 80 | 117 | 25 | 64 | 3 | 81 | 63 | .242 | .805 | 125 |
| 1989 | 39 | CAL | 142 | 544 | 59 | 154 | 14 | 59 | 0 | 56 | 87 | .283 | .768 | 116 |
| 1990 | 40 | CAL | 96 | 330 | 47 | 90 | 14 | 51 | 0 | 50 | 45 | .273 | .841 | 135 |
| 1991 | 41 | TEX | 123 | 407 | 76 | 113 | 17 | 49 | 1 | 58 | 70 | .278 | .831 | 130 |
| 1992 | 42 | TEX | 107 | 320 | 53 | 89 | 10 | 39 | 1 | 62 | 58 | .278 | .835 | 135 |
| Year | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | OF | 13 | 11 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1973 | C | 11 | 3 | 46 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| 1973 | 3B | 8 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 0 |
| 1974 | C | 63 | 46 | 278 | 28 | 2 | 3 |
| 1974 | OF | 39 | 30 | 59 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 1975 | C | 137 | 134 | 730 | 84 | 8 | 5 |
| 1976 | C | 93 | 80 | 450 | 38 | 6 | 4 |
| 1977 | C | 61 | 51 | 320 | 28 | 6 | 5 |
| 1977 | OF | 3 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1978 | C | 128 | 121 | 681 | 82 | 5 | 6 |
| 1979 | C | 129 | 127 | 669 | 35 | 11 | 5 |
| 1980 | C | 16 | 15 | 69 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 1981 | OF | 56 | 50 | 97 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1981 | C | 37 | 33 | 140 | 17 | 1 | 2 |
| 1982 | OF | 158 | 157 | 321 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 1983 | OF | 84 | 84 | 160 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| 1984 | OF | 131 | 131 | 272 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 1985 | OF | 121 | 118 | 244 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 1986 | OF | 138 | 133 | 267 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| 1987 | OF | 34 | 33 | 47 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Team codes are the source codes (e.g. NYN for the New York Mets, BS1 for the 1875 Boston club). OPS+ is league-season normalized, not park-adjusted; unrecorded source values (such as RBI in the earliest recorded seasons) are absent, never zero-filled.
MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year voting history (3 ballot finishes, 0 wins). Full year pages: 1984, 1982, 1979.
| Year | Award | Lg | Rank | Points | First-place votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 14 | 24 / 392 | 0 |
| 1982 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 14 | 22 / 392 | 0 |
| 1984 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 18 | 6 / 392 | 0 |
Brian Downing ranks on 2 all-time single-season position leaderboards (1871-2025, league-season-normalized OPS+ / ERA+).
| Rank | Board | Year | Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| #75 | designated hitters | 1987 | 134 OPS+ |
| #115 | catchers | 1979 | 138 OPS+ |
Every career total and season line is computed from the SABR / Sean Lahman baseball database (2025 edition, CC BY-SA 3.0), the same source behind our historical position leaderboards. Rate stats use league-season normalization only (OPS+ and ERA+ as marked, never park-adjusted); unrecorded early-era values stay absent rather than being invented. Career totals sum only what the source records.
Award winners and MVP / Cy Young / Rookie of the Year voting history come from the same database; the year pages live under MLB award voting history. Official transactions (2011 to the current season) come from the MLB StatsAPI feed on our transactions archive.