An earned run is a run the opposition scores without the aid of one of more defensive errors and is a run for which the pitcher is accountable. Earned run average or ERA is simply the number of earned runs a pitcher allows per nine innings pitched. It is calculated by multiplying the earned runs allowed by nine and dividing that result by innings pitched. A pitcher who allows six runs in eighteen innings has a 3.00 ERA. Six runs multiplied by nine equals fifty four, and fifty four divided by eighteen is 3.00.
The record for the lowest earned run average since 1901 belongs to Hubert Benjamin "Dutch" Leonard, whose ERA in 1914 was 0.96. Leonard won 19 and lost 5 for the Boston Red Sox that season, allowing 24 earned runs in 224 2/3 innings. Leonard pitched in the dead ball era, which is considered to have existed from 1901 to 1919, the latter being the year that the Cincinnati Reds' World Championship was besmirched by the lack of effort and deliberate sabotaging of games by some White Sox players.
The only modern pitchers among the top fifty in all time earned run averages are Bob Gibson ( fourth with 1.12 in 1968), Dwight Gooden (forty second with 1.53 in 1985 and Greg Maddox (tied for forty eighth with 1.56 in strike shortened 1994). Recognizing that conditions changed as the game devolved into the twenty first century, a pitcher's earned run average is still a valuable measure of his effectiveness, especially since one can easily compare pitchers in the same league during the same season.
This brings us to a related factor, which is RUN AVERAGE or RA. A readily available piece of datum is the total number of runs a pitcher allows. In many cases, taking unearned runs into account when evaluating a pitcher may reveal some interesting information. The media and experts tend to ignore total runs allowed but provide fans with "win shares," "adjusted production," and "secret formula," which are radical statistics that some individuals who knew Albert Einstein claim he would not comprehend. The "secret formula" sounds like something that would be used by Don Adams on Get Smart but was actually used and developed by Bill James to determine what a minor league player would have hit had he been in the major leagues.
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