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Progressive Leaders & Records for Earned Run Average


Baseball Leaders & Baseball Records:  Single-Season  Career  Active  Progressive  Yearly League 

+ - Indicates Hall of Famer. Bold indicates active player.

Minimum of 3.1 PA/G, 1.0 IP/G, and 0.1 decision/G for single-season leaderboards generally needed for rate statistics. Explanation of min. requirements

Minimum of 1000 IP, 3000 PA and 100 decisions for career and active leaderboards for rate statistics.

This table lists the career, single-season, active, yearly (meaning perfomances solely from that year) leaders following each season of Major League Baseball. Note that a player is considered active between the first and last season of their career. Entries under Single-Season from 1871-1875 are not carried forward past 1875. Entries under Career and Active do include totals from the 1871-1875 seasons.

Year CareerERA  Single-SeasonERA  ActiveERA  YearlyERA
1871 George Zettlein 2.7299 George Zettlein 2.7299
1872 Al Spalding+ 1.9794 Al Spalding+ 1.9794
1873 Al Spalding+ 2.4912 Cherokee Fisher 1.8142 Al Spalding+ 2.4912 Cherokee Fisher 1.8142
1874 Al Spalding+ 2.4426 Cherokee Fisher 1.8142 Al Spalding+ 2.4426 Bobby Mathews 2.3045
1875 Al Spalding+ 2.2165 Al Spalding+ 1.5183 Al Spalding+ 2.2165 Al Spalding+ 1.5183
1876 George Bradley 1.6236 George Bradley 1.2251 George Bradley 1.6236 George Bradley 1.2251
1877 Jim Devlin 2.0498 George Bradley 1.2251 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tommy Bond 2.1075
1878 Jim Devlin 2.0498 George Bradley 1.2251 George Bradley 2.0663 John Ward+ 1.5090
1879 Will White 1.9302 George Bradley 1.2251 Will White 1.9302 Tommy Bond 1.9610
1880 John Ward+ 1.8463 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 John Ward+ 1.8463 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571
1881 John Ward+ 1.8965 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 John Ward+ 1.8965 Stump Wiedman 1.8000
1882 Will White 1.9189 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Will White 1.9189 Denny Driscoll 1.2090
1883 Will White 1.9546 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Will White 1.9546 Jim McCormick 1.8421
1884 Charley Radbourn+ 1.9021 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Charley Radbourn+ 1.9021 Charley Radbourn+ 1.3792
1885 Charley Radbourn+ 1.9542 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Charley Radbourn+ 1.9542 Tim Keefe+ 1.5750
1886 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Charley Radbourn+ 2.1286 Henry Boyle 1.7571
1887 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Larry Corcoran 2.3550 Dan Casey 2.8591
1888 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Tim Keefe+ 2.3898 Silver King 1.6443
1889 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Tim Keefe+ 2.4700 Jack Stivetts 2.2539
1890 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Tim Keefe+ 2.5171 Billy Rhines 1.9510
1891 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Tim Keefe+ 2.5738 John Ewing 2.2723
1892 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Kid Nichols+ 2.4948 Cy Young+ 1.9272
1893 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Tim Keefe+ 2.6246 Ted Breitenstein 3.1751
1894 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 John Clarkson+ 2.8113 Amos Rusie+ 2.7770
1895 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Silver King 3.0443 Al Maul 2.4545
1896 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Amos Rusie+ 3.0928 Billy Rhines 2.4545
1897 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Amos Rusie+ 3.0412 Amos Rusie+ 2.5408
1898 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Kid Nichols+ 2.9725 Clark Griffith+ 1.8792
1899 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Kid Nichols+ 2.9739 Vic Willis+ 2.4951
1900 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Kid Nichols+ 2.9794 Rube Waddell+ 2.3722
1901 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Vic Willis+ 2.8845 Cy Young+ 1.6239
1902 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Deacon Phillippe 2.5890 Jack Taylor 1.3306
1903 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Christy Mathewson+ 2.3641 Earl Moore 1.7443
1904 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Christy Mathewson+ 2.2755 Addie Joss+ 1.5910
1905 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Christy Mathewson+ 2.0785 Christy Mathewson+ 1.2756
1906 Jim Devlin 2.0498 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Addie Joss+ 2.0832 Mordecai Brown+ 1.0385
1907 Mordecai Brown+ 1.7652 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Mordecai Brown+ 1.7652 Jack Pfiester 1.1538
1908 Mordecai Brown+ 1.7030 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Mordecai Brown+ 1.7030 Addie Joss+ 1.1631
1909 Mordecai Brown+ 1.6299 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Mordecai Brown+ 1.6299 Christy Mathewson+ 1.1441
1910 Ed Walsh+ 1.6059 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Ed Walsh+ 1.6059 Ed Walsh+ 1.2660
1911 Ed Walsh+ 1.7012 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Ed Walsh+ 1.7012 Vean Gregg 1.8024
1912 Walter Johnson+ 1.6911 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Walter Johnson+ 1.6911 Walter Johnson+ 1.3902
1913 Walter Johnson+ 1.5997 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Walter Johnson+ 1.5997 Walter Johnson+ 1.1445
1914 Walter Johnson+ 1.6179 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Walter Johnson+ 1.6179 Dutch Leonard 0.9614
1915 Walter Johnson+ 1.6098 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Walter Johnson+ 1.6098 Pete Alexander+ 1.2197
1916 Walter Johnson+ 1.6437 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Walter Johnson+ 1.6437 Pete Alexander+ 1.5501
1917 Walter Johnson+ 1.6967 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Walter Johnson+ 1.6967 Fred Anderson 1.4444
1918 Walter Johnson+ 1.6601 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Walter Johnson+ 1.6601 Walter Johnson+ 1.2699
1919 Walter Johnson+ 1.6479 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Walter Johnson+ 1.6479 Walter Johnson+ 1.4879
1920 Walter Johnson+ 1.6983 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Walter Johnson+ 1.6983 Pete Alexander+ 1.9073
1921 Walter Johnson+ 1.8047 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Walter Johnson+ 1.8047 Red Faber+ 2.4768
1922 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Walter Johnson+ 1.8741 Phil Douglas 2.6258
1923 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Walter Johnson+ 1.9573 Dolf Luque 1.9286
1924 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Walter Johnson+ 1.9972 Dazzy Vance+ 2.1600
1925 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Walter Johnson+ 2.0413 Dolf Luque 2.6289
1926 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Walter Johnson+ 2.1125 Lefty Grove+ 2.5116
1927 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Walter Johnson+ 2.1668 Wilcy Moore 2.2817
1928 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Babe Ruth+ 2.2512 Dazzy Vance+ 2.0868
1929 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Babe Ruth+ 2.2512 Lefty Grove+ 2.8111
1930 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Babe Ruth+ 2.2568 Lefty Grove+ 2.5361
1931 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Babe Ruth+ 2.2568 Lefty Grove+ 2.0577
1932 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Babe Ruth+ 2.2568 Lon Warneke 2.3718
1933 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Babe Ruth+ 2.2770 Carl Hubbell+ 1.6620
1934 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Carl Hubbell+ 2.7292 Carl Hubbell+ 2.3003
1935 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Lon Warneke 2.7236 Cy Blanton 2.5832
1936 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Carl Hubbell+ 2.7444 Carl Hubbell+ 2.3092
1937 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Carl Hubbell+ 2.7891 Lefty Gomez+ 2.3281
1938 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Carl Hubbell+ 2.8067 Bill Lee 2.6598
1939 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Carl Hubbell+ 2.8036 Bucky Walters 2.2853
1940 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Carl Hubbell+ 2.8604 Bucky Walters 2.4787
1941 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Carl Hubbell+ 2.8949 Elmer Riddle 2.2431
1942 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Carl Hubbell+ 2.9418 Mort Cooper 1.7763
1943 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Mort Cooper 2.8622 Spud Chandler 1.6364
1944 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Mort Cooper 2.7927 Dizzy Trout 2.1202
1945 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Tiny Bonham 2.6362 Hal Newhouser+ 1.8096
1946 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Max Lanier 2.6348 Hal Newhouser+ 1.9374
1947 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Max Lanier 2.6348 Warren Spahn+ 2.3303
1948 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Harry Brecheen 2.6233 Harry Brecheen 2.2371
1949 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Max Lanier 2.7323 Mike Garcia 2.3567
1950 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Max Lanier 2.7876 Sal Maglie 2.7087
1951 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Max Lanier 2.8398 Saul Rogovin 2.7831
1952 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Harry Brecheen 2.9056 Allie Reynolds 2.0628
1953 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Harry Brecheen 2.9156 Warren Spahn+ 2.1004
1954 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Mike Garcia 2.9096 Johnny Antonelli 2.2964
1955 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Warren Spahn+ 2.9802 Billy Pierce 1.9692
1956 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Whitey Ford+ 2.7294 Whitey Ford+ 2.4727
1957 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Whitey Ford+ 2.7119 Bobby Shantz 2.4451
1958 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Whitey Ford+ 2.5986 Whitey Ford+ 2.0106
1959 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Whitey Ford+ 2.6568 Hoyt Wilhelm+ 2.1903
1960 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Whitey Ford+ 2.7036 Frank Baumann 2.6709
1961 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Whitey Ford+ 2.7742 Dick Donovan 2.4012
1962 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Hoyt Wilhelm+ 2.7459 Hank Aguirre 2.2083
1963 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Hoyt Wilhelm+ 2.7364 Sandy Koufax+ 1.8810
1964 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Hoyt Wilhelm+ 2.6764 Dean Chance 1.6491
1965 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Hoyt Wilhelm+ 2.6067 Sandy Koufax+ 2.0377
1966 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Hoyt Wilhelm+ 2.5655 Sandy Koufax+ 1.7276
1967 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Gary Peters 2.5045 Phil Niekro+ 1.8696
1968 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Hoyt Wilhelm+ 2.4729 Bob Gibson+ 1.1225
1969 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Hoyt Wilhelm+ 2.4626 Juan Marichal+ 2.1023
1970 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Tom Seaver+ 2.4957 Diego Segui 2.5556
1971 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Tom Seaver+ 2.3430 Tom Seaver+ 1.7602
1972 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Tom Seaver+ 2.4351 Luis Tiant 1.9106
1973 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Tom Seaver+ 2.3817 Tom Seaver+ 2.0793
1974 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Tom Seaver+ 2.4712 Buzz Capra 2.2811
1975 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Tom Seaver+ 2.4602 Jim Palmer+ 2.0898
1976 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Tom Seaver+ 2.4732 Mark Fidrych 2.3369
1977 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Tom Seaver+ 2.4828 John Candelaria 2.3410
1978 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Tom Seaver+ 2.5144 Ron Guidry 1.7430
1979 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Tom Seaver+ 2.5533 J.R. Richard 2.7092
1980 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Tom Seaver+ 2.6038 Don Sutton+ 2.2041
1981 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Tom Seaver+ 2.6012 Nolan Ryan+ 1.6913
1982 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Tom Seaver+ 2.6838 Steve Rogers 2.4043
1983 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Tom Seaver+ 2.7320 Atlee Hammaker 2.2456
1984 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Kent Tekulve 2.6370 Alejandro Pena 2.4833
1985 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Kent Tekulve 2.7017 Dwight Gooden 1.5289
1986 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Kent Tekulve 2.6865 Mike Scott 2.2228
1987 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Kent Tekulve 2.7186 Jimmy Key 2.7586
1988 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Dwight Gooden 2.6171 Joe Magrane 2.1774
1989 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Dwight Gooden 2.6421 Bret Saberhagen 2.1614
1990 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Orel Hershiser 2.7140 Roger Clemens 1.9314
1991 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Orel Hershiser 2.7660 Dennis Martinez 2.3919
1992 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Roger Clemens 2.7962 Bill Swift 2.0769
1993 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Lee Smith 2.9129 Greg Maddux 2.3596
1994 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Lee Smith 2.9252 Greg Maddux 1.5594
1995 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Greg Maddux 2.8816 Greg Maddux 1.6312
1996 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Greg Maddux 2.8647 Kevin Brown 1.8927
1997 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Greg Maddux 2.8056 Pedro Martinez 1.9019
1998 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 John Franco 2.6352 Greg Maddux 2.2231
1999 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 John Franco 2.6447 Pedro Martinez 2.0672
2000 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 John Franco 2.6828 Pedro Martinez 1.7419
2001 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Pedro Martinez 2.6633 Randy Johnson 2.4873
2002 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Pedro Martinez 2.6206 Pedro Martinez 2.2575
2003 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Pedro Martinez 2.5844 Pedro Martinez 2.2179
2004 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Pedro Martinez 2.7086 Jake Peavy 2.2726
2005 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Pedro Martinez 2.7183 Roger Clemens 1.8738
2006 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Pedro Martinez 2.8065 Johan Santana 2.7732
2007 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Pedro Martinez 2.8040 Jake Peavy 2.5388
2008 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Mariano Rivera 2.2859 Johan Santana 2.5348
2009 Ed Walsh+ 1.8156 Tim Keefe+ 0.8571 Mariano Rivera 2.2541 Zack Greinke 2.1584

Baseball Leaders & Baseball Records:  Single-Season  Career  Active  Progressive  Yearly League