Runs Allowed Single Season Leaders by Baseball Almanac

Single Season Leaders for Runs Allowed

A common goal most every pitcher has during the regular season when he places his cleat on the rubber and lets the ball loose is to win. By any means necessary. While seeking that goal a pitcher is often apt to allow a few runs. Maybe even more than a few...

Allowing runs is never a pitcher's goal, but it is a reality of the art pitching and Baseball Almanac is pleased to present the top one-hundred all time runs allowed during a single season leaders. Note: A bold faced entry denotes that the pitcher was active during the previous Major League season.

"Despite his sober demeanor off the field (he did not drink, smoke, or gamble), (Tony) Mullane was a free spirit who routinely ignored the game's reserve clause." - Author A.D. Suehsdorf on BasebalLibrary.com

Runs Allowed Single Season Leaders 'Top 100'
Name	Runs Allowed	Year	Team	League	Rank
John Coleman	510	1883	Philadelphia Phillies	NL	1
Will White	404	1879	Cincinnati Reds	NL	2
Bobby Mathews	395	1876	New York Mutuals	NL	3
Phenomenal Smith	369	1887	Baltimore Orioles	AA	4
Pud Galvin	367	1883	Buffalo Bisons	NL	5
George Bradley	361	1879	Troy Trojans	NL	6
Al Mays	359	1887	New York Metropolitans	AA	7
Mark Baldwin	358	1889	Columbus Colts	AA	8
Kid Carsey	358	1891	Washington Senators	AA
Toad Ramsey	358	1887	Louisville Colonels	AA
Henry Gruber	352	1890	Cleveland Infants	PL	11
Billy Crowell	350	1887	Cleveland Blues	AA	12
Matt Kilroy	350	1886	Baltimore Orioles	AA
Larry McKeon	350	1884	Indianapolis Blues	AA
Frank Mountain	345	1883	Columbus Colts	AA	15
Lee Richmond	343	1882	Worcester Ruby Legs	NL	16
Gus Weyhing	342	1887	Philadelphia Athletics	AA	17
Mike Morrison	341	1887	Cleveland Blues	AA	18
Hardie Henderson	339	1883	Baltimore Orioles	AA	19
Hardie Henderson	339	1883	Philadelphia Phillies	NL	19
Jersey Bakely	338	1884	Kansas City Unions	UA	20
			Philadelphia Keystones	UA
			Wilmington Quicksteps	UA
Henry Porter	336	1888	Kansas City Blues	AA	21
Park Swartzel	334	1889	Kansas City Blues	AA	22
George Cobb	333	1892	Baltimore Orioles	NL	23
Fleury Sullivan	328	1884	Pittsburgh Alleghenys	AA	24
Bob Barr	327	1884	Indianapolis Blues	AA	25
Bob Barr	327	1884	Washington Nationals	AA	25
Matt Kilroy	326	1887	Baltimore Orioles	AA	26
Will White	323	1880	Cincinnati Reds	NL	27
Stump Wiedman	323	1886	Kansas City Cowboys	NL
Mark Baldwin	322	1890	Chicago Pirates	PL	29
Jersey Bakely	321	1888	Cleveland Blues	AA	30
Mickey Welch	321	1880	Troy Trojans	NL
Bill Hutchison	316	1892	Chicago Colts	NL	32
Bill Hutchison	315	1890	Chicago Colts	NL	33
Tony Mullane	315	1886	Cincinnati Red Stockings	AA
Hardie Henderson	311	1885	Baltimore Orioles	AA	35
Jim Devlin	309	1876	Louisville Grays	NL	36
Jim McCormick	308	1879	Cleveland Blues	NL	37
Kid Nichols	308	1894	Boston Beaneaters	NL
Adonis Terry	308	1884	Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers	AA
Jersey Bakely	307	1890	Cleveland Infants	PL	40
George Haddock	307	1890	Buffalo Bisons	PL
Jack Lynch	307	1886	New York Metropolitans	AA
Pink Hawley	306	1894	St. Louis Browns	NL	43
Old Hoss Radbourn	305	1887	Boston Beaneaters	NL	44
Lee Richmond	302	1881	Worcester Ruby Legs	NL	45
Ed Beatin	300	1890	Cleveland Spiders	NL	46
John Harkins	300	1884	Cleveland Blues	NL
Old Hoss Radbourn	300	1886	Boston Beaneaters	NL
Amos Rusie	300	1890	New York Giants	NL
Pud Galvin	299	1879	Buffalo Bisons	NL	50
Tommy Bond	298	1880	Boston Red Caps	NL	51
Charlie Ferguson	297	1884	Philadelphia Phillies	NL	52
Toad Ramsey	297	1886	Louisville Colonels	AA
John Ewing	296	1889	Louisville Colonels	AA	54
Bill Sweeney	294	1884	Baltimore Monumentals	UA	55
Bert Cunningham	293	1890	Buffalo Bisons	PL	56
Bert Cunningham	293	1890	Philadelphia Quakers	PL	56
Ed Seward	293	1887	Philadelphia Athletics	AA
John Healy	292	1887	Indianapolis Hoosiers	NL	58
Jim Whitney	292	1886	Kansas City Cowboys	NL
Brickyard Kennedy	291	1894	Brooklyn Bridegrooms	NL	60
Harry McCormick	291	1879	Syracuse Stars	NL
Al Atkinson	288	1886	Philadelphia Athletics	AA	62
Jim Devlin	288	1877	Louisville Grays	NL
Lon Knight	288	1876	Philadelphia Athletics	NL
Terry Larkin	288	1878	Chicago White Stockings	NL
Amos Rusie	288	1892	New York Giants	NL
Red Ehret	287	1889	Louisville Colonels	AA	67
Larry Corcoran	286	1884	Chicago White Stockings	NL	68
Frank Killen	286	1892	Washington Senators	NL
Jim Whitney	286	1885	Boston Beaneaters	NL
Terry Larkin	285	1877	Hartford Dark Blues	NL	71
Billy Serad	285	1884	Buffalo Bisons	NL
Jim Whitney	284	1881	Boston Red Caps	NL	73
John Clarkson	283	1887	Chicago White Stockings	NL	74
Bill Hutchison	283	1891	Chicago Colts	NL
Matt Kilroy	283	1889	Baltimore Orioles	AA
Frank Dwyer	282	1894	Cincinnati Reds	NL	77
Chick Fraser	282	1896	Louisville Colonels	NL
Jack Taylor	282	1896	Philadelphia Phillies	NL
Larry Corcoran	281	1883	Chicago White Stockings	NL	80
Pud Galvin	281	1880	Buffalo Bisons	NL
Dupee Shaw	281	1884	Boston Unions	UA
Dupee Shaw	281	1884	Detroit Wolverines	NL
John Clarkson	280	1889	Boston Beaneaters	NL	83
Ed Crane	280	1890	New York Giants	PL
Win Mercer	280	1895	Washington Senators	NL
Mickey Welch	279	1886	New York Giants	NL	86
Mark Baldwin	278	1891	Pittsburgh Pirates	NL	87
Win Mercer	278	1894	Washington Senators	NL
Toad Ramsey	278	1888	Louisville Colonels	AA
Lee Richmond	278	1880	Worcester Ruby Legs	NL
Jack Stivetts	278	1894	Boston Beaneaters	NL
Duke Esper	277	1893	Washington Senators	NL	92
Terry Larkin	277	1879	Chicago White Stockings	NL
Henry Porter	277	1886	Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers	AA
Ed Crane	276	1892	New York Giants	NL	95
Tony Mullane	276	1884	Toledo Blue Stockings	AA
Bert Cunningham	275	1888	Baltimore Orioles	AA	97
Old Hoss Radbourn	275	1883	Providence Grays	NL
Mickey Welch	275	1884	New York Gothams	NL
Kid Carsey	274	1895	Philadelphia Phillies	NL	100
Jim McCormick	274	1880	Cleveland Blues	NL
Jim McCormick	274	1882	Cleveland Blues	NL
Current Through 2005 Season

Why did John Coleman have such a tough season in 1883? Perhaps it was because the 1883 Philadelphia Phillies, who played ninety-eight games and lost eighty-one of them, started Coleman in sixty-one of the ninety-eight games and made him throw fifty-nine complete games.

Will White is as unique a case as Coleman. He pitched for the 1879 Cincinnati Reds and knew what he had to do - start & finish every inning of every game as there were NO other pitchers on their roster!

The record for fewest runs allowed in a single season by the league leader belongs to George Smith of the Philadelphia Phillies who only allowed one-hundred two runs in 1919 and Jim Bagby of the Cleveland Indians who only allowed one-hundred eight runs in 1918.

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