Earned Run Average Year-by-Year Leaders '1876 - 2011'
Year	American League	ERA	Team(s)	Year	National League	ERA	Team(s)
1876	-	-	-	1876	George Bradley	1.23	St. Louis
1877	-	-	-	1877	Tommy Bond	2.11	Boston
1878	-	-	-	1878	John Ward	1.51	Providence
1879	-	-	-	1879	Tommy Bond	1.96	Boston
1880	-	-	-	1880	George Bradley	1.38	Providence
1881	-	-	-	1881	John Ward	2.13	Providence
1882	-	-	-	1882	Larry Corcoran	1.95	Chicago
1883	-	-	-	1883	Jim McCormick	1.84	Cleveland
1884	-	-	-	1884	Old Hoss Radbourn	1.38	Providence
1885	-	-	-	1885	Tim Keefe	1.58	New York
1886	-	-	-	1886	Henry Boyle	1.76	St. Louis
1887	-	-	-	1887	Dan Casey	2.86	Philadelphia
1888	-	-	-	1888	Tim Keefe	1.74	New York
1889	-	-	-	1889	John Clarkson	2.73	Boston
1890	-	-	-	1890	Billy Rhines	1.95	Cincinnati
1891	-	-	-	1891	John Ewing	2.27	New York
1892	-	-	-	1892	Cy Young	1.93	Cleveland
1893	-	-	-	1893	Ted Breitenstein	3.18	St. Louis
1894	-	-	-	1894	Amos Rusie	2.78	New York
1895	-	-	-	1895	Pink Hawley	3.18	Pittsburgh
1896	-	-	-	1896	Kid Nichols	2.83	Boston
1897	-	-	-	1897	Amos Rusie	2.54	New York
1898	-	-	-	1898	Clark Griffith	1.88	Chicago
1899	-	-	-	1899	Vic Willis	2.50	Boston
1900	-	-	-	1900	Rube Waddell	2.37	Pittsburgh
1901	Cy Young	1.62	Boston	1901	Jesse Tannehill	2.18	Pittsburgh
1902	Ed Siever	1.91	Detroit	1902	Jack Taylor	1.33	Chicago
1903	Earl Moore	1.74	Cleveland	1903	Sam Leever	2.06	Pittsburgh
1904	Addie Joss	1.59	Cleveland	1904	Joe McGinnity	1.61	New York
1905	Rube Waddell	1.48	Philadelphia	1905	Christy Mathewson	1.28	New York
1906	Doc White	1.52	Chicago	1906	Mordecai Brown	1.04	Chicago
1907	Ed Walsh	1.60	Chicago	1907	Jack Pfiester	1.15	Chicago
1908	Addie Joss	1.16	Cleveland	1908	Christy Mathewson	1.43	New York
1909	Harry Krause	1.39	Philadelphia	1909	Christy Mathewson	1.14	New York
1910	Ed Walsh	1.27	Chicago	1910	King Cole	1.80	Chicago
1911	Vean Gregg	1.80	Cleveland	1911	Christy Mathewson	1.99	New York
1912	Walter Johnson	1.39	Washington	1912	Jeff Tesreau	1.96	New York
1913	Walter Johnson	1.14	Washington	1913	Christy Mathewson	2.06	New York
1914	Dutch Leonard	0.96	Boston	1914	Bill Doak	1.72	St. Louis
1915	Joe Wood	1.49	Boston	1915	Grover Alexander	1.22	Philadelphia
1916	Babe Ruth	1.75	Boston	1916	Grover Alexander	1.55	Philadelphia
1917	Eddie Cicotte	1.53	Chicago	1917	Fred Anderson	1.44	New York
1918	Walter Johnson	1.27	Washington	1918	Hippo Vaughn	1.74	Chicago
1919	Walter Johnson	1.49	Washington	1919	Grover Alexander	1.72	Chicago
1920	Bob Shawkey	2.45	New York	1920	Grover Alexander	1.91	Chicago
1921	Red Faber	2.48	Chicago	1921	Bill Doak	2.59	St. Louis
1922	Red Faber	2.81	Chicago	1922	Phil Douglas	2.63	New York
1923	Stan Coveleski	2.76	Cleveland	1923	Dolf Luque	1.93	Cincinnati
1924	Walter Johnson	2.72	Washington	1924	Dazzy Vance	2.16	Brooklyn
1925	Stan Coveleski	2.84	Washington	1925	Dolf Luque	2.63	Cincinnati
1926	Lefty Grove	2.51	Philadelphia	1926	Ray Kremer	2.61	Pittsburgh
1927	Wilcy Moore	2.28	New York	1927	Ray Kremer	2.47	Pittsburgh
1928	Garland Braxton	2.51	Washington	1928	Dazzy Vance	2.09	Brooklyn
1929	Lefty Grove	2.81	Philadelphia	1929	Bill Walker	3.09	New York
1930	Lefty Grove	2.54	Philadelphia	1930	Dazzy Vance	2.61	Brooklyn
1931	Lefty Grove	2.06	Philadelphia	1931	Bill Walker	2.26	New York
1932	Lefty Grove	2.84	Philadelphia	1932	Lon Warneke	2.37	Chicago
1933	Mel Harder	2.95	Cleveland	1933	Carl Hubbell	1.66	New York
1934	Lefty Gomez	2.33	New York	1934	Carl Hubbell	2.30	New York
1935	Lefty Grove	2.70	Boston	1935	Cy Blanton	2.58	Pittsburgh
1936	Lefty Grove	2.81	Boston	1936	Carl Hubbell	2.31	New York
1937	Lefty Gomez	2.33	New York	1937	Jim Turner	2.38	Boston
1938	Lefty Grove	3.08	Boston	1938	Bill Lee	2.66	Chicago
1939	Lefty Grove	2.54	Boston	1939	Bucky Walters	2.29	Cincinnati
1940	Bob Feller	2.61	Cleveland	1940	Bucky Walters	2.48	Cincinnati
1941	Thornton Lee	2.37	Chicago	1941	Elmer Riddle	2.24	Cincinnati
1942	Ted Lyons	2.10	Chicago	1942	Mort Cooper	1.78	St. Louis
1943	Spud Chandler	1.64	New York	1943	Max Lanier	1.90	St. Louis
1944	Dizzy Trout	2.12	Detroit	1944	Ed Heusser	2.38	Cincinnati
1945	Hal Newhouser	1.81	Detroit	1945	Ray Prim	2.40	Chicago
1946	Hal Newhouser	1.94	Detroit	1946	Howie Pollet	2.10	St. Louis
1947	Joe Haynes	2.42	Chicago	1947	Warren Spahn	2.33	Boston
1948	Gene Bearden	2.43	Cleveland	1948	Harry Brecheen	2.24	St. Louis
1949	Mike Garcia	2.36	Cleveland	1949	Dave Koslo	2.50	New York
1950	Early Wynn	3.20	Cleveland	1950	Sal Maglie	2.71	New York
1951	Saul Rogovin	2.48	Chicago	1951	Chet Nichols	2.88	Boston
			Detroit
1952	Allie Reynolds	2.06	New York	1952	Hoyt Wilhelm	2.43	New York
1953	Ed Lopat	2.42	New York	1953	Warren Spahn	2.10	Milwaukee
1954	Mike Garcia	2.64	Cleveland	1954	Johnny Antonelli	2.30	New York
1955	Billy Pierce	1.97	Chicago	1955	Bob Friend	2.83	Pittsburgh
1956	Whitey Ford	2.47	New York	1956	Lew Burdette	2.70	Milwaukee
1957	Bobby Shantz	2.45	New York	1957	Johnny Podres	2.66	Brooklyn
1958	Whitey Ford	2.01	New York	1958	Stu Miller	2.47	San Francisco
1959	Hoyt Wilhelm	2.19	Baltimore	1959	Sam Jones	2.83	San Francisco
1960	Frank Baumann	2.67	Chicago	1960	Mike McCormick	2.70	San Francisco
1961	Dick Donovan	2.40	Washington	1961	Warren Spahn	3.02	Milwaukee
1962	Hank Aguirre	2.21	Detroit	1962	Sandy Koufax	2.54	Los Angeles
1963	Gary Peters	2.33	Chicago	1963	Sandy Koufax	1.88	Los Angeles
1964	Dean Chance	1.65	Los Angeles	1964	Sandy Koufax	1.74	Los Angeles
1965	Sam McDowell	2.18	Cleveland	1965	Sandy Koufax	2.04	Los Angeles
1966	Gary Peters	1.98	Chicago	1966	Sandy Koufax	1.73	Los Angeles
1967	Joe Horlen	2.06	Chicago	1967	Phil Niekro	1.87	Atlanta
1968	Luis Tiant	1.60	Cleveland	1968	Bob Gibson	1.12	St. Louis
1969	Dick Bosman	2.19	Washington	1969	Juan Marichal	2.10	San Francisco
1970	Diego Segui	2.56	Oakland	1970	Tom Seaver	2.82	New York
1971	Vida Blue	1.82	Oakland	1971	Tom Seaver	1.76	New York
1972	Luis Tiant	1.91	Boston	1972	Steve Carlton	1.97	Philadelphia
1973	Jim Palmer	2.40	Baltimore	1973	Tom Seaver	2.08	New York
1974	Catfish Hunter	2.49	Oakland	1974	Buzz Capra	2.28	Atlanta
1975	Jim Palmer	2.09	Baltimore	1975	Randy Jones	2.24	San Diego
1976	Mark Fidrych	2.34	Detroit	1976	John Denny	2.52	St. Louis
1977	Frank Tanana	2.54	California	1977	Tom Seaver	2.34	Cincinnati
							New York
1978	Ron Guidry	1.74	New York	1978	Craig Swan	2.43	New York
1979	Ron Guidry	2.78	New York	1979	J.R. Richard	2.71	Houston
1980	Rudy May	2.46	New York	1980	Don Sutton	2.20	Los Angeles
1981	Steve McCatty	2.33	Oakland	1981	Steve Carlton	2.42	Philadelphia
1982	Rick Sutcliffe	2.96	Cleveland	1982	Steve Rogers	2.40	Montreal
1983	Rick Honeycutt	2.42	Texas	1983	Atlee Hammaker	2.25	San Francisco
1984	Mike Boddicker	2.79	Baltimore	1984	Alejandro Pena	2.48	Los Angeles
1985	Dave Stieb	2.48	Toronto	1985	Dwight Gooden	1.53	New York
1986	Roger Clemens	2.48	Boston	1986	Mike Scott	2.22	Houston
1987	Jimmy Key	2.76	Toronto	1987	Rick Reuschel	2.75	Pittsburgh
							San Francisco
1988	Allan Anderson	2.45	Minnesota	1988	Joe Magrane	2.18	St. Louis
1989	Bret Saberhagen	2.16	Kansas City	1989	Scott Garrelts	2.28	San Francisco
1990	Roger Clemens	1.93	Boston	1990	Danny Darwin	2.21	Houston
1991	Roger Clemens	2.62	Boston	1991	Dennis Martinez	2.39	Montreal
1992	Roger Clemens	2.41	Boston	1992	Bill Swift	2.08	San Francisco
1993	Kevin Appier	2.56	Kansas City	1993	Greg Maddux	2.36	Atlanta
1994	Roger Clemens	2.85	Boston	1994	Greg Maddux	1.56	Atlanta
1995	Randy Johnson	2.48	Seattle	1995	Greg Maddux	1.63	Atlanta
1996	Juan Guzman	2.93	Toronto	1996	Kevin Brown	1.89	Florida
1997	Roger Clemens	2.05	Toronto	1997	Pedro Martinez	1.90	Montreal
1998	Roger Clemens	2.65	Toronto	1998	Greg Maddux	2.22	Atlanta
1999	Pedro Martinez	2.07	Boston	1999	Randy Johnson	2.48	Arizona
2000	Pedro Martinez	1.74	Boston	2000	Kevin Brown	2.58	Los Angeles
2001	Freddy Garcia	3.05	Seattle	2001	Randy Johnson	2.49	Arizona
2002	Pedro Martinez	2.26	Boston	2002	Randy Johnson	2.32	Arizona
2003	Pedro Martinez	2.22	Boston	2003	Jason Schmidt	2.34	San Francisco
2004	Johan Santana	2.61	Minnesota	2004	Jake Peavy	2.27	San Diego
2005	Kevin Millwood	2.86	Cleveland	2005	Roger Clemens	1.87	Houston
2006	Johan Santana	2.77	Minnesota	2006	Roy Oswalt	2.98	Houston
2007	John Lackey	3.01	Los Angeles	2007	Jake Peavy	2.54	San Diego
2008	Cliff Lee	2.54	Cleveland	2008	Johan Santana	2.53	New York
2009	Zack Greinke	2.16	Kansas City	2009	Chris Carpenter	2.24	St. Louis
2010	Felix Hernandez	2.27	Seattle	2010	Josh Johnson	2.30	Florida
2011	Justin Verlander	2.40	Detroit	2011	Clayton Kershaw	2.28	Los Angeles
Year	American League	ERA	Team(s)	Year	National League	ERA	Team(s)
Current Through 2011 Season

	In 1914, Dutch Leonard set an all-time record low earned run average that will probably never be beaten. Does any modern pitcher have that ability? Share your thoughts on our baseball message board. The first season where an earned run average greater than 3.00 led the National League was 1929. The first season where an earned run average greater than 3.00 led the American League was 1938. Sandy Koufax set the record for most consecutive seasons leading the league in earned run average with five. Tom Seaver created a legendary list years later and described this as the fifth greatest event in all of baseball.