Earned Run Average Single Season Leaders by Baseball Almanac

Single Season Leaders for ERA / Career Leaders for Earned Run Average

Next to games won during a season, the most commonly cited pitching statistic is the lowest earned run average during a single season. The following pitchers have each tossed a minimum of one inning per scheduled game, have an earned run average less than 1.75 (with raw averages being presented to further clarify Baseball Almanac's chart of the top 100 earned run average seasons), and a bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the previous Major League season.

"Rules or no rules, pitchers are going to throw spitters, it's a matter of survival." - Hall of Fame Pitcher Bob Gibson (#5 Ranked Single Season Earned Run Average Leader)

Earned Run Average Single Season Leaders 'Top 100'
Name	ERA (Raw)	Year	Team	League	Rank
Tim Keefe	0.86 (0.857)	1880	Troy Trojans	NL	1
Dutch Leonard	0.96 (0.961)	1914	Boston Red Sox	AL	2
Ed Cushman	1.00 (1.000)	1884	Milwaukee Grays	UA	3
Mordecai Brown	1.04 (1.038)	1906	Chicago Cubs	NL	4
Bob Gibson	1.12 (1.123)	1968	St. Louis Cardinals	NL	5
Christy Mathewson	1.14 (1.144)	1909	New York Giants	NL	6
Walter Johnson	1.14 (1.145)	1913	Washington Senators	AL	7
Jack Pfiester	1.15 (1.154)	1907	Chicago Cubs	NL	8
Addie Joss	1.16 (1.163)	1908	Cleveland Naps	AL	9
Carl Lundgren	1.17 (1.174)	1907	Chicago Cubs	NL	10
Denny Driscoll	1.21 (1.209)	1882	Pittsburgh Alleghenys	AA	11
Grover Alexander	1.22 (1.220)	1915	Philadelphia Phillies	NL	12
George Bradley	1.23 (1.225)	1876	St. Louis Brown Stockings	NL	13
Cy Young	1.26 (1.264)	1908	Boston Red Sox	AL	14
Ed Walsh	1.27 (1.266)	1910	Chicago White Sox	AL	15
Walter Johnson	1.27 (1.270)	1918	Washington Senators	AL	16
Christy Mathewson	1.28 (1.276)	1905	New York Giants	NL	17
Guy Hecker	1.30 (1.298)	1882	Louisville Eclipse	AA	18
Jack Coombs	1.30 (1.300)	1910	Philadelphia Athletics	AL	19
Mordecai Brown	1.31 (1.313)	1909	Chicago Cubs	NL	20
Jack Taylor	1.33 (1.331)	1902	Chicago Cubs	NL	21
Walter Johnson	1.36 (1.362)	1910	Washington Senators	AL	22
George Bradley	1.38 (1.378)	1880	Providence Grays	NL	23
Old Hoss Radbourn	1.38 (1.379)	1884	Providence Grays	NL	24
Walter Johnson	1.39 (1.390)	1912	Washington Senators	AL	25
Mordecai Brown	1.39 (1.391)	1907	Chicago Cubs	NL	26
Harry Krause	1.39 (1.394)	1909	Philadelphia Athletics	AL	27
Ed Walsh	1.41 (1.407)	1909	Chicago White Sox	AL	28
Ed Walsh	1.42 (1.416)	1908	Chicago White Sox	AL	29
Ed Reulbach	1.42 (1.419)	1905	Chicago Cubs	NL	30
Orval Overall	1.42 (1.421)	1909	Chicago Cubs	NL	31
Christy Mathewson	1.43 (1.428)	1908	New York Giants	NL	32
Fred Anderson	1.44 (1.444)	1917	New York Giants	NL	33
Mordecai Brown	1.47 (1.470)	1908	Chicago Cubs	NL	34
Rube Waddell	1.48 (1.479)	1905	Philadelphia Athletics	AL	35
Joe Wood	1.49 (1.487)	1915	Boston Red Sox	AL	36
Walter Johnson	1.49 (1.488)	1919	Washington Senators	AL	37
Jack Pfiester	1.51 (1.508)	1906	Chicago Cubs	NL	38
John Ward	1.51 (1.509)	1878	Providence Grays	NL	39
Harry McCormick	1.52 (1.516)	1882	Cincinnati Red Stockings	AA	40
Doc White	1.52 (1.518)	1906	Chicago White Sox	AL	41
George McQuillan	1.53 (1.526)	1908	Philadelphia Phillies	NL	42
Dwight Gooden	1.53 (1.529)	1985	New York Mets	NL	43
Eddie Cicotte	1.53 (1.532)	1917	Chicago White Sox	AL	44
Will White	1.54 (1.538)	1882	Cincinnati Red Stockings	AA	45
Cy Morgan	1.55 (1.548)	1910	Philadelphia Athletics	AL	46
Grover Alexander	1.55 (1.550)	1916	Philadelphia Phillies	NL	47
Walter Johnson	1.55 (1.550)	1915	Washington Senators	AL
Howie Camnitz	1.56 (1.559)	1908	Pittsburgh Pirates	NL	49
Greg Maddux	1.56 (1.559)	1994	Atlanta Braves	NL
Jim Devlin	1.56 (1.563)	1876	Louisville Grays	NL	51
Tim Keefe	1.58 (1.575)	1885	New York Giants	NL	52
Fred Toney	1.58 (1.576)	1915	Cincinnati Reds	NL	53
Eddie Cicotte	1.58 (1.578)	1913	Chicago White Sox	AL	54
Rube Marquard	1.58 (1.580)	1916	Brooklyn Robins	NL	55
Chief Bender	1.58 (1.584)	1910	Philadelphia Athletics	AL	56
Barney Pelty	1.59 (1.588)	1906	St. Louis Browns	AL	57
Addie Joss	1.59 (1.591)	1904	Cleveland Blues	AL	58
Ed Walsh	1.60 (1.598)	1907	Chicago White Sox	AL	59
Luis Tiant	1.60 (1.603)	1968	Cleveland Indians	AL	60
Joe McGinnity	1.61 (1.610)	1904	New York Giants	NL	61
Ray Collins	1.62 (1.619)	1910	Boston Red Sox	AL	62
Rube Waddell	1.62 (1.621)	1904	Philadelphia Athletics	AL	63
Howie Camnitz	1.62 (1.622)	1909	Pittsburgh Pirates	NL	64
Cy Young	1.62 (1.624)	1901	Boston Americans	AL	65
Greg Maddux	1.63 (1.631)	1995	Atlanta Braves	NL	66
Spud Chandler	1.64 (1.636)	1943	New York Yankees	AL	67
Ernie Shore	1.64 (1.640)	1915	Boston Red Sox	AL	68
Silver King	1.64 (1.644)	1888	St. Louis Browns	AA	69
Ed Summers	1.64 (1.645)	1908	Detroit Tigers	AL	70
Dean Chance	1.65 (1.649)	1964	Los Angeles Angels	AL	71
Walter Johnson	1.65 (1.650)	1908	Washington Senators	AL	72
Ed Reulbach	1.65 (1.651)	1906	Chicago Cubs	NL	73
Russ Ford	1.65 (1.652)	1910	New York Highlanders	AL	74
Chief Bender	1.66 (1.656)	1909	Philadelphia Athletics	AL	75
Sam Leever	1.66 (1.662)	1907	Pittsburgh Pirates	NL	76
Carl Hubbell	1.66 (1.662)	1933	New York Giants	NL
Mickey Welch	1.66 (1.665)	1885	New York Giants	NL	78
Otto Hess	1.67 (1.665)	1904	Cleveland Blues	AL
Candy Cummings	1.67 (1.667)	1876	Hartford Dark Blues	NL	80
Frank Killen	1.68 (1.676)	1891	Milwaukee Brewers	AA	81
Joe Wood	1.68 (1.676)	1910	Boston Red Sox	AL
Tommy Bond	1.68 (1.676)	1876	Hartford Dark Blues	NL
Orval Overall	1.68 (1.677)	1907	Chicago Cubs	NL	84
Ed Reulbach	1.69 (1.688)	1907	Chicago Cubs	NL	85
Claude Hendrix	1.69 (1.691)	1914	Chicago Whales	FL	86
Bill Burns	1.69 (1.691)	1908	Washington Senators	AL
Nolan Ryan	1.69 (1.691)	1981	Houston Astros	NL
Jim McCormick	1.69 (1.692)	1878	Indianapolis Browns	NL	89
Rube Foster	1.70 (1.701)	1914	Boston Red Sox	AL	90
Charlie Sweeney	1.70 (1.701)	1884	Providence Grays	NL
Charlie Sweeney	1.70 (1.701)	1884	St. Louis Maroons	UA
Addie Joss	1.71 (1.706)	1909	Cleveland Naps	AL	92
Ed Killian	1.71 (1.713)	1909	Detroit Tigers	AL	93
Walter Johnson	1.72 (1.719)	1914	Washington Senators	AL	94
Ned Garvin	1.72 (1.719)	1904	Brooklyn Superbas	NL
Ned Garvin	1.72 (1.719)	1904	New York Highlanders	AL
Doc White	1.72 (1.722)	1909	Chicago White Sox	AL	96
Bill Doak	1.72 (1.723)	1914	St. Louis Cardinals	NL	97
Grover Alexander	1.72 (1.723)	1919	Chicago Cubs	NL
Addie Joss	1.72 (1.723)	1906	Cleveland Naps	AL
Sandy Koufax	1.73 (1.728)	1966	Los Angeles Dodgers	NL	100
Name	ERA (Raw)	Year	Team	League	Rank
Current Through 2009 Season

Walter Johnson appears more often on the top one-hundred (100) single season earned run averages than any other Major League pitcher, including six (6) times in the top fifty (50).

Did you know that number fourteen (14) on this single season earned run average chart, "Big" Ed Walsh, has the all time lowest career earned run average of any Major League pitcher in history?

A breakdown of every season since 1901 is online here at Baseball Almanac. Compare these magnificent seasons with the year-by-year leaders to find out who were the truly consistent ERA champions year after year after year...

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