Earned Run Average Year-by-Year Leaders by Baseball Almanac

Year by Year Leaders for Earned Run Average

Ever wonder who had the lowest ERA the year you were born? How about pitchers from you favorite team — have they ever led the league in earned run average? Baseball Almanac is pleased to present a year-by-year leaderboard in Major League earned run average for every season since 1901. Note: A bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the previous Major League season.

"But with a screwball, it isn't the break that fools the hitter, it's the change of speed." - Earned Run Average Leader (1933-1934, & 1936) / Hall of Famer Carl Hubbell

Earned Run Average Year-By-Year Leaders '1901 to 1901'
Year	American League	ERA	Team(s)	Year	National League	ERA	Team(s)
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	George McQuillan	1.60	Philadelphia
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	Grover Alexander	1.83	Philadelphia
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	Chicago
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	Monte Pearson	2.33	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	Howie Pollet	1.75	St. Louis
1944	Dizzy Trout	2.12	Detroit	1944	Ed Heusser	2.38	Cincinnati
1945	Hal Newhouser	1.81	Detroit	1945	Hank Borowy	2.13	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	Jim Hearn	2.49	St. Louis
1950	Early Wynn	3.20	Cleveland	1950	Jim Hearn	2.49	New York
1951	Saul Rogovin	2.78	Chicago	1951	Chet Nichols	2.88	Boston
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	John Candelaria	2.34	Pittsburgh
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	Nolan Ryan	1.69	Houston
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	Nolan Ryan	2.76	Houston
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	Steve Ontiveros	2.65	Oakland	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
Year	American League	ERA	Team(s)	Year	National League	ERA	Team(s)
Earned Run Average Year-By-Year Leaders

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 (5). Tom Seaver created a legendary list years later and described this as the fifth greatest event in all of baseball.

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