Earned Run Average : 1946 National League Top 25

Finding the American or National League leader in virtually every hitting & pitching statistic is easy-to-do. Finding the top 25 players during any given season is far more challenging. Baseball Almanac has taken away that difficult problem and is pleased to present the data you requested:

"Maybe I missed my routine and my game so much that I was trying to rationalize reasons for getting it back. I wanted those 162 games. I wanted all the suspense of the playoff and home run races. And I honestly didn't believe baseball would bend far enough to allow the possibility of games in November. I was wrong. And baseball was right." - Paul White in USA Today Baseball Weekly (September 14, 2001)
 

1946 Earned Run Average Leaders

Top 25 in the National League

Howie Pollet 2.10 (2.0977) St. Louis Cardinals 1
Johnny Sain 2.21 (2.2075) Boston Braves 2
Joe Beggs 2.32 (2.3211) Cincinnati Reds 3
Ewell Blackwell 2.45 (2.4545) Cincinnati Reds 4
Harry Brecheen 2.49 (2.4899) St. Louis Cardinals 5
Johnny Schmitz 2.61 (2.6077) Chicago Cubs 6
Hank Wyse 2.68 (2.6821) Chicago Cubs 7
Joe Hatten 2.84 (2.8378) Brooklyn Dodgers 8
Fritz Ostermueller 2.84 (2.8397) Pittsburgh Pirates 9
Murry Dickson 2.88 (2.8807) St. Louis Cardinals 10
Vic Lombardi 2.89 (2.8912) Brooklyn Dodgers 11
Kirby Higbe 3.03 (3.0332) Brooklyn Dodgers 12
Mort Cooper 3.12 (3.1206) Boston Braves 13
Johnny Vander Meer 3.17 (3.1713) Cincinnati Reds 14
Ed Heusser 3.22 (3.2207) Cincinnati Reds 15
Al Brazle 3.29 (3.2870) St. Louis Cardinals 16
Monte Kennedy 3.42 (3.4232) New York Giants 17
Ed Wright 3.52 (3.5217) Boston Braves 18
Oscar Judd 3.53 (3.5308) Philadelphia Phillies 19
Nick Strincevich 3.58 (3.5795) Pittsburgh Pirates 20
Ken Raffensberger 3.63 (3.6276) Philadelphia Phillies 21
Dave Koslo 3.63 (3.6294) New York Giants 22
Bill Voiselle 3.74 (3.7416) New York Giants 23
Hank Borowy 3.76 (3.7612) Chicago Cubs 24
Ken Heintzelman 3.77 (3.7674) Pittsburgh Pirates 25



Jose Cruz of the Houston Astros had his number twenty-five retired on October 3, 1992, and became the first Major League player with that particular retired number.

Did you know that more than forty players have worn the number twenty-five for the Boston Red Sox — including Jack Clark, Denny Galehouse, Dizzy Trout and Tony Conigliaro.

Future Hall of Famer Sammy Sosa is best known for wearing number twenty-one; however, when the young slugger played for the Chicago White Sox (1989-1991) he only wore number twenty-five.