------------------------------------------------------------------ A earned run is a run which is charged as being accountable to the pitcher. The pitcher is not held accountable for runs scored as a result of errors or passed balls, but is responsible for runs scored as a result of: hits sacrifice bunts sacrifice flies stolen bases putouts fielder's choices, bases on balls thrown by the pitcher batters hit by the pitcher balks by the pitcher and wild pitches thrown by the pitcher The inning should be reconstructed without any errors or passed balls to determine whether or not a runner would have scored normally. The pitcher is always given the benefit of the doubt as to which bases runners would have reached if there were no errors. A relief pitcher is not accountable for any of the runs scored by runners who were on base at the time the relief pitcher entered the game. AND Earned run average (ERA) is the average number of earned runs scored on a pitcher per game. It is calculate by taking the number of earned runs scored on the pitcher, and dividing it by one-ninth the total number of innings pitched. In mathematical terms: ERA = Earned Runs / ( innings pitched/9 ) or /5 for softball? ------------------------------------------------------------------ This is from baseball-reference.com > About > Pitching Glossary Pitching Stats Glossary Sample Stat line Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA *lgERA *ERA+ +--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+---+----+----+-----+-----+----+ 1992 20 LAD NL 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 8.0 6 2 0 1 8 2.25 3.43 153 1993 21 LAD NL 10 5 65 2 0 0 2 107.0 76 31 5 57 119 2.61 3.92 150 1994 22 MON NL 11 5 24 23 1 1 1 144.7 115 55 11 45 142 3.42 4.21 123 1995 23 MON NL 14 10 30 30 2 2 0 194.7 158 76 21 66 174 3.51 4.22 120 1996 24 MON NL 13 10 33 33 4 1 0 216.7 189 89 19 70 222 3.70 4.31 117 1997 25 MON NL 17 8 31 31 13 4 0 241.3 158 51 16 67 305 1.90 4.21 221 1998 26 BOS AL 19 7 33 33 3 2 0 233.7 188 75 26 67 251 2.89 4.61 160 1999 27 BOS AL 23 4 31 29 5 1 0 213.3 160 49 9 37 313 2.07 5.05 244 2000 28 BOS AL 18 6 29 29 7 4 0 217.0 128 42 17 32 284 1.74 4.97 285 +--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+---+----+----+-----+-----+----+ 9 Yr WL% .691 125 56 278 211 35 15 3 1576.3 1178 470 124 442 1818 2.68 4.48 167 +--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+---+----+----+-----+-----+----+ Seasonal Avg 17 7 38 29 4 2 0 219.2 163 65 17 61 252 2.68 4.48 167 Career High 23 10 65 33 13 4 2 241.3 189 89 26 70 313 1.74 5.05 285 * indicates the value is park adjusted I included all of the player's seasons assuming they actually had an inning pitched, and when they appeared for several teams, I also included both league and season totals (if those are different). For those the team is TOT Here is a run down of the columns. Year - Year in which the season occurred Ag - Age the player was on June 30th of that year. Tm - Team they played for (see Team ID's) Lg - League they played in (AL- American League, NL- National League) W - Wins L - Losses G - Games pitched in GS - Games started CG - Complete Games SHO - Shutouts SV - Saves IP - Innings Pitched H - Hits ER - Earned Runs HR - Home Runs BB - Base on Balls or Walks SO - Strikeouts or whiffs or K's ERA - Earned Run Average 9*ER/IP lgERA - Earned Run Average for a league average pitcher in that ballpark or combination of ballparks. ERA+ - the ratio of the pitcher's ERA to that of the league. > 100 is above average and < 100 is below average. lgERA / ERA Below that is their career record (along with their career won-loss percentage). Career "High" The career high in each category is listed next. Note that high is meant here as most extreme. Obviously, you are more interested in their lowest ERA and not their highest. It also is not their best season, but the best from all the categories. You can quickly see what Nolan Ryan's career highs in strikeouts were along in Innings Pitched. I required 40 innings pitched in a season for an ERA to qualify as career best. Team Pages The pitchers are listed as follows. First any starters with more than ten games started and most of their appearances as starters are listed. Next, we list the leader in saves (when more than 9) and then the relievers appearing in the most games. Next, we list other starters and then other relievers. It isn't a perfect setup and I'm open to other suggestions. For further questions or comments, send us a note. You Are Here > baseball-reference.com > About > Pitching Glossary Quick Index: Players | Teams | Leagues | Managers | Leaders | Awards | Postseason | Random