ERA

[Manutd016]

for those of you who don't have the patience to read Eugene Styles post. I'll briefly summarize. He proved that if two staffs had the same era and whip with the same number of Pitchers, that if one had Prior last year and one Gagne they would still have the same era. Granted, Gagne's ERA was lower than Prior's, but since Prior pitched more innings it still has the same effect.

[Amazinz]

An ERA of INF is not explicitly infinity. A better term to use would be undefined.

Unless it has changed recently the Baseball Hall of Fame lists it as an Infinte ERA. And (I think) they use undeterminable (or undefined) when a pitcher put runners on base, did not allow an ER and did not record an Out.

[Slapweasel]

INF IS infinite. It is a mathematical term.

PacBellParker had it right when he said:

ERA is determined by the following calculation:

Multiply the number of earned runs by nine. Then divide by the number of innings pitched.

Example: If your staff gives up 15 earned runs in 50 innings, your staff ERA is 2.90. (15 x 9 = 145. 145/50 = 2.90)

A starter who has a high ERA for lots of innings will hurt your overall ERA more than a reliever who has the same high ERA for only a few innings