page_title: List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
section_title: American League
hierarchical_section_title: List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders / American League
context_page_description: In baseball, earned run average is a statistic used to evaluate pitchers, calculated as the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. A pitcher is assessed an earned run for each run scored by a baserunner who reached base while batting against that pitcher, whether by hit, base on balls or "walk", or being hit by a pitched ball; an earned run can be charged after the pitcher is relieved if he allows the runner before leaving the game. Runs scored by players who reach base on errors, passed balls, or catcher interference under special circumstances are treated as unearned runs, and do not count towards the pitcher's ERA.
  Major League Baseball recognizes the player in each league with the lowest earned run average each season. The first ERA champion in the National League was George Bradley; in the National League's inaugural 1876 season, Bradley posted a 1.23 ERA for the St. Louis Brown Stockings, allowing 78 earned runs in 573 innings pitched. The American League was established in 1901, and Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young led that league with a 1.62 ERA for the Boston Americans during the 1901 season.
caption: Babe Ruth led the league in ERA in 1916; he began his Major League Baseball career as a pitcher with the Boston Red Sox before converting to the outfield.[172]
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