How is ERA calculated?
Multiply earned runs by nine, then divide by innings pitched. The nine scales everything to a full game, which is why ERA reads as "runs allowed per nine innings".
Earned runs times nine over exact innings, graded against the great pitching seasons — then draft an all-time nine below.
Example58 earned runs across 180⅔ innings = 2.89.
ERA = (earned runs × 9) ÷ innings pitched
Earned runs times nine over exact innings, graded against the great pitching seasons — then draft an all-time nine below.
Multiply earned runs by nine, then divide by innings pitched. The nine scales everything to a full game, which is why ERA reads as "runs allowed per nine innings".
Baseball writes thirds as .1 and .2 — enter 180.2 for 180⅔ innings. The calculator converts to outs under the hood, so the fraction is exact, not a rounding.
The modern league average floats around 4.00. Under 3.00 is a solid front-line starter, under 2.00 is historic — Bob Gibson’s 1.12 in 1968 literally forced baseball to lower the mound.
Runs that score because of errors or passed balls are unearned and excluded. That is the point of the stat: it tries to isolate what the pitcher gave up on his own.
By raw ERA no — 1.74 against 1.12. Against their leagues, yes: Pedro’s 1.74 came in a season when the average team scored over five runs a game, the largest gap between a pitcher and his era on record.