Pitcher trivia

[Baseball Guru]

Who was the first pitcher to lead his league in ERA without pitching a shutout??

[Obri]

I'm sure i've read this before. Is it perhaps Monte Pearson or Walter Johnson? I know Pedro done it last year.

[Baseball Guru]

Not Walter..

Pearson did do it but technically he did not qualify for the ERA title the year he led the league in ERA....

[Obri]

Why did Pearson not qualify, James? I think I read about him in a Yankee encyclopedia, although he didn't acheive the feat as a Yankee.

[Baseball Guru]

Not sure why he didnt qualify...Maybe innings??

He is not the answer I have from my source and when I looked him up on baseball reference.com site it doesnt show him as a league leader in 1933 which is the year in question....He had a 2.33 ERA that season but under league leaders...
Hell, it doesnt even have Pearson as the team leader in ERA among starters as it lists Mel Harder who had a 2.95 ERA that season as the leader...
Pearson had a 2.33 ERA....Pearson pitched only 135 innings so I am assuming that a starter needs more than that to qualify for an ERA title....

Weird because Baseball Almanac does list Pearson as the leader...

This is gonna take some research...:clap2:

[imgreat95]

in order to qualify for the ERA title, one must pitch one inning for every game that his team plays. So, pearson must have pitched 154 innings.

[Baseball Guru]

This is what I found out:

ERA became an official stat in the NL in 1912 & the AL in 1913. Through the 1950 season, the requirement was 10 complete games.

In 1951, the rule was changed to one inning pitched per scheduled game.

Monte Pearson of Cleveland is the 1933 AL ERA leader. He pitched only 135.1 innings, but he had exactly 10 complete games. Under today's rules, Pearson's teammate Mel Harder would have won the ERA title.

There were two exceptions made prior to the 1951 rule --
In 1927, Wilcy Moore pitched 213 innings with a 2.28 ERA. He pitched in 50 games, but started only 12 & completed 6. He was awarded the title on the basis that he had pitched mostly in relief & had logged enough innings unlike someone who pitched infrequently with few innings. If the exception had not been made, Moore's teammate Waite Hoyt would have won.

In 1940, Tiny Bonham of the Yankees debuted in August & pitched 99.1 innings with a 1.91 ERA. He pitched in only 12 games, but had 10 complete games. Due to his limited innings, Bonham was not recognized as the ERA champ with Bob Feller crediting with the league lead with 2.62 in 320 innings.

[PopTop]

Guru --- Saw your answer on this at another site, so I'll stay quiet ... Just wondering, was Pedro Martinez the first AL hurler to do this when he led the AL in 2002 without a blank job?

[Baseball Guru]

Actually techinally Pearson appears to be the correct answer since MLB used the criteria for complete games...He pitched for Cleveland in the AL....

Dave Koslo would be the first to do it in the NL for the Giants in 1949....

These #'s are post-1900's.....

In 1871, George Zettlein of the Chicago White Stockings (Cubs), led the NA in ERA without a shutout...

[Obri]

Well, that will be the first and last time I ever get anything right in the Trivia forum. Complete fluke. I read that statistic about a week ago i'm sure. Good question, James!