Earned Run Average : 1890 Players League Top 25

Finding the American or National League leader in virtually every hitting & pitching statistic is easy-to-do. Finding the top 25 players during any given season is far more challenging. Baseball Almanac has taken away that difficult problem and is pleased to present the data you requested:

"Maybe I missed my routine and my game so much that I was trying to rationalize reasons for getting it back. I wanted those 162 games. I wanted all the suspense of the playoff and home run races. And I honestly didn't believe baseball would bend far enough to allow the possibility of games in November. I was wrong. And baseball was right." - Paul White in USA Today Baseball Weekly (September 14, 2001)
 

1890 Earned Run Average Leaders

Top 25 in the Players League

Silver King 2.69 (2.6941) Chicago Pirates 1
Harry Staley 3.23 (3.2270) Pittsburgh Burghers 2
Mark Baldwin 3.31 (3.3054) Chicago Pirates 3
Old Hoss Radbourn 3.31 (3.3061) Boston Red Stockings 4
Tim Keefe 3.38 (3.3799) New York Giants 5
Darby O'Brien 3.40 (3.4023) Cleveland Infants 6
Bill Daley 3.60 (3.6000) Boston Red Stockings 7
Gus Weyhing 3.60 (3.6000) Brooklyn Wonders  
Ben Sanders 3.76 (3.7644) Philadelphia Quakers 9
Al Maul 3.79 (3.7946) Pittsburgh Burghers 10
Charlie Buffinton 3.81 (3.8118) Philadelphia Quakers 11
John Sowders 3.82 (3.8155) Brooklyn Wonders 12
Phil Knell 3.83 (3.8302) Philadelphia Quakers 13
Ad Gumbert 3.96 (3.9591) Boston Red Stockings 14
Willie McGill 4.12 (4.1161) Cleveland Infants 15
Hank O'Day 4.21 (4.2128) New York Giants 16
John Ewing 4.24 (4.2419) New York Giants 17
George Hemming 4.25 (4.2500) Cleveland Infants 18
Brooklyn Wonders  
Matt Kilroy 4.26 (4.2588) Boston Red Stockings 19
Charlie Bartson 4.26 (4.2606) Chicago Pirates 20
Henry Gruber 4.27 (4.2730) Cleveland Infants 21
George Van Haltren 4.28 (4.2780) Brooklyn Wonders 22
Pud Galvin 4.35 (4.3548) Pittsburgh Burghers 23
Jersey Bakley 4.47 (4.4678) Cleveland Infants 24
Ed Crane 4.63 (4.6317) New York Giants 25



Future Hall of Famer Sammy Sosa is best known for wearing number twenty-one; however, when the young slugger played for the Chicago White Sox (1989-1991) he only wore number twenty-five.

Jim Thome wore number twenty-five since he first came up with the Cleveland Indians making him the franchise record holder for that particular number (Mike Garcia is second).

The most recognizable Detroit Tiger to wear the number twenty-five was probably Norm Cash (who wore it from 1960 through 1974), but did you know that Hall of Famer Larry Doby also wore it during his single season with Detroit?