I wonder what the record is for worst team ERA for a month?

[LA2]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

Ahh memories.

One more season with us and his ERA could have forayed into Keegan Akin territory (8+).

[Frobby]

Only 3 runs allowed tonight, August ERA down to 8.23.    First time the pitchers have allowed under 5 runs during the losing streak.  So of course our offense decided to take the night off.   

[waroriole]

4 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Only 3 runs allowed tonight, August ERA down to 8.23.    First time the pitchers have allowed under 5 runs during the losing streak.  So of course our offense decided to take the night off.   

They’ve taken plenty of nights off too. They’re averaging 2.6 runs per game over the 16 game losing streak. 9 times they’ve scored 2 runs or less. 

[GuidoSarducci]

To answer this question, I actually did a little data-wrangling project over the weekend.  I downloaded historical boxscores on retrosheet, which you can get here: https://www.retrosheet.org/gamelogs/index.html 

Then I wrote a Python scripts to convert them to SQL INSERT statements, defining the proper schema with CREATE TABLE with a few modifications ( the scores by inning are actually separate fields not just one big string, as well as creating two other tables for extra inning games and  completion info for suspended games (of which, interstingly enough, there was only one last year, at least according to retrosheet, that everyone here as well as Nationals fans should be aware of  )

Then I dumped the data into PostgreSQL.  Which took some time to work out the details.  Interesting side note: the game date, game number(e.g, double headers ), and park, does NOT consist of a primary key (see the Yankees-Angels game April 15th, 1998, for at least one example  )

Then finally I wrote a query to extract the team earned runs by month and year, which was also an interesting exercise which shows how powerful SQL can be if you know what you are doing.  And interestingly if you only go 'by month' with no other qualifications, that includes October, of which teams only play a few (regular season) games, and there are many examples with team ERAs > 10.  So in my query I set the minimum number of games to 5.

Anyway, here is what I came up with.  I can't vouch this 100% accurate as I haven't how accurate retrosheets data is or if my conversion script is doing things properly.  On retrosheet there are also two for "individual_earned_runs" and "team_earned_runs".  I'm not sure what the difference is. 

baseball=# SELECT team, game_month, game_year, num_games, to_char(era, '9999.99') as team_era FROM total_er_by_month WHERE num_games > 5 ORDER BY era DESC limit 20;
 team | game_month | game_year | num_games | team_era 
------+------------+-----------+-----------+----------
 FW1  |          7 |      1871 |         6 |     9.50
 SLA  |          4 |      1951 |        12 |     7.67
 KC1  |          4 |      1955 |        14 |     7.50
 SLA  |          4 |      1937 |         7 |     7.43
 PHA  |          7 |      1939 |        29 |     7.28
 PHI  |          9 |      1930 |        26 |     7.27
 NY2  |          7 |      1871 |         8 |     7.25
 MIN  |          4 |      1994 |        25 |     7.20
 PIT  |          6 |      1950 |        26 |     7.19
 DET  |          4 |      1996 |        27 |     7.15
 BAL  |         10 |      1985 |         6 |     7.00
 PHI  |          7 |      1929 |        29 |     6.97
 COL  |          5 |      1993 |        29 |     6.97
 KCA  |          7 |      1999 |        27 |     6.96
 BAL  |          9 |      2007 |        29 |     6.76
 TBA  |          7 |      2007 |        27 |     6.74
 DET  |          6 |      1996 |        27 |     6.74
 PHA  |          7 |      1936 |        33 |     6.73
 TOR  |          4 |      2002 |        24 |     6.71
 SEA  |         10 |      1985 |         6 |     6.67

 

Edited August 22, 2021 by GuidoSarducci
add number of games

[Frobby]

That’s a ton of work you did.  I wonder why the discrepancy between your data and what BB-ref says about the 1930 Phillies (they say 8.20 ERA in September).

[Just Regular]

3 hours ago, GuidoSarducci said:

PHA | 7 | 1939 | 29 | 7.28

Thanks for the work!   Playing judge, I am going to say this is the record your process discovered.

Those Aprils at 12/14/7 games I am guessing Opening Day was mid-month.

I guess 1871 must have been one of those primordial soup Associations before the NL organized.

[GuidoSarducci]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

That’s a ton of work you did.  I wonder why the discrepancy between your data and what BB-ref says about the 1930 Phillies (they say 8.20 ERA in September).

I just realized I simply divided runs by # of games, not taking into account innings pitched.  So I will have to correct that.

[GuidoSarducci]

11 minutes ago, OrioleDog said:

Thanks for the work!   Playing judge, I am going to say this is the record your process discovered.

Those Aprils at 12/14/7 games I am guessing Opening Day was mid-month.

I guess 1871 must have been one of those primordial soup Associations before the NL organized.

Edit: Ok I see what you are saying , the months with April where there were only a few GP.

wrt 1871, according to baseball ref they started in May.  I think they just did not play games nearly every day like they do now :  https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/1871-schedule.shtml

25 games for the entire month of July for the entire 9 team league...

This could also be the case of just missing data.  I'm not sure how meticulous they were about recording everything back then.

Edited August 22, 2021 by GuidoSarducci

[GuidoSarducci]

9 hours ago, Frobby said:

That’s a ton of work you did.  I wonder why the discrepancy between your data and what BB-ref says about the 1930 Phillies (they say 8.20 ERA in September).

I found out the problem - there's a difference between "individual earned runs" and "team earned runs" .  The 1930 Phillies did post an 8.20 ERA in September.  Their "team ERA" however was only 7.31, and their RA/9 was 8.82. They also commited 38 errors during that month.  Not as bad as the 1871  Fort Wayne Kekiongas, who commited 62 errors, despite playing only 6 games  

Here's the revised data with updated stats (min 5 GP) 

 team | year | mon | gp |    ip    | ra  | t_er | i_er |  ra_9  | tm_era | ind_era | e  
------+------+-----+----+----------+-----+------+------+--------+--------+---------+----
 FW1  | 1871 |   7 |  6 |    54.00 | 135 |   57 |   57 |  22.50 |   9.50 |   9.50  | 62
 SLA  | 1923 |  10 |  7 |    60.67 |  64 |   39 |   58 |   9.49 |   5.79 |   8.60  |  8
 PHI  | 1930 |   9 | 26 |   232.67 | 228 |  189 |  212 |   8.82 |   7.31 |   8.20  | 38
 SLA  | 1951 |   4 | 12 |   103.00 |  94 |   92 |   92 |   8.21 |   8.04 |   8.04  | 11
 PHI  | 1929 |   7 | 29 |   253.00 | 243 |  202 |  221 |   8.64 |   7.19 |   7.86  | 34
 SLA  | 1937 |   4 |  7 |    61.67 |  56 |   52 |   52 |   8.17 |   7.59 |   7.59  |  7
 PHA  | 1936 |   7 | 33 |   284.33 | 272 |  222 |  239 |   8.61 |   7.03 |   7.57  | 41
 KC1  | 1955 |   4 | 14 |   125.00 | 115 |  105 |  105 |   8.28 |   7.56 |   7.56  | 12
 PHI  | 1938 |   4 | 11 |    95.67 |  88 |   64 |   80 |   8.28 |   6.02 |   7.53  | 13
 PHA  | 1939 |   7 | 29 |   255.67 | 229 |  211 |  211 |   8.06 |   7.43 |   7.43  | 31
 MIN  | 1994 |   4 | 25 |   220.67 | 198 |  180 |  180 |   8.08 |   7.34 |   7.34  | 18
 PIT  | 1950 |   6 | 26 |   229.67 | 209 |  187 |  187 |   8.19 |   7.33 |   7.33  | 29
 BSN  | 1922 |   4 | 13 |   113.00 | 104 |   57 |   92 |   8.28 |   4.54 |   7.33  | 20
 DET  | 1996 |   4 | 27 |   237.67 | 211 |  193 |  193 |   7.99 |   7.31 |   7.31  | 24
 NY2  | 1871 |   7 |  8 |    72.00 | 121 |   58 |   58 |  15.12 |   7.25 |   7.25  | 62
 KCA  | 1999 |   7 | 27 |   236.33 | 197 |  188 |  189 |   7.50 |   7.16 |   7.20  | 24
 PHI  | 1930 |   7 | 33 |   295.67 | 288 |  211 |  231 |   8.77 |   6.42 |   7.03  | 68
 COL  | 1993 |   5 | 29 |   258.67 | 221 |  202 |  202 |   7.69 |   7.03 |   7.03  | 31
 SLA  | 1936 |   7 | 35 |   305.00 | 265 |  226 |  238 |   7.82 |   6.67 |   7.02  | 46
 PHI  | 1924 |   9 | 27 |   240.33 | 212 |  162 |  187 |   7.94 |   6.07 |   7.00  | 28

 

Edited August 23, 2021 by GuidoSarducci

[Il BuonO]

On 8/20/2021 at 6:57 PM, LA2 said:

One more season with us and his ERA could have forayed into Keegan Akin territory (8+).

Ha, he sure showed you! It’s  down to 7.92 now.
 

Down, lol.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

32 minutes ago, Il BuonO said:

Ha, he sure showed you! It’s  down to 7.92 now.
 

Down, lol.

[TonySoprano]

50 minutes ago, GuidoSarducci said:

I found out the problem - there's a difference between "individual earned runs" and "team earned runs" .  The 1930 Phillies did post an 8.20 ERA in September.  Their "team ERA" however was only 7.31, and their RA/9 was 8.82. They also commited 38 errors during that month.  Not as bad as the 1871  Fort Wayne Kekiongas, who commited 62 errors, despite playing only 6 games  

Here's the revised data with updated stats (min 5 GP) 

 team | year | mon | gp |    ip    | ra  | t_er | i_er |  ra_9  | tm_era | ind_era | e  
------+------+-----+----+----------+-----+------+------+--------+--------+---------+----
 FW1  | 1871 |   7 |  6 |    54.00 | 135 |   57 |   57 |  22.50 |   9.50 |   9.50  | 62
 SLA  | 1923 |  10 |  7 |    60.67 |  64 |   39 |   58 |   9.49 |   5.79 |   8.60  |  8
 PHI  | 1930 |   9 | 26 |   232.67 | 228 |  189 |  212 |   8.82 |   7.31 |   8.20  | 38
 SLA  | 1951 |   4 | 12 |   103.00 |  94 |   92 |   92 |   8.21 |   8.04 |   8.04  | 11
 PHI  | 1929 |   7 | 29 |   253.00 | 243 |  202 |  221 |   8.64 |   7.19 |   7.86  | 34
 SLA  | 1937 |   4 |  7 |    61.67 |  56 |   52 |   52 |   8.17 |   7.59 |   7.59  |  7
 PHA  | 1936 |   7 | 33 |   284.33 | 272 |  222 |  239 |   8.61 |   7.03 |   7.57  | 41
 KC1  | 1955 |   4 | 14 |   125.00 | 115 |  105 |  105 |   8.28 |   7.56 |   7.56  | 12
 PHI  | 1938 |   4 | 11 |    95.67 |  88 |   64 |   80 |   8.28 |   6.02 |   7.53  | 13
 PHA  | 1939 |   7 | 29 |   255.67 | 229 |  211 |  211 |   8.06 |   7.43 |   7.43  | 31
 MIN  | 1994 |   4 | 25 |   220.67 | 198 |  180 |  180 |   8.08 |   7.34 |   7.34  | 18
 PIT  | 1950 |   6 | 26 |   229.67 | 209 |  187 |  187 |   8.19 |   7.33 |   7.33  | 29
 BSN  | 1922 |   4 | 13 |   113.00 | 104 |   57 |   92 |   8.28 |   4.54 |   7.33  | 20
 DET  | 1996 |   4 | 27 |   237.67 | 211 |  193 |  193 |   7.99 |   7.31 |   7.31  | 24
 NY2  | 1871 |   7 |  8 |    72.00 | 121 |   58 |   58 |  15.12 |   7.25 |   7.25  | 62
 KCA  | 1999 |   7 | 27 |   236.33 | 197 |  188 |  189 |   7.50 |   7.16 |   7.20  | 24
 PHI  | 1930 |   7 | 33 |   295.67 | 288 |  211 |  231 |   8.77 |   6.42 |   7.03  | 68
 COL  | 1993 |   5 | 29 |   258.67 | 221 |  202 |  202 |   7.69 |   7.03 |   7.03  | 31
 SLA  | 1936 |   7 | 35 |   305.00 | 265 |  226 |  238 |   7.82 |   6.67 |   7.02  | 46
 PHI  | 1924 |   9 | 27 |   240.33 | 212 |  162 |  187 |   7.94 |   6.07 |   7.00  | 28

 

Since 1900, the worst ERA months above 7.00

1.  4/1951  Browns 8.04
2. 4/1954 Browns 7.59
3. 4/1955 KC A'S 7.56
4. 7/1939 Phil A's 7.43
5. 4/1994 MIN 7.34
6. 6/1950 PIT 7.33
7. 9/1930 PHI 7.31
7. 4/1996 DET 7.31
9. 7/1929 PHI 7.19
10. 7/1999 KC 7.16
11. 7/1936 Phil A's 7.03
11. 7/1993 COL 7.03

Current O's August 7.78.   To get down to 7.00, the O's would have to pitch a shutout for the next 19 innings.   The O's have 3 shutouts for the entire season, including Means' no-hitter.

 

[osfan83]

You could probably bring up the entire Shorebirds pitching staff and get better results. 

[Frobby]

On 8/22/2021 at 10:29 PM, GuidoSarducci said:

I found out the problem - there's a difference between "individual earned runs" and "team earned runs" .  The 1930 Phillies did post an 8.20 ERA in September.  Their "team ERA" however was only 7.31, and their RA/9 was 8.82. They also commited 38 errors during that month.  Not as bad as the 1871  Fort Wayne Kekiongas, who commited 62 errors, despite playing only 6 games  

Here's the revised data with updated stats (min 5 GP) 

 team | year | mon | gp |    ip    | ra  | t_er | i_er |  ra_9  | tm_era | ind_era | e  
------+------+-----+----+----------+-----+------+------+--------+--------+---------+----
 FW1  | 1871 |   7 |  6 |    54.00 | 135 |   57 |   57 |  22.50 |   9.50 |   9.50  | 62
 SLA  | 1923 |  10 |  7 |    60.67 |  64 |   39 |   58 |   9.49 |   5.79 |   8.60  |  8
 PHI  | 1930 |   9 | 26 |   232.67 | 228 |  189 |  212 |   8.82 |   7.31 |   8.20  | 38
 SLA  | 1951 |   4 | 12 |   103.00 |  94 |   92 |   92 |   8.21 |   8.04 |   8.04  | 11
 PHI  | 1929 |   7 | 29 |   253.00 | 243 |  202 |  221 |   8.64 |   7.19 |   7.86  | 34
 SLA  | 1937 |   4 |  7 |    61.67 |  56 |   52 |   52 |   8.17 |   7.59 |   7.59  |  7
 PHA  | 1936 |   7 | 33 |   284.33 | 272 |  222 |  239 |   8.61 |   7.03 |   7.57  | 41
 KC1  | 1955 |   4 | 14 |   125.00 | 115 |  105 |  105 |   8.28 |   7.56 |   7.56  | 12
 PHI  | 1938 |   4 | 11 |    95.67 |  88 |   64 |   80 |   8.28 |   6.02 |   7.53  | 13
 PHA  | 1939 |   7 | 29 |   255.67 | 229 |  211 |  211 |   8.06 |   7.43 |   7.43  | 31
 MIN  | 1994 |   4 | 25 |   220.67 | 198 |  180 |  180 |   8.08 |   7.34 |   7.34  | 18
 PIT  | 1950 |   6 | 26 |   229.67 | 209 |  187 |  187 |   8.19 |   7.33 |   7.33  | 29
 BSN  | 1922 |   4 | 13 |   113.00 | 104 |   57 |   92 |   8.28 |   4.54 |   7.33  | 20
 DET  | 1996 |   4 | 27 |   237.67 | 211 |  193 |  193 |   7.99 |   7.31 |   7.31  | 24
 NY2  | 1871 |   7 |  8 |    72.00 | 121 |   58 |   58 |  15.12 |   7.25 |   7.25  | 62
 KCA  | 1999 |   7 | 27 |   236.33 | 197 |  188 |  189 |   7.50 |   7.16 |   7.20  | 24
 PHI  | 1930 |   7 | 33 |   295.67 | 288 |  211 |  231 |   8.77 |   6.42 |   7.03  | 68
 COL  | 1993 |   5 | 29 |   258.67 | 221 |  202 |  202 |   7.69 |   7.03 |   7.03  | 31
 SLA  | 1936 |   7 | 35 |   305.00 | 265 |  226 |  238 |   7.82 |   6.67 |   7.02  | 46
 PHI  | 1924 |   9 | 27 |   240.33 | 212 |  162 |  187 |   7.94 |   6.07 |   7.00  | 28

 

What do you think the difference is between “team earned runs” and “individual earned runs?”   I’m wondering if “team earned runs” includes both teams that played in the game being tabulated.   In any event, I’m going with “individual earned runs” as the correct measure (since it agrees with BB-ref) and I’m sticking with the 1930 Phillies as the record holder, since the two teams above them played only 6 and 7 games, respectively.  

Meanwhile, despite getting swept by the Braves, the O’s pitched OK over the weekend and lowered their ERA for August from 8.56 to 7.78.   So as of now, they are not on pace to upend the Phillies.  
 

[SteveA]

56 minutes ago, Frobby said:

What do you think the difference is between “team earned runs” and “individual earned runs?”   I’m wondering if “team earned runs” includes both teams that played in the game being tabulated.   In any event, I’m going with “individual earned runs” as the correct measure (since it agrees with BB-ref) and I’m sticking with the 1930 Phillies as the record holder, since the two teams above them played only 6 and 7 games, respectively.  

Meanwhile, despite getting swept by the Braves, the O’s pitched OK over the weekend and lowered their ERA for August from 8.56 to 7.78.   So as of now, they are not on pace to upend the Phillies.  
 

In general, team earned runs come about as follows:

Pitcher A is in the game.

An error occurs allowing a runner to reach base.

Run(s) score after there are two outs -- they are obviously all unearned.

Pitcher B comes in.

He gives up runs of his own, maybe allows a HR.

They are earned to pitcher B, but not to the team.  All the runs that score after two outs are unearned to the team because the team would have been out of the inning if not for the error.

But pitcher B came into the game after the error.  He gave up the runs fair and square, regardless of whether there was an error earlier.  So the ones he gave up are earned to him, but not to the team.