ERA Champs

I’ll ignore the Tigers offensive struggles for another day or so.  Now, it’s time to rejoice that the Tigers currently employee three of the top ERA pitchers in the American League.  Here’s the skinny:

• Jarrod Washburn (2nd): 2.63
• Edwin Jackson (3rd): 2.64
• Justin Verlander (7th): 3.15

That’s three Tigers in the top seven in ERA.  For the sake of making my upcoming research easier, that’s three Tigers in the Top 10 in the AL ERA leaders.  When is the last time a Tigers trio did that?  When is the last time any team did that?  Glad you asked…

• 2005: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim had Jarrod Washburn (4th), John Lackey (6th), and Bartolo Colon (8th).  That team won 95 games before losing in the ALCS to the Chicago White Sox.
• 2002-2003: The Oakland Athletics had three guys in the top 10 in both of these seasons.  They won their division each year but lost in the first round in each season as well.
• 2001: The Oakland Athletics managed to have four of the top ten ERA leaders.  Tim Hudson (5th), Mark Mulder (7th), Barry Zito (8th), and Cory Lidle (10th).  They won 102 games that season but lost to the New York Yankees in the first round of the playoffs.
• 1989: The California Angels featured Chuck Finley (2nd), Bert Blyleven (4th), and Kirk McCaskill (5th).  The Angels won 91 games but failed to make the postseason.
• 1981: The New York Yankees had Dave Righetti (1st), Tommy John (5th), and Ron Guidry (8th).  They reached the World Series where they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• 1980: Oakland Athletics had Mike Norris (2nd), Matt Keough (4th), Rick Langford (9th).  Even with all of that great pitching, they won only 83 games and missed the playoffs.
• Time to skip to where the Tigers actually pulled it off…
• 1949:  This was the last time the Tigers had a trio finish in the top 10 in the AL in ERA.  That club had Virgil Trucks (3rd), Fred Hutchinson (4th), and Hal Newhouser (10th).  The Tigers finished the season 20 games over .500 but finished 4th in the American League, missing the playoffs.

So, as we can all see, this in no way means the Tigers have free pass to the post season.  I mean, it can’t hurt, but a team with great pitching still needs to score some runs to win a game.