I admit it...

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

I looked.  You stumped me.  Eff Dubbs...I CARE, DAMMIT.

Also, I'm really a lifelong American League ignoramous.

[Quality Start Machine]

I looked.  You stumped me.  Eff Dubbs...I CARE, DAMMIT.

Also, I'm really a lifelong American League ignoramous.

Like Frank Robinson and the MVP, you're an ignoramous in both leagues.

[Eli]

DPD.  Anybody want to guess which of the top fifty earned-run-giver-uppers of all time got on to the list by being above average for quite a long time, rather than being really, really good for a really long time?  No?  Well, I'm going to do this anyway.

Very few of the top fifty have an ERA over four - indeed, just six.  Of those, one has already been discussed (Moyer, 4.24) and one you probably won't have heard of (Earl Whitehill, 4.36).  The other four, though, are modern era players:

RH, ERA 4.13, IP 3439.0, 239-137, 1987-2007, 2 World Series rings
LH, ERA 4.27, IP 3302.2, 219-156, 1989-2008, 1 World Series ring
RH, ERA 4.41, IP 3226.1, 200-180, 1992-2011, 1 World Series ring
RH, ERA 4.47, IP 3121.2, 174-176, 1996-2011, 1 World Series ring

I was going to add the years of the WS rings but I actually think that would make it too easy.  Without resorting to BP or mlb.com, anybody know who they are?

nobody cares

I beg to differ, you twat.

You should know by now that no one here is allowed to discuss a topic for more than 4 consecutive posts. It makes people uncomfortable.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

RH LH, ERA 4.13, IP 3439.0, 239-137, 1987-2007, 2 World Series rings

This guy was a lefty, too, Tonk.

Fuck, yes he was.  How the hell did I get that wrong?  And yes, both the guys left have thrown perfect games, which should make this much easier.

So Fatty Wells then?

Yep.  I felt a bit bad including him with the "above average" crowd - he's clearly the pick of the four - but nonetheless, his career ERA was over 4.

It doesn't help Wells' non-era-adjusted stats like ERA that his career spanned the entire steroid era.

From 1994-2004 (age 31-41), Wells put up an ERA of 4.10 but a league-adjusted ERA+ of 112.

For sake of comparison, in his own age 31-41 seasons (1978-1988), Nolan Ryan had an ERA of 3.23 but an ERA+ of just 109. Fergie Jenkins 1973-1983 (30-40): 3.60 ERA, 108 ERA+. Warren Spahn 1952-1962 (31-41): 2.96 ERA, 123 ERA+.

(Meanwhile... Cy Young in his age 31-41 seasons from 1898-1908? A deadball era ERA of 2.19 and ERA+ of 143. And yet not even once was he even nominated for a Cy Young Award. That's the real crime if you ask me.)

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

I looked.  You stumped me.  Eff Dubbs...I CARE, DAMMIT.

Also, I'm really a lifelong American League ignoramous.

Like Frank Robinson and the MVP, you're an ignoramous in both leagues.

But I'm not, see?  I would PWN you in National League trivia.

[morpheus]

I looked.  You stumped me.  Eff Dubbs...I CARE, DAMMIT.

Also, I'm really a lifelong American League ignoramous.

Like Frank Robinson and the MVP, you're an ignoramous in both leagues.

But I'm not, see?  I would PWN you in National League trivia.

[Quality Start Machine]

I looked.  You stumped me.  Eff Dubbs...I CARE, DAMMIT.

Also, I'm really a lifelong American League ignoramous.

Like Frank Robinson and the MVP, you're an ignoramous in both leagues.

But I'm not, see?  I would PWN you in National League trivia.

I'm not even sure you could beat me in bald Mick cocksucker trivia.

[Internet Apex]

I looked.  You stumped me.  Eff Dubbs...I CARE, DAMMIT.

Also, I'm really a lifelong American League ignoramous.

Like Frank Robinson and the MVP, you're an ignoramous in both leagues.

But I'm not, see?  I would PWN you in National League trivia.

I'm not even sure you could beat me in bald Mick cocksucker trivia.

(||)

[PenPho]

I didn't think Fork's White Sox post was that bad.

[Bort]

I still mostly enjoy The Walking Dead.

[Wheezer]

... I have "Old Man River" stuck in my head, and I'm ambivalent about the situation.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

... I have "Old Man River" stuck in my head, and I'm ambivalent about the situation.

It's a message from the ether that you should get a ticket to the Lyric's ongoing production of Show Boat.

Also: maybe cut back on the ether a bit.

[Wheezer]

... I have "Old Man River" stuck in my head, and I'm ambivalent about the situation.

It's a message from the ether that you should get a ticket to the Lyric's ongoing production of Show Boat.

Also: maybe cut back on the ether a bit.

I'm already at the age when Jacques Brel got the news.

[Bort]

... I have "Old Man River" stuck in my head, and I'm ambivalent about the situation.

It's a message from the ether that you should get a ticket to the Lyric's ongoing production of Show Boat.

Also: maybe cut back on the ether a bit.

I will not have you disparage the fine tradition of the Ether Frolic.

[swigs laudanum angrily and fans self]

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

... I have "Old Man River" stuck in my head, and I'm ambivalent about the situation.

I sang "Old Man River" as an audition for the Towne Criers in high school. /choirgfag