Sporcle Saturday: That’s a low ERA
Good morning!
As Jim noted the other day, Joe Kelly has been having himself quite the season so far: 19 strikeouts to just one walk; his first save; and a FIP that’s even lower than his ERA (1.74 to 2.51). When I set out to write up today’s Sporcle, I figured he’d be the best of the bunch of White Sox relievers at least by ERA. Ironically, two other Sox relievers have logged ERAs lower than him this season: Gregory Santos (2.45) and Keynan Middleton (1.76).
It’s probably not a safe bet to assume any of the three aforementioned guys will go the full season with such sparkling ERAs, but if they somehow do, they would all qualify for today’s Sporcle (if Kelly could lower his by .01). Today, I’m quizzing you on past White Sox relievers who have logged an ERA of 2.50 or lower over the course of a full season. That’s 57 player-seasons in total: how many can you name? Good luck! (Further details of qualifications in the quiz parameters)
Quiz Parameters
- To qualify, the player in question must have: an ERA of 2.50 or lower, logged at least 30 appearances in the season, and 80% of appearances must have come in relief.
- I’ve allotted 15 minutes for completion attempts.
- For hints, I’ve provided the ERA and the year.
Useless information to amaze, annoy, confuse, and/or confound your friends and family:
- The average FIP from this list was 3.01. (It went as high as 4.07 in 1997, and as low as 1.49 from one of the 2017 players)
- Here’s the average triple-slash against: .211/.279/.296.
- The lowest walk rate came from (one of the players in) 1967, at 4.6%, over 124 2/3 innings.
All data from stathead.com
47/57 before I ran out of time. Some of the names on here are surprising, as are some names that are missing. A fun “remember some guys” quiz. Thanks, Ted.
Yep, I think my arbitrary 2.50 era cut-off influences the list. There are several obvious and familiar names who would have been added, had I raised it to 2.75 or 3.00.
Also got 47/57. Missed the 4 oldest, 4 from the last 8 years, and only 2 between 1957-2014. Great quiz, Ted!