A dear friend of mine teaches a course on Pi at Harvard. He is best friends with Dick Cramer, the founder of STATS, Inc. Whenever Cramer came to town, my friend would invite me out to dinner with them, and that eventually led to my joining STATS, Inc. and my career in baseball statistics.
So in honor of Pi and baseball, here is a list of pitchers who posted a 3.14 ERA in at least 162 innings since 1920:
- Corey Kluber – 2016: 215 IP
- Stephen Strasburg – 2014: 215 IP
- Matt Cain – 2010: 223 IP
- Brett Myers – 2010: 224 IP
- Dan Haren – 2009: 229 IP
- Chad Billingsley – 2008: 201 IP
- Mike Hampton – 2000: 218 IP
- Pete Harnisch – 1998: 209 IP
- Frank Viola – 1993: 184 IP
- Bruce Hurst – 1990: 224 IP
- David Wells – 1990: 189 IP
- Mike Bielecki – 1989: 212 IP
- Bob Knepper – 1988: 175 IP
- Bob Knepper – 1986: 258 IP
- Fernando Valenzuela – 1986: 269 IP
- Bill Laskey – 1982: 189 IP
- Tom Seaver – 1979: 215 IP
- Dave Rozema – 1978: 209 IP
- Ken Holtzman – 1975: 266 IP
- Fred Norman – 1974: 186 IP
- Alan Foster – 1973: 204 IP
- Jerry Koosman – 1970: 212 IP
- Mickey Lolich – 1969: 281 IP
- Dave Boswell – 1966: 169 IP
- Larry Jackson – 1964: 298 IP
- Jim Kaat – 1962: 269 IP
- Paul Foytack – 1957: 212 IP
- Warren Spahn – 1954: 283 IP
- Frank Sullivan – 1954: 206 IP
- Jack Kramer – 1946: 195 IP
- Dizzy Trout – 1945: 246 IP
- Al Javery – 1942: 261 IP
- Johnny Rigney – 1940: 281 IP
- Lon Warneke – 1940: 232 IP
- Dizzy Dean – 1936: 315 IP
- Lefty Grove – 1933: 275 IP
- Rosy Ryan – 1922: 192 IP
The list contains a high number of good to great pitchers, indicating to me an ERA as low as 3.14 is no mean feat. Bob Knepper, with two Pi seasons, should be given the title Mr. Circumference.
I think Mickey Lolich ate a lot of pie