Year of the Pitcher

Much has been made of the successes of MLB pitchers this season. Writers are calling it the year of the pitcher. There have been five no-hitters thrown (two of which were perfect games) and one imperfect game thrown in Detroit. People are claiming that they've never seen so many hard throwers in the league and offenses are suffering because of it.

So, here’s a basic look at ERAs over the last 30 years. You can almost pinpoint the 1993 to 1994 timeframe as the years that steroids took over the game. 1992 was also the year that Camden Yards opened, marking the beginning of the fan-friendly, yet homerun-friendly ballpark explosion. This is far from an in-depth scientific study, but sometimes the most basic stats can tell the story.

Year / # of MLB pitchers with a sub-3.00 ERA / MLB ERA
2010 / 16 / 4.25
2009 / 11 / 4.32
2008 / 8 / 4.32
2007 / 1 / 4.47
2006 / 2 / 4.53
2005 / 9 / 4.29
2004 / 7 / 4.46
2003 / 8 / 4.40
2002 / 10 / 4.28
2001 / 2 / 4.42
2000 / 3 / 4.77
1999 / 4 / 4.71
1998 / 9 / 4.43
1997 / 14 / 4.39
1996 / 6 / 4.61
1995 / 5 / 4.45
1994 / 5 / 4.51
1993 / 8 / 4.19
1992 / 21 / 3.75
1991 / 15 / 3.91
1990 / 16 / 3.86
1989 / 22 / 3.71
1988 / 20 / 3.73
1987 / 4 / 4.29
1986 / 12 / 3.97
1985 / 16 / 3.89
1984 / 14 / 3.81
1983 / 9 / 3.87
1982 / 7 / 3.86
1981 / 16 / 3.58
1980 / 11 / 3.84

I don't know if this is "The Year of the Pitcher", but it certainly is the best pitching we've seen since before the 1994 strike.