Volq-swagen
by Brandon IsleibMay 16, 2008
If by some quirk of fate Edinson Volquez wins an ERA title, he will end the longest team drought for ERA titles, as the last Reds leader was Ed Heusser in 1944. Other than the Cubs' last leader being in 1945, every team has had one since the '60s save for the Brewers, Rockies, and Rays, who don't have any yet. Other ERA title miscellanies for your next quiz bowl:
The previous longest drought prior to the Reds' and Cubs' current streaks was 1928-1988, with the Senators/Twins having no one in between the immortal Garland Braxton and the equally immortal Allan Anderson.
The Browns-Orioles didn't have a champion until Hoyt Wilhelm in 1959; the franchise is stuck on four total, fewest in the AL. At the time the second Senators moved to Texas, they had more ERA titles (two) than the Orioles (one).
The Phillies have back-to-back seasons out of Pete Alexander, Steve Carlton in 1972, and that's it. Randy Johnson has that many on the Diamondbacks alone.
The last of the Tigers' six was in 1976 with Mark Fidrych. Since then, the Blue Jays have taken the field and nabbed five titles.
The Giants have had 26 leaders, easily the best all-time. The Red Sox are second with 17, and the White Sox third at 15 despite having none for 41 years.
Brandon Isleib possesses more baseball-related spreadsheets than he does law firm clients, but he's been building up the former for a lot longer and has reason to believe he's better with them anyway. He can be reached via the electronic mails.