It's Better To Be Lucky Than Good

In my last post I looked at pitchers who were exceedingly unlucky. The guys I listed all had an ERA+ of 120 or above but won one-third or fewer of their (at least 15) decisions. Today I want to look at pitchers who did the opposite: had a low ERA+ but won two-thirds or more of their decisions. The criteria again are 15+ decisions, a winning percentage of .667 or above, and 50% or more of appearances as a starter.

Lowest ERA+, .667 or above W-L%, min. 15 decisions, 1901-2007

Name	Year	ERA	ERA+	W-L Record	Run Support*	League Runs Per Game**
Santo Alcala	1976	4.70	75	11-4	6.34	3.98
Rip Collins	1921	5.44	78	11-5	6.20	5.12
Mike Lynch	1905	3.79	79	17-8	4.46	4.11
Ed Wells	1930	5.20	83	12-3	6.90	5.41
Jim Coates	1960	4.28	83	13-3	7.81	4.39
Rube Benton	1916	2.87	85	16-8	3.85	3.45
Storm Davis	1989	4.36	85	19-7	5.81	4.29
James Baldwin	1998	5.32	86	13-6	5.19	5.01
Guy Bush	1931	4.49	86	16-8	5.31	4.48
Tommie Sisk	1966	4.14	86	10-5	5.78	4.09
Chuck Dobson	1971	3.81	88	15-5	5.96	3.87
Roxie Lawson	1937	5.26	89	18-7	6.03	5.23
Johnny Allen	1933	4.39	89	15-7	6.10	5.00
Lefty Williams	1917	2.97	89	17-8	4.21	3.65
Ralph Works	1911	3.87	90	11-5	5.40	4.61
Hooks Dauss	1919	3.55	90	21-9	4.41	4.09
Jack Coombs	1911	3.53	90	28-12	5.66	4.61
Kevin Tapani	1998	4.85	90	19-9	5.37	4.60
Adam Eaton	2005	4.27	90	11-5	5.49	4.45
Rube Foster	1916	3.06	90	14-7	3.53	3.68

*Runs scored by the pitcher's team's offense in games in which he pitched; if prior to 1957, the team's runs per game. If more than one team, a weighted average based on innings pitched.
**League refers to the league (American/National) the pitcher was in. Any pitcher in both leagues gets a weighted average of the two league values based on innings pitched.

These were the only twenty pitchers who had an ERA+ of 90 or less. The complete list of all 88 seasons with an ERA+ of 100 (league average) or below can be found here.