My teammates and I got into a pretty heated argument at the bar after out game this afternoon. There were three arguments, it would be infinity, zero, or a dash due to the fact that u cannont divide by zero in the ERA equation. Any help would be greatly appriciated to help settle this argument.
2007-05-27 20:26:15 · 11 answers · asked by im4ublue@sbcglobal.net 1 in Sports ➔ Baseball
The ERA on the statistics would read as INF -- short for infinite. Technically they cannot give him an ERA because you cannot divide by zero, but seeing as how it cannot be zero because he gave up an earned run. If the ERA is a dash that means the pitcher has no stats yet. If the ERA is zero that means he gave up no runs for the innings he has pitched to date.
Note: the ERA will stay INF until he records an out, which then a number will be given.
2007-05-28 00:21:38 · answer #1 · answered by jackdupp1 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I have just been googling this like crazy but can't find anything. We all know dividing by zero is undefined, but as for what baseball does officially ........... I think for that particular game the pitcher is not given an ERA at all. For the season of course (assuming that this poor pitcher does eventually get at least one out!) the earned runs from that game would be used in calculating his/her season ERA. Maybe. lol
2007-05-28 03:43:58 · answer #2 · answered by maddog27271 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It would be undefined. It can't be zero because a run has been given up. It can't be infinite either because as you said you can't divide by zero. I guess of the three options a dash would be the closest to accurate. How it appears in a box score I'm not really sure, but the first two options I know are wrong mathematically.
2007-05-28 03:30:11 · answer #3 · answered by ajn4664_ksu 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most likely infinite, or a dash in the newspaper. At some point the pitcher will get someone out, even if by mistake, and it will become a measurable stat.
2007-05-28 03:41:05 · answer #4 · answered by David B 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He would not have an ERA as only Chuck Norris can divide by zero. However once he does he will get an ERA.
2007-05-28 03:29:26 · answer #5 · answered by alwaysmoose 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The pitcher's ERA would be "infinity" and would remain so until the pitcher recorded at least one out.
2007-05-28 11:12:45 · answer #6 · answered by frenchy62 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
His ERA would be infinite, but what sometimes happens is that the statistician will pretend he got an out, i.e. pitched 1/3 inning, and the ERA will be listed as 27.00.
2007-05-28 03:29:49 · answer #7 · answered by dr_strangeglove_2004 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
it is a dash because you cannot divide by zero
2007-05-28 09:54:17 · answer #8 · answered by Dave aka Spider Monkey 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Undefined.
Zero innings pitched, and we frown upon division by zero.
2007-05-28 03:31:43 · answer #9 · answered by Chipmaker Authentic 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
dr.strang.... is correct, since the pitcher faced atleast one batter (or several) and no outs were recorded but he gave up one run before being taken out, his ERA would calculate to 27.00 because he didnot complete atleast 1/3 of an inning (no outs recorded).
2007-05-28 06:52:15 · answer #10 · answered by P.I. Stingray 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋