Johan Santana
In MLB, 1.22 by the 1876 St. Louis Brown Stockings of the National League.
Pedro Martinez of the Boston Red Sox led MLB in ERA in 2003 with 2.22.
That was Pedro Martinez of the Boston Red Sox at 2.22.
Who has the best ERA for a MLB season
Tim Keefe of the 1880 Troy Trojans had a 0.86 ERA in 105 innings and is generally considered as having the lowest ERA in an MLB season as the 1880 season was only 84 games long. Since 1900, the lowest ERA belongs to Dutch Leonard of the 1914 Boston Red Sox at 0.96. He had a 19-5 record and threw 224 2/3 innings.
Yes, Dwight Gooden's 1.53 ERA was the best in MLB in 1985. Second best was John Tudor of the St. Louis Cardinals at 1.93.
That was Bob Gibson, whose 1.12 ERA remains the lowest for any starting pitcher since Dutch Leonard in 1914, and the fourth-lowest of all time, dating back to 1876. In that year Gibson pitched 13 shutouts -- since 1998, no MLB starting pitcher has had 13 complete games!
RHP Edward "Big Ed" Augustine Walsh, who debuted in Major League Baseball MLB) for the American League (AL) Chicago White Sox on May 7, 1904, pitched 14 seasons in MLB -- all but one with the Chicago White Sox -- with a career Win-Loss record of 195-126 in 2964 innings pitched in 430 games (315 games started and 250 complete games). Walsh hold the MLB record for the lowest career ERA, posting a career ERA of 1.82.
In MLB, no ... it is above average. In the 2011 MLB season, the average ERA in the National League was 4.16 and in the American League was 4.43. There have been seasons in MLB where the average ERA was 5+. In the AL, average ERA in 1996 was 5.00 and 1936 was 5.04. In the NL, average ERA was 5.33 in 1893. Those are the only three seasons in MLB where the average ERA was 5+. In other levels of baseball, 5.26 may be pretty good but not in MLB.
Mariano Rivera's lowest ERA in a single season was 1.38 in 2005.
Dennis Eckersley. Eckersley pitched in 63 games for the Oakland Athletics in the 1990 season, had 48 saves, and an ERA of 0.61. He gave up 5 earned runs in 73 1/3 innings.