Deadball ERAs are uniformly lower. Why?
Simple. The gloves in that era were made for errors. Errors lead to unearned runs. Unearned runs lead to lower ERAs.
I propose yet another new stat, the URA or Unearned Run Average, which in effect would be a team fielding indicator. Team URAs might have a lower standard deviation than pitcher's ERAs in any given era. If so, the URA might be useful in comparing pitchers from different eras by applying the following formula for pitchers:
their ERA + their URA = their RA or Run Average/9 innings.
Then again it might not be useful.
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But imagine, if only the Washington team was equipped with modern gloves behind WaJo, would he have been less effective as a pitcher, probably not, but Washington would have won more games and Walter would not have had enough fingers for his World Series rings.
I think I have proven my point. If you get it, let me know.
