Baseball Question - Players Stats

[barney15c]

I like watching Baseall but get bemused with all the stats, but i was wondering.... Does a hitter get credited in their stats if their hit results in a score from another runner in the following scenarios:

a) A sacrificial bunt/fly (making a play that will likely get the batter out in the likelyhood another runner will score) that results in 1 or more runners scoring.

b) A home run resulting in 1 or runners also scoring

c) A hit resulting in 1 or more players scoring.

Also what do they mean by ERA (earned run average).

Many Thanks!

[janzman]

Scenario a...batter sacrifices himself by bunting,a runner on third comes home ,the batter has earned himself an RBI...Run Batted In.
Scenario b..If the bases are empty and a batter hits a home run he scores one run as he runs all the way round the diamond.Depending on how many bases have runners the batter hitting the home run will score 1,2,3,or 4 runs as all the runners make their way to home plate.
Scenario c..Much the same as b except the batter gets in the ball into the outfield and the runners are able to successfully make round the bases and home without getting tagged out.Note.. and infield home run is not a common occurance.
ERA is a s you say Earned Run Average and is a pitching statistic.It means the average number of runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings games.As a starting pitcher rarely pitches a entire game and obviously relief pitchers don't either the calculation is a bit complicated.Have a look at this
http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/sortable.jsp#elem=%5Bobject+Object%5D&tab_level=child&click_text=Sortable+Player+pitching&;game_type='R'&season=2013&season_type=ANY&league_code='MLB'&sectionType=sp&statType=pitching&page=1&ts=1372865173315
Hover your mouse over the ERA column header and itll explain it.
The lower the ERA the better the pitcher
I hope this helps.

[ToraToraTora]

sounds like rounders to me.

[barney15c]

An excellent detailed explaination janzman - many thanks for taking the time to write all that down. I can now enjoy watching the game more now that i am a bit more conversant with these terms. Thanks also for the link i will deffo look it up.

[janzman]

Your'e most welcome barney