So what kind of “adjustment” are we talking about? Suppose half a team’s games were played as doubleheaders. That means 81 games of 7 innings, 81 games of 9 innings. An average game would be 8 innings, so would ERA be ER per 8 innings? (OK, I know 81 doesn’t divide by 2, but you see my point.) Trouble is, that would only work if every team had games of the same average length.
Instead, you could figure ERA as ER per 9 innings, but count an ER given up during a 7 inning game as 7/9ths of an ER. Either way, it’s completely unnecessary. After all, there is no “adjustment” if a game lasts 10 or 12 or 20 innings…or if it is shortened to 6 or 8 innings. And if ERA were per inning instead of per 9 innings, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion.
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