RATE STATS

      Batting Average
      On-Base Average
      Slugging Percentage
      OPS
      Isolated Power
      Secondary Average
      Power/Speed Number
      Total Average



      Batting Average is the granddaddy of baseball percentages. In baseball's early days, the hitting heroes were the players who posted the best batting averages. The first Chalmers Award, handed out in 1910, awarded a new car to the player who won the batting title.

      It is calculated by dividing hits into at bats.

      


      No player has hit .400 since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941.

      Recent players who have come close are Tony Gwynn, who hit .394 in the strike-shortened 1994 season, and George Brett, who hit .390 in 1980.

      Historically, a .300 hitter is considered to be a good hitter.

      Batting Average is also one-third of the rare Triple Crown, when a player leads the league in batting average, home runs and RBI.


      Batting Average is an incomplete stat. Basically, it measures the rate of hitting singles. Yes, a player can hit for a high batting average and hit lots of home runs; but there is no way to tell, from batting average alone, the difference between Hank Aaron and Harvey Kuenn.

      Batting Average also does not include walks, and does not fully measure the rate at which a player reaches base.



      Ty Cobb, .366
      (since 1960) Tony Gwynn, .338


      (1871-1901) Hugh Duffy 1894, .440
      (1902-1940) Rogers Hornsby 1924, .424
      (1941-2007) Ted Williams 1941, .406

      Tip O'Neill is sometimes credited with a .485 batting average in 1887. That season, the American Association chose to count walks as hits. O'Neill's actual batting average was .435, which is not too shabby. Total Baseball, among others, chooses to respect the rules that were in place at the time, and credits O'Neill with a .485 average.

      In the goofy 1894 season, six players hit over .400, including Duffy's .440 average. In the 1901 season, Nap Lajoie led the expansion American League with a .426 average. Hornsby's 1924 batting average is sometimes considered the "modern" record, and it is hard to argue with his credentials.
      Most people, I think, consider Williams' .406 average to be the modern record. It is the most famous batting average in baseball history.
      Ty Cobb holds the career record, and also won a record eleven batting championships.



      The neglected cousin of Batting Average. On-Base Average measures both hits and walks (and, when the data is available, hit batsmen and sacrifices). It is the rate at which a player reaches base.

      

      Putting it another way, On-Base Average is the rate at which a player makes outs. A player with a .350 OBA makes outs in 65% of his plate appearances.


      There are no famous On-Base Averages. In almost any era, a .400 on-base average is very good. Very few players have had an OBA over .500.


      None. On-Base Percentage tells you the rate at which a player makes outs, and that's where you should always start. It doesn't measure hitting for power, and it doesn't measure the precession of the perihelion of Mercury, but otherwise does everything it is supposed to.



      Ted Williams, .482
      (since 1960) Barry Bonds, .444


      (1871-1901) John McGraw 1899, .548
      (1902-1945) Ted Williams 1941, .553
      (1961-2007) Barry Bonds 2004, .609

      McGraw held the record for 40 years, Williams for 60. Bonds demolished the record in 2002; who knows how long his mark will last.
      As usual, Babe Ruth holds a record of his own. Five times in his career, the Babe had an OBA over .500. Ruth and Bonds are the only players to do that more than twice.



      Hitting for power. Slugging Percentage divides total bases into at bats.

      

      Slugging Percentage is a quick and easy method for picking out the best power hitters in the league.


      In most years, a .500 slugging percentage is very good, .600 is exceptional; .700 is extremely rare, and .800 has only been done by two players (Ruth and Bonds).


      The biggest problem with Slugging Percentage is that the chosen weights are arbitrary.

      Total Bases = Singles + Doubles * 2 + Triples * 3 + Home Runs * 4

      In the real world, a home run is not worth four times as much as a single, nor twice as much as a double. A double is not worth twice as much as a single.
      As a result, Slugging Percentage doesn't really mean anything. But it's easy to calculate, and does a fairly good job of sorting the best power hitters.



      Babe Ruth, .690
      (since 1960) Albert Pujols, .620


      (1871-1901) Hugh Duffy 1894, .694
      (1902-1960) Babe Ruth 1920, .847
      (1961-2007) Barry Bonds 2001, .864

      Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds are the only players to post a slugging percentage over .800. Ruth did it twice, Bonds set a new record in 2001.



      OPS was introduced by Pete Palmer in Total Baseball in the 1980's.


      The first sabermetric stat to go mainstream! Not long ago, OPS was confined to the pages of Total Baseball (when it was known as "Production"). Now, it's commonly found on websites, on scoreboards, even on the back of player cards.

      OPS is calculated by adding on-base average and slugging percentage.

      OPS = OBA + SLG

      OPS is a nice, simple way of measuring complete offensive performance, mixing the ability to get on base with the ability to hit for power.


      OPS hasn't been around very long; few people could tell you landmark OPS' from the past. As a general rule, an OPS over 1.000 is exceptional.


      OPS doesn't really tell you anything; it's just two percentages added together. It's only used to give a quick and easy idea of who the best hitters in the league are.

      Also, the weights are uneven. A .400 On-Base Average is worth more than a .400 Slugging Percentage. OPS underrates players who get on base but don't hit for power (Pete Rose), and overrates players who hit for power but don't get on base (Dave Kingman).

      And then there are the usual problems with Slugging Percentage, mentioned above.



      Babe Ruth, 1.164
      (since 1960) Barry Bonds, 1.051


      (1871-1901) Hugh Duffy 1894, 1.196
      (1902-1960) Babe Ruth 1920, 1.379
      (1961-2007) Barry Bonds 2004, 1.422

      Ruth, Bonds and Ted Williams are the kings of OPS. Ruth led the league thirteen times; Williams led the league nine times. Bonds has led the league seven times and also holds the season record.



      IP was developed by Branch Rickey and Allan Roth in the 1950's.


      Slugging Percentage minus Batting Average. Isolated Power is calculated just like slugging percentage, but with singles taken out of the equation.
      Or, if you prefer,

      IP = (Hits-Singles) / AB

      In 1988, for example, Eddie Murray hit 28 home runs, while Wade Boggs hit five. But Boggs, bolstered by a .366 batting average, had a higher Slugging Percentage then Murray (.490 for Boggs, .474 for Murray).
      Murray, however, had an IP of .190, while Boggs' IP was .124. Murray was, indeed, the more prolific slugger of the two.


      Barry Bonds in 2001 became the first and only player to post an IP over .500.


      Just like Slugging Percentage, the weights are arbitrary, and the stat doesn't really mean anything. It's just a way of separating true power hitters from the rest of the pack.



      Babe Ruth, .348
      (since 1960) Mark McGwire, .325


      (1871-1960) Babe Ruth 1920, .472
      (1961-2007) Barry Bonds 2001, .536



      It was developed by Bill James, who introduced it in the 1986 Baseball Abstract.


      The sum of a player's extra bases on hits, walks and stolen bases, expressed on a per-at bat basis.

      SA = (2B + (3B*2) + (HR*3) + BB + SB - CS) / AB or

      SA = (Total Bases - Singles + Walks + Stolen Bases - Caught Stealing) / (At bats)

      Secondary average acts as a complement for batting average. We know that two players who each have a .300 batting average can be wildly different. One player's hits can be 75%, singles, while the other could be a 40-homer man. Batting Average alone does not distinguish between the two.
      Secondary Average measures a player's ability to gain extra bases beyond hitting singles.


      As James explained, Secondary Average "is not a method that would be described as an analytical tool; it is not a method what would be adapted to explore some particular question or some set of questions. It does not constitute new knowledge; rather, it is a new way of expressing a set of values which have already been accepted".



      Barry Bonds, .604

      (before 1960) Babe Ruth, .594

      (1871-1960) Babe Ruth 1920, .799
      (1961-2007) Barry Bonds 2004, 1.086

      When James introduced the stat, he noted that "Like slugging percentage, secondary average is not a true percentage measure. It is theoretically possible to exceed 1.000." Theory became reality in 2004, when Bonds became the first player to post a Secondary Average of over 1.000



      Developed by Bill James in the 1970's.


      Remember when Jose Canseco became the first player to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in a season? Or when Eric Davis combined 27 homers with 80 stolen bases? When the 30/30 club was an exclusive group?
      Power/Speed Number is a simple method for ranking a player's ability to both hit for power and steal bases.

      P/SN = ((SB*HR) * 2) / (SB + HR)


      Bobby Bonds became the first player to post a Power/Speed Number over 40 in 1973, when he had 39 home runs and 43 stolen bases. It might have been a big deal, except that the stat hadn't been invented yet.



      Barry Bonds, 613.90 (762 home runs, 514 stolen bases)


      (1871-1901) Harry Stovey 1889, 29.20 (19 home runs, 63 stolen bases)
      (1902-1960) Ken Williams 1922, 37.97 (30 home runs, 37 stolen bases)
      (1961-1994) Eric Davis 1987, 42.53 (37 home runs, 50 stolen bases)
      (1994-2007) Alex Rodriguez 1998 43.91 (42 home runs, 46 stolen bases)

      Willie Mays had a career P/SN of 447.50, and was the career leader from 1960 to 1998.



      It was developed by Thomas Boswell.


      Like the name says, Total Average is a method for evaluating a player's total offensive output. It is calculated by dividing bases gained into outs made.

      TA = (TB + SB + BB + HPB - CS) / ((AB - H) + (CS + GDP))



      Babe Ruth, 1.400
      (since 1960) Barry Bonds, 1.250


      (1871-1900) Hugh Duffy 1894, 1.619
      (1901-1960) Babe Ruth 1920, 1.803
      (1961-2007) Barry Bonds 2004, 2.196

      Bonds in 2002 become the first player to post a TA over 2.000.