The batting average (AVG), on-base percentage (OBP), & slugging percentage (SLG) are listed with slashing separating each number.
Reads like this:
Babe Ruth career slash line .342/.474/.690
So Babe Ruth had a .342 career batting average, with a .474 on-base percentage, & a .690 slugging percentage.
You will also see the slash line listed with a 4th number. The 4th number is On base percentage + Slugging percentage, known as On base plus Slugging or OPS. This number is the two added together, so the Bambino's slash line would look like this:
Babe Ruth career slash line .342/.474/.690/1.164
How the numbers are calculated
Batting Average (AVG) - Hits / At Bats
On Base Percentage (OBP) - (Hits+Walks+Hit By Pitch) / (Plate Appearances)
Slugging Percentage (SLG) - Total Bases from Hits / At Bats
Total bases from hits is found by multiplying:
1 x Total Singles
2 x Total Doubles
3 x Total Triples
4 x Home Runs
What does it all mean!?
Now that you know what it is, how to read it, how it's calcualted, you need to know what it all means and why those numbers are significant.
How can you judge good batting performance from those 3 numbers?
We first need to determine what is good.
Batting Average -
What is great?
Ty Cobb holds the record for the highest career batting average at .366
Hugh Duffy holds the record for the highest single season average at .439
Top 10 Career Averages (via baseball-reference.com):
| Rank | Player (yrs, age) | Batting Average | Bats |
| 1 | Ty Cobb+ (24) | 0.3664 | L |
| 2 | Rogers Hornsby+ (23) | 0.3585 | R |
| 3 | Shoeless Joe Jackson (13) | 0.3558 | L |
| 4 | Lefty O'Doul (11) | 0.3493 | L |
| 5 | Ed Delahanty+ (16) | 0.3458 | R |
| 6 | Tris Speaker+ (22) | 0.3447 | L |
| 7 | Billy Hamilton+ (14) | 0.3444 | L |
| Ted Williams+ (19) | 0.3444 | L | |
| 9 | Dan Brouthers+ (19) | 0.3421 | L |
| Babe Ruth+ (22) | 0.3421 | L |
What is good?
Having a batting average above .300 is considered a very good batting average.
Ending the season, above .250 would be considered a good batting average.
What isn't good?
The Mendoza line is traditionally known as the mark of poor hitting. Mario Mendoza ended the 1979 season at 0.198 (the mendoza line) and was frequently joked about in the clubhouse for not hitting above .200. George Brett made the term popular by mentioning in an ESPN interview, after which the term was frequently used to describe sub-par hitting.
Example Chart:
On Base Percentage -
On base percentage league average in the modern era is .340. Ted Williams holds the career record at .482 OBP. The lowest career OBP is Bill Bergen with .194.
| Rank | Player (yrs, age) | On-Base% |
| 1 | Ted Williams+ (19) | 0.4817 |
| 2 | Babe Ruth+ (22) | 0.4739 |
| 3 | John McGraw+ (16) | 0.4657 |
| 4 | Billy Hamilton+ (14) | 0.4552 |
| 5 | Lou Gehrig+ (17) | 0.4474 |
| 6 | Barry Bonds (22) | 0.4443 |
| 7 | Bill Joyce (8) | 0.4349 |
| 8 | Rogers Hornsby+ (23) | 0.4337 |
| 9 | Ty Cobb+ (24) | 0.433 |
| 10 | Jimmie Foxx+ (20) | 0.4283 |
Slugging Percentage -
The highest potential slugging percentage is 4.000, all home runs for every at bat.
The league average for SLG is typically around .400 - .440.
Having over .500 SLG is great performance, and landing above .600 is amazing.
A low slugging percentage would be .250 - .300.
| Rank | Player (yrs, age) | Slugging % |
| 1 | Babe Ruth+ (22) | 0.6897 |
| 2 | Ted Williams+ (19) | 0.6338 |
| 3 | Lou Gehrig+ (17) | 0.6324 |
| 4 | Jimmie Foxx+ (20) | 0.6093 |
| 5 | Barry Bonds (22) | 0.6069 |
| 6 | Hank Greenberg+ (13) | 0.605 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols (13, 33) | 0.6001 |
| 8 | Mark McGwire (16) | 0.5882 |
| 9 | Manny Ramirez (19) | 0.5854 |
| 10 | Joe DiMaggio+ (13) | 0.5788 |
Now that you know!
Here's some stats!
Career Slash Line:
Babe Ruth .342/.474/.690
Ted Williams .344/.482/.634
Joe DiMaggio .325/.398/.597
Mickey Mantle .298/.421/.557
Lou Gehrig .340/.447/.632
Jackie Robinson .311/.409/.474
Current (07/2013):
Miguel Cabrera .373/.461/.680
Troy Tulowitzki .347/.413/.635
Yadier Molina .345/.387/.497
Michael Cuddyer .344/.393/.590
Chris Davis .332/.406/.728
No comments:
Post a Comment