Here are some of the 'counting statistics' officially used by Major League Baseball, and referred to on this list: H (Hits or hits allowed) 1b (Singles or singles allowed) 2b or D (Doubles or doubles allowed) 3b or T (Triples or triples allowed) 4b or HR (Home runs or home runs allowed) SO or K (Strikeouts. Officially 'K' refers to pitchers, SO to batters) BB (Walks) IBB (Intentional bases on balls) S (Sacrifice bunts) SF (Sacrifice flies) GDP (Ground into double play) ROE (Reached base on error) E (Errors) C (Chances) A (Assists) PO (Put-outs) DP (Double plays made (a fielding statistic) ) SB (Stolen Bases) CS (Caught Stealing) PA (Plate appearances. A player is charged with a plate appearance whenever his time at bat ends either in the player reaching base or causing an out. In order to win a batting chamionship a player must have at least 3.1 plate appearances per game his team plays in--though if by adding enough PA's charged as outs, the player still leads the league, he is named batting champion) AB (At Bats. A player is charged with an at-bat if the appearance at the plate ends with a hit, an error, a fielder's choice, or an out. No at bat is charged for a walk, a sacrifice (bunt or fly), a hit- by-pitch, or if the plate appearance is cut short due to injury or the third out of the inning) R (Runs, or runs allowed) G (Games played in) IP (Innings pitched. In order to qualify for the league ERA championship, a pitcher must at least as many innings pitched as the team played games) ER (Earned runs allowed) GS (Games started) CG (Complete games) W (Wins. In order to qualify for a win, a pitcher must be in the game when the winning team takes the lead for good. A starter must pitch 5 innings to get a win. ) L (Losses) Sv (Saves) BS (Blown saves. Not an official stat)
Here are some of the most commonly used 'computed statistics' and their formulas: (Officially recognized statistics are marked (+) ) HITTING BA (Batting average. Computed H/AB) Level Range Reds Example MVP: > .340 Pete Rose, 1969, .348 All Star: .320 - .340 Hal Morris, 1994, .335 Good: .280 - .320 Barry Larkin, 1991, .302 Average: .260 - .280 Cesar Geronimo, 1977, .266 Replacement Level: .220 - .260 Bret Boone, 1996, .233 Terrible: < .220 Dave Concepcion, 1972, .209 TB (Total bases. Computed S + 2*D + 3*T + 4*HR) Level Range Reds Example MVP: > 300 Johnny Bench, 1970, 355 All Star: 285 - 300 Lee May, 1970, 293 Good: 250 - 285 Tony Perez, 1972, 256 Average: 220 - 250 Chris Sabo, 1993, 243 Replacement Level: 180 - 220 Joe Oliver, 1993, 185 Terrible: < 180 Ron Oester, 1984, 175 SLG (Slugging Percentage or Slugging Average. Computed TB/AB) Level Range Reds Example MVP: > .600 Frank Robinson, 1962, .624 All Star: .520 - .600 Wally Post, 1955, .574 Good: .450 - .520 Gus Bell, 1956, .501 Average: .400 - .450 Pete Rose, 1973, .437 Replacement Level: .330 - .400 Dave Collins, 1980, .370 Terrible: < .330 Leo Cardenas, 1963, .326 OBP or OBA (On-Base Percentage (average). Computed (H+W+HBP)/(PA-S) Note: sacrifice flies are considered to be an attempt to reach base, hence count against the player for purposes of OBP, as does reaching base on an error or by fielder's choice) Level Range Reds Example MVP: > .400 Joe Morgan, 1975, .471 All Star: .380 - .400 Ken Griffey, 1977, .390 Good: .350 - .380 Vada Pinson, 1965, .353 Average: .330 - .350 Eddie Milner, 1985, .344 Replacement Level: .300 - .330 Deion Sanders, 1997, .329 Terrible: < .300 Tommy Helms, 1970, .263 OPS (Production, Total Average, or simply 'OPS'. OBP + SLG. ) Level Range Reds Example MVP: > 1.000 George Foster, 1977, 1.017 All Star: .900 - 1.000 Dave Parker, 1985, .918 Good: .800 - .900 Willie Greene, 1997, .813 Average: .730 - .800 Deron Johnson, 1966, .774 Replacement Level: .630 - .730 Bo Diaz, 1986, .709 Terrible: < .630 Bret Boone, 1996, .629 OPS* (Adjusted production. 1.2*OBP + SLG. The added factor reflects the relative importance of getting on base) Level Range Reds Example MVP: > 1.100 Ted Kluszewski, 1954, 1.134 All Star: .980 -1.100 Eric Davis, 1989, .981 Good: 870 - .980 Kal Daniels, 1988, .943 Average: .800 - .870 Dan Driessen, 1982, .867 Replacement Level: .690 - .800 Denis Menke, 1972, .737 Terrible: < .690 Roy McMillan, 1954, .686 OTS (Sometimes 'Total Average'. OBP*SLG ) Level Range Reds Example MVP: > .225 Joe Morgan, 1976, .261 All Star: .200 - .225 Tony Perez, 1973, .209 Good: .160 - .200 Ernie Lombardi, 1940, .187 Average: .130 - .160 Nick Esasky, 1985, .155 Replacement Level: .100 - .130 Johnny Temple, 1956, .115 Terrible: < .100 Ron Oester, 1984, .094 RC (Runs created. A linear-weights measure of overall offensive performance, where singles, doubles, triples, homeruns, stolen bases, caught stealing, and making outs are given various values for the team in terms of runs. The various weights change from year to year, and there are various versions of the formula, but the most basic is OTS * PA. ) Level Range Reds Example MVP: > 150 Frank Robinson, 1962, 181 All Star: 110 - 150 Barry Larkin, 1996, 143 Good: 88 - 110 Willie Greene, 1997, 93 Average: 72 - 88 Gary Redus, 1983, 82 Replacement Level: 55 - 72 Dave Concepcion, 1975, 63 Terrible: < 55 Pokey Reese, 1997, 35 IP (Isolated power. SLG - BA) Level Range Reds Example MVP: > .300 Ted Kluszewski, 1954, .316 All Star: 250 - .300 Johnny Bench, 1972, .271 Good: .200 - .250 Paul O'Neill, 1991, .225 Average: .150 - .200 Ray Knight, 1980, .153 Replacement Level: .100 - .150 Bobby Tolan, 1972, .103 Terrible: < .100 Alex Johnson, 1968, .083 Aggregate bases (TB + W + HBP + SB - CS) Level Range Reds Example MVP: > 425 Frank Robinson, 1962, 465 All Star: 400 - 425 Eric Davis, 1987, 409 Good: 340 - 400 Ken Griffey, 1977, 351 Average: 280 - 340 Paul O'Neill, 1991, 334 Replacement Level: 210 - 280 Cesar Geronimo, 1977, 232 Terrible: < 210 Bret Boone, 1997, 192
PITCHING Certain pitching stats are computed in an obvious fashion: K/IP, BB/IP, K/BB, etc.... ERA (Earned run average. The 'average' means "per game". Computed (ER/IP) * 9 ) Level Range Reds Example MVP: < 3.00 Jose Rijo, 1993, 2.48 All Star: 3.00 - 3.50 Tom Seaver, 1979, 3.14 Good: 3.50 - 4.10 Joe Nuxhall, 1958, 3.79 Average: 4.10 - 4.70 Jim Merritt, 1969, 4.37 Replacement Level: 4.70 - 5.30 Frank Pastore, 1983, 4.88 Terrible: > 5.30 Tom Hume, 1984, 5.64 K/IP Level Range Reds Example MVP: > 1.20 Rob Dibble, 1989, 1.42 All Star: 1.00 - 1.20 Randy Myers, 1990, 1.14 Good: .80 - 1.00 Mario Soto, 1983, .89 Average: .70 - .80 John Smiley, 1996, .79 Replacement Level: .50 - .70 Tim Pugh, 1994, .57 Terrible: < .50 Tom Hume, 1979, .49 BB/IP Level Range Reds Example MVP: < .15 Jeff Shaw, 1997, .13 All Star: .15 - .25 Tom Browning, 1990, .23 Good: .25 - .35 Norm Charlton, 1991, .31 Average: .35 - .45 Fred Norman, 1977, .44 Replacement Level: 45 - .60 Bruce Berenyi, 1983, .55 Terrible: > .60 Randy Myers, 1991, .61 H/IP Level Range Reds Example MVP: < .70 Randy Myers, 1990, .69 All Star: .70 - .80 John Franco, 1988, .70 Good: 80 - .90 Tom Seaver, 1978, .84 Average: .90 - 1.10 Gary Nolan, 1976, .97 Replacement Level: 1.10 - 1.20 Jack Billingham, 1974, 1.10 Terrible: > 1.20 Tim Pugh, 1993, 1.22 Ratio (Ambiguous, usually K/BB) Level Range Reds Example MVP: > 2.40 Mario Soto, 1982, 3.86 All Star: 2.20 - 2.40 John Franco, 1987, 2.26 Good: 2.00 - 2.20 Pedro Borbon, 1977, 2.00 Average: 1.80 - 2.00 Tom Browning, 1989, 1.84 Replacement Level: 1.60 - 1.80 Dave Burba, 1997 1.79 Terrible: < 1.60 Joe Nuxhall, 1956, 1.38 WHIP (Walks plus hits per innings pitched: (BB+H)/IP ) Level Range Reds Example MVP: < 1.00 Rob Dibble, 1990, .98 All Star: 1.00 - 1.10 Jose Rijo, 1991, 1.08 Good: 1.10 - 1.25 John Smiley, 1996, 1.20 Average: 1.25 - 1.40 Jack Armstrong, 1990, 1.27 Replacement Level: 1.40 - 1.50 Jack Billingham, 1975, 1.43 Terrible: > 1.50 Tim Pugh, 1993, 1.58
FIELDING Soon to be added.
Here is another very good stats explanation page.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to Rob Stimets for compiling the original formulas.
Many thanks to Tom Diesman and Mike Heath for all their hard, hard work in finding examples of the computerized statistics.
Drop them a note telling them what a wonderful job they did.
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© by Bill "Big Dog" Lack September 1996