Baseball Statistics

The most popular baseball statistic for the individual is the home run. It wasn’t a major statistic until the 1920s when Babe Ruth began knocking the ball out of the park with regularity. The home run is characterized by a hit that flies through the air and over one the outfield fences while staying between the first and third baselines. Other important statistical categories for hitters include his batting average, slugging average, on base percentage, walks, runs, and hits. The batting average is the number of hits divided by the number of at bats. An at bat is an appearance at the plate in which the hitter either gets out or reaches base without any other base runner getting out. If the player advances a runner but gets out, it will not count as an at bat. Also if the player is walked or hit by a pitch, it will not count as an at bat. The on base percentage takes into account how successful the player is at reaching base and is calculated by the number of hits plus walks divided by the number of at bats plus the number of walks. Slugging percentage is the number of total bases the player reaches per at bat. It is calculated by dividing the number of total bases by the number of at bats. A hit is awarded to a player who makes contact with the ball and reaches base while no other player gets out. For pitchers, a few basic statistics include ERA, strikeouts, wins, losses, and saves. The Earned Run Average is the number of earned runs a pitcher would be expected to concede per nine innings. A strikeout occurs when a pitcher throws three strikes to a hitter who fails to make any contact with the third strike. A win is characterized by a pitcher who leaves a game with the lead, and his team still manages to win the ball game. A loss is characterized by a pitcher who leaves the game and the number of earned runs the pitcher gives up is greater than the number of runs his team manages to score.

The record for most home runs hit during a single regular season was set by Babe Ruth in 1933 when he hit sixty home runs, but this was superseded by Roger Maris in 1961 when he hit 61 home runs in a single season. But in 1998, both Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa surpassed this record by hitting 70 and 68 home runs in a single season respectively. The all time record for the most home runs hit by a player throughout his career was set by Hank Aaron, who finished his career with 755 home runs. The player with the most hits during his career is Pete Rose with 4,256 hits. But Ty Cobb still holds the record for the best career batting average at .367.