Baseball Hitting Stats
There are an incredible number of baseball hitting stats these days. Far too many if you ask me. It can get really complicated, but statisticians love it. There are even blogs and web sites dedicated to baseball stats. The term "sabermetrics" is often used. The definition according to one site is, "Sabermetrics is the analysis of baseball through objective evidence, especially baseball statistics that measure in-game activity rather than industry activity such as attendance. The term is derived from the acronym SABR, which stands for the Society for American Baseball Research."
It can get quite complicated and some fans find it useless. What do you say we just keep in simple? Let’s just get a few of the basics down, especially for those of you new to the game. I will admit that as a kid, certain stats were really important to me and I loved following major league baseball players who put up good stats. I kept a scorebook of all my stats and still have a scrapbook with all my newspaper clippings with my stats mentioned in the local newspaper.
Batting Average – Many times you’ll see this abbreviated as AVG. This is simply the ratio of hits to at bats. In other words, it’s hits divided by at bats.
If you were up to bat 10 times and got five hits then your batting average is .500. That’s pretty awesome considering that .300 is considered excellent. If you aren’t great at math like me, you should keep a calculator handy.
Runs Batted In – The abbreviation is RBI. You are awarded an RBI each time a runner scores when you are up to bat. The exceptions are when a batter grounds into a double play or reaches on an error.
HR – Stands for home runs. This is pretty self-explanatory in that each time you hit a home run you add one. For instance, if you have five home runs and hit another one then you have six. Even I can add that easily!
AB – Stands for at-bats. It is a stat that counts how many times you go up to bat in a season.
R – Is the abbreviation for runs scored for an individual player.
H – Hits. This calculates how many times you get a clean hit. You are awarded a hit whether it’s a single, double, triple or home run. They are all classified at hits.
BB – Walks. If the pitcher throws you four balls then you are awarded first base and that is called a walk.
SLG – This one is a little tricky. It is slugging percentage which is considered a popular measure of the power of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
If you have any questions about a particular baseball hitting stat, feel free to e-mail us at info@baseballhittingtipsonline.com. We would be happy to use our calculators to help you figure something out!
My years of experience playing and teaching baseball hitting will help you with the challenge of learning how to hit a baseball correctly. Articles such as the one you just read will inform and motivate you to a better understanding of proper baseball hitting whether you are a coach, parent or ballplayer. Check back here for upcoming
baseball hitting tips articles and e-mail us any questions or comments.
Jeff Wise
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