Baseball Stat Meanings
Baseball perhaps is more closely tied to its statistics than any other major American sport. Statistics are used to judge the worth of a player among not only his contemporaries but also among the historical greats of the game. The only problem with this system of statistical analysis is that it is often difficult for a fan to understand at first.
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Batting Counting Statistics
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The most basic of baseball's batting statistics are the ones that simply count the amount of time a certain feat has been achieved. The major counting hitting statistics are hits, runs, runs batted in (RBI), doubles, triples, home runs and walks. A hit is defined as any hit ball that results in the batter getting on base with the exception of sacrifices, fielder's choices and balls that are dropped because of fielding errors. Runs are the amount of runs scored by the player in question and RBI are the amount of runs he has batted in. Doubles are hits in which the player gets to second base, triples are hits in which the player gets to third base and home runs are hits that get the player all the way around to home. While home runs can be hit inside the park, most are hit into the stands. When this occurs, the batter is automatically given a home run. When a player takes four balls (as called by the umpire), he is given first base in what is known as a walk.
Batting Rate Statistics
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Rate statistics measure the frequency of something happening. The most common hitting rate statistics are batting average, on-base percentage (OBP) and slugging percentage (SLG). Batting average is the amount of hits divided by the amount of at-bats (any plate appearance not resulting in a walk or sacrifice). This is the percentage of at-bats that end in base hits. On-base percentage is the number of hits, walks and hit by pitches---when a batter is struck by a pitch he receives first base---divided by total plate appearances. This is the percentage of plate appearances that end with a batter reaching base. Slugging percentage is the amount of bases a player gets per at-bat. A single is worth one base, a double is worth two bases, a triple is worth three bases and a home run is worth four. If every one of a player's at-bats ended in a home run, his slugging percentage would be 4.000.
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Pitching Counting Statistics
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Counting statistics are used prominently in pitching as well as batting. Wins and losses, strikeouts, innings pitched and saves are the most common of these stats. Wins are the amount of games a pitcher has won, and losses are the amount of games a pitcher has lost. Strikeouts count the amount of batters a pitcher has gotten either to take strike three or swing and miss strike three. Innings pitched are the number of innings a pitcher has pitched over the course of a season. The most common way that a pitcher is given a save is to come into a game his team is winning by three or fewer runs in the eighth or ninth inning and get the final outs of the game. Saves are also given to pitcher who pitches the final three innings of a game that his team is leading by any amount of runs. A pitcher also can get a save if he comes into the game with the tying run at bat or on deck.
Pitching Rate Statistics
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Rate statistics are immensely important in the evaluation of a pitcher. Earned-run average (ERA), win percentage and walks and hits per innings pitched (WHIP) are the most important pitching rate statistics. ERA is the number of earned runs a pitcher has allowed multiplied by nine (for the number of innings in a game), then divided by the number of innings pitched. Win percentage is the amount of games won divided by total decisions (games in which the pitcher got either a win or a loss). WHIP pitched calculates the average number of runners who reach base against a pitcher in an inning.
Fielding Statistics
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Statistics kept for fielders are intended to show the fielder's ability. The major fielding statistics are errors, putouts, assists and fielding percentage (sometimes called fielding average). Errors are the number of mistakes a fielder makes that allows a batter to reach base or a runner to advance a base. Errors are given out by an official scorer. Putouts are the amount of outs that a fielder makes on his own. Assists are the amount of putouts a fielder assists in, usually by throwing the ball to another fielder. Fielding percentage is the number of putouts and assists a player has divided by the number of putouts, assists and errors he has.
Baserunning Statistics
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Baserunning statistics are meant to show how well a base-runner runs the bases. The major baserunning stats are steals, caught stealing and stolen-base percentage. Steals are the amount of successful stolen bases, while caught stealing counts the number of times a base runner is unsuccessful at stealing a base. Stolen-base percentage is the amount of successful steals divided by total attempts to steal a base.
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