Editing Run batted in (section)

{{Short description|Statistic used in baseball and softball}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2013}}
[[File:Albert Pujols DSC 5191.jpg|thumb|right|St. Louis Cardinals' Albert Pujols, shown here in 2008, passed Babe Ruth's 2,214 official RBI in October 2022. Pujols finished his Major League Baseball career with 2,218 RBI and second place on the [[List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders|all-time list]].]]
A '''run batted in''' or '''runs batted in''' ('''RBI'''<ref>{{cite web |title=RBI |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/RBI |website=Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary |publisher=Merriam-Webster |access-date=30 October 2020 |language=en |archive-date=September 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930054544/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/RBI |url-status=live }}</ref>) is a [[Baseball statistics|statistic in baseball]] and [[softball]] that credits a [[batting (baseball)|batter]] for making a play that allows a [[run (baseball)|run]] to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an [[error (baseball)|error]] is made on the play). For example, if the batter bats a [[hit (baseball)|base hit]] which allows a teammate on a higher base to reach [[baseball field#Home base|home]] and so score a run, then the batter gets credited with an RBI.

Before the [[1920 Major League Baseball season]], runs batted in were not an official [[baseball statistics|baseball statistic]]. Nevertheless, the RBI statistic was tabulated—unofficially—from 1907 through 1919 by baseball writer [[Ernie Lanigan]], according to the [[Society for American Baseball Research]].<ref>[http://sabr.org/research/accurate-rbi-record-babe-ruth The Accurate RBI Record of Babe Ruth] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927051519/http://sabr.org/research/accurate-rbi-record-babe-ruth |date=September 27, 2016 }}. ''SABR Website''. Retrieved on September 14, 2016.</ref>

Common nicknames for an RBI include "ribby" (or "ribbie"), "rib", and "ribeye". The plural of "RBI" is a matter of "(very) minor controversy" for baseball fans:<ref name="plural_controversy">{{cite book |last1=Martinez |first1=David H. |title=The Book of Baseball Literacy |date=1996 |publisher=Plume |isbn=978-0-452-27426-6 |page=319 |language=en }}; {{cite journal |title=Mighty Touchy Issue: RBI or RBIs? |page=40 |journal=[[The Sporting News]] |date=June 4, 1977 |first=Jack |last=McCallum |author-link=Jack McCallum}}</ref> it is usually "RBIs", in accordance with the usual practice for pluralizing [[initialism]]s in English;<ref name="sometimes_rbi_plural"/><ref>{{cite tweet |author=AP Stylebook |author-link=AP Stylebook |user=apstylebook |number=588068089465589760 |access-date=30 October 2020 |language=en |date=April 14, 2015 |title=Plural of RBI is RBIs, which can be used on all references for runs batted in.}}</ref> however, some sources use "RBI" as the plural, on the basis that it can stand for "runs batted in".<ref name="plural_controversy"/><ref name="sometimes_rbi_plural">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mVcJqKs1isUC&q=rbi+plural+rbis&pg=PA638 |chapter=Plurals; I: Acronyms and Abbreviations |page=638 |author-link=Bryan Garner |edition=3rd |title=Garner's Modern American Usage |author=Bryan Garner |publisher=Oxford University Press |year= 2009 |isbn=9780195382754 }}; {{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/wordsrulesingred00pink/page/28 |page=28 |via=Internet Archive |url-access=registration |title=Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language |first=Steven |last=Pinker |author-link=Steven Pinker  |publisher=Basic Books |year= 1999 |isbn=0-465-07269-0 }}</ref>