Editing Baseball (section)

== Statistics ==
{{Further|Baseball statistics}}

Organized baseball lends itself to [[statistics]] to a greater degree than many other sports. Each play is discrete and has a relatively small number of possible outcomes. In the late 19th century, a former cricket player, English-born [[Henry Chadwick (writer)|Henry Chadwick]] of [[Brooklyn]], was responsible for the "development of the [[box score (baseball)|box score]], tabular standings, the annual baseball guide, the [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]], and most of the common statistics and tables used to describe baseball."<ref name=T16>Tygiel (2000), p. 16.</ref> The statistical record is so central to the game's "historical essence" that Chadwick came to be known as Father Baseball.<ref name=T16/> In the 1920s, American newspapers began devoting more and more attention to baseball statistics, initiating what journalist and historian [[Alan Schwarz]] describes as a "tectonic shift in sports, as intrigue that once focused mostly on teams began to go to individual players and their statistics lines."<ref>Schwarz (2004), p. 50.</ref>

The Official Baseball Rules administered by MLB require the [[official scorer]] to categorize each baseball play unambiguously. The rules provide detailed criteria to promote consistency. The [[baseball scorekeeping|score report]] is the official basis for both the box score of the game and the relevant statistical records.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2008/official_rules/10_the_official_scorer.pdf|title=Official Rules/10.00—The Official Scorer|access-date=February 22, 2009|publisher=Major League Baseball|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224215917/http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2008/official_rules/10_the_official_scorer.pdf|archive-date=February 24, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> General managers, managers, and [[scout (sport)|baseball scouts]] use statistics to evaluate players and make strategic decisions.

[[File:Baseball steal.jpg|right|thumb|[[Rickey Henderson]]—the major leagues' all-time leader in runs and stolen bases—stealing third base in a 1988 game]]
Certain traditional statistics are familiar to most baseball fans. The basic batting statistics include:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2008/official_rules/10_the_official_scorer.pdf|title=Official Rules/10.00—The Official Scorer (Rules 10.02a, 10.04, 10.21b)|access-date=February 22, 2009|publisher=Major League Baseball|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224215917/http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2008/official_rules/10_the_official_scorer.pdf|archive-date=February 24, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[At bat]]s: plate appearances, excluding walks and [[hit by pitch]]es—where the batter's ability is not fully tested—and sacrifices and sacrifice flies—where the batter intentionally makes an out in order to advance one or more baserunners
* Hits: times a base is reached safely, because of a batted, fair ball without a fielding error or [[fielder's choice]]
* Runs: times circling the bases and reaching home safely
* [[Run batted in|Runs batted in]] (RBIs): number of runners who scored due to a batter's action (including the batter, in the case of a home run), except when batter grounded into double play or reached on an error
* Home runs: hits on which the batter successfully touched all four bases, without the contribution of a fielding error
* [[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]: hits divided by at bats—the traditional measure of batting ability
The basic baserunning statistics include:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2008/official_rules/10_the_official_scorer.pdf|title=Official Rules/10.00—The Official Scorer (Rule 10.07)|access-date=February 22, 2009|publisher=Major League Baseball|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224215917/http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2008/official_rules/10_the_official_scorer.pdf|archive-date=February 24, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Stolen bases: times advancing to the next base entirely due to the runner's own efforts, generally while the pitcher is preparing to deliver or delivering the ball
* Caught stealing: times tagged out while attempting to steal a base
[[File:Cy young pitching.jpg|right|thumb|[[Cy Young]]—the holder of many major league career marks, including wins and innings pitched, as well as losses—in 1908. MLB's annual [[Cy Young Award|awards for the best pitcher in each league]] are named for Young.]]
The basic pitching statistics include:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2008/official_rules/10_the_official_scorer.pdf|title=Official Rules/10.00—The Official Scorer (Rules 10.15, 10.17, 10.19, 10.21a, 10.21e)|access-date=February 22, 2009|publisher=Major League Baseball|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224215917/http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2008/official_rules/10_the_official_scorer.pdf|archive-date=February 24, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Win–loss record (pitching)|Wins]]: credited to pitcher on winning team who last pitched before the team took a lead that it never relinquished (a starting pitcher must pitch at least five innings to qualify for a win)
* [[Win–loss record (pitching)|Losses]]: charged to pitcher on losing team who was pitching when the opposing team took a lead that it never relinquished
* [[Save (baseball)|Saves]]: games where the pitcher enters a game led by the pitcher's team, finishes the game without surrendering the lead, is not the winning pitcher, and either (a) the lead was three runs or less when the pitcher entered the game; (b) the potential tying run was on base, at bat, or [[on deck (baseball)|on deck]]; or (c) the pitcher pitched three or more innings
* [[Innings pitched]]: outs recorded while pitching divided by three (partial innings are conventionally recorded as, e.g., "5.2" or "7.1", the last digit actually representing thirds, not tenths, of an inning)
* Strikeouts: times pitching three strikes to a batter
* [[Winning percentage]]: wins divided by decisions (wins plus losses)
* [[Earned run average]] (ERA): runs allowed, excluding those resulting from fielding errors, per nine innings pitched
The basic fielding statistics include:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2008/official_rules/10_the_official_scorer.pdf|title=Official Rules/10.00—The Official Scorer (Rules 10.09, 10.10, 10.12, 10.21d)|access-date=February 22, 2009|publisher=Major League Baseball|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224215917/http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2008/official_rules/10_the_official_scorer.pdf|archive-date=February 24, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Putout]]s: times the fielder catches a fly ball, tags or forces out a runner, or otherwise directly effects an out
* [[Assist (baseball)|Assists]]: times a putout by another fielder was recorded following the fielder touching the ball
* [[Error (baseball)|Errors]]: times the fielder fails to make a play that should have been made with common effort, and the batting team benefits as a result
* [[Total chances]]: putouts plus assists plus errors
* [[Fielding average]]: successful chances (putouts plus assists) divided by total chances

Among the many other statistics that are kept are those collectively known as ''situational statistics''. For example, statistics can indicate which specific pitchers a certain batter performs best against. If a given situation statistically favors a certain batter, the manager of the fielding team may be more likely to change pitchers or have the pitcher [[intentional base on balls|intentionally walk]] the batter in order to face one who is less likely to succeed.<ref>See, e.g., Albert, Jim, and Jay Bennett, "Situational Effects", ch. 4 in ''Curve Ball: Baseball, Statistics, and the Role of Chance in the Game'', 2d ed. (Springer, 2003), pp. 71–110.</ref>

=== Sabermetrics ===
[[Sabermetrics]] is the field of baseball statistical study and the development of new statistics and analytical tools. Such new statistics are also called sabermetrics. The term was coined around 1980 by one of the field's leading proponents, [[Bill James]], and derives from the [[Society for American Baseball Research]] (SABR).<ref>Gray, Scott, ''The Mind of Bill James: How a Complete Outsider Changed Baseball'' (Doubleday, 2006), p. ix.</ref>

The growing popularity of sabermetrics since the early 1980s has brought more attention to two batting statistics that sabermetricians argue are much better gauges of a batter's skill than batting average:<ref>Guzzo (2007), pp. 20–21, 67; Schwarz (2004), p. 233; Lewis (2003), p. 127.</ref>
* [[On-base percentage]] (OBP) measures a batter's ability to get on base. It is calculated by taking the sum of the batter's successes in getting on base (hits plus walks plus hit by pitches) and dividing that by the batter's total plate appearances (at bats plus walks plus hit by pitches plus sacrifice flies), except for sacrifice bunts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2008/official_rules/10_the_official_scorer.pdf|title=Official Rules/10.00—The Official Scorer (Rule 10.21f)|access-date=February 22, 2009|publisher=Major League Baseball|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224215917/http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2008/official_rules/10_the_official_scorer.pdf|archive-date=February 24, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Slugging percentage]] (SLG) measures a batter's ability to hit for power. It is calculated by taking the batter's [[total bases]] (one per each single, two per double, three per triple, and four per home run) and dividing that by the batter's at bats.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2008/official_rules/10_the_official_scorer.pdf|title=Official Rules/10.00—The Official Scorer (Rule 10.21c)|access-date=February 22, 2009|publisher=Major League Baseball|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224215917/http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2008/official_rules/10_the_official_scorer.pdf|archive-date=February 24, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some of the new statistics devised by sabermetricians have gained wide use:
* [[On-base plus slugging]] (OPS) measures a batter's overall ability. It is calculated by adding the batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.<ref>Guzzo (2007), pp. 22, 67, 140; Schwarz (2004), p. 233.</ref>
* [[Walks plus hits per inning pitched]] (WHIP) measures a pitcher's ability at preventing hitters from reaching base. It is calculated by adding the number of walks and hits a pitcher surrendered, then dividing by the number of innings pitched.<ref>Guzzo (2007), pp. 140–141.</ref>
*[[Wins Above Replacement]] (WAR) measures number of additional wins his team has achieved above the number of expected team wins if that player were substituted with a [[replacement-level player]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=What is WAR? {{!}} Sabermetrics Library|url=https://library.fangraphs.com/misc/war/|access-date=October 12, 2021}}</ref>