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Batting average (baseball)

May 29, 2023

In baseball, batting average (BA) is determined by dividing a player's hits by their total at-bats. It is usually rounded to three decimal places and read without the decimal: A player with a batting average of .300 is "batting three-hundred". If necessary to break ties, batting averages could be taken beyond the .001 measurement. In this context, .001 is considered a "point", such that a .235 batter is 5 points higher than a .230 batter.

Reggie Jackson batting at Yankee Stadium in 1979; Jackson batted .297 that season.

History

Henry Chadwick, an English statistician raised on cricket, was an influential figure in the early history of baseball.[1] In the late 19th century he adapted the concept behind the cricket batting average to devise a similar statistic for baseball. Rather than simply copy cricket's formulation of runs scored divided by outs, he realized that hits divided by at bats would provide a better measure of individual batting ability. This is because while in cricket, scoring runs is almost entirely dependent on one's batting skill, in baseball it is largely dependent on having other good hitters on one's team. Chadwick noted that hits are independent of teammates' skills, so he used this as the basis for the baseball batting average. His reason for using at bats rather than outs is less obvious, but it leads to the intuitive idea of the batting average being a percentage reflecting how often a batter gets on base, whereas hits divided by outs are not as simple to interpret in real terms.

Values

 
Ted Williams is the most recent MLB player to hit .400 or better in a season (1941).
 
Ty Cobb has the highest MLB career batting average (.366).

In modern times, a season batting average of .300 or higher is considered to be excellent, and an average higher than .400 a nearly unachievable goal. The last Major League Baseball (MLB) player to do so, with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting championship, was Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox, who hit .406 in 1941.[2] Note that batting averages are rounded;[3] entering the final day of the 1941 season, Williams was at 179-for-448, which is .39955 and would have been recorded as .400 via rounding.[4] However, Williams played in both games of a doubleheader, went 6-for-8, and ended the season 185-for-456,[5] which is .40570 and becomes .406 when rounded.[4]

Since 1941, the highest single-season average has been .394 by Tony Gwynn of the San Diego Padres in 1994.[2] Wade Boggs hit .401 over a 162-game span with Boston from June 9, 1985, to June 6, 1986,[6] but never hit above .368 for an MLB season.[7] There have been numerous attempts to explain the disappearance of the .400 hitter, with one of the more rigorous discussions of this question appearing in Stephen Jay Gould's 1996 book Full House.

Ty Cobb holds the record for highest career batting average with .366, eight points higher than Rogers Hornsby who has the second-highest career average at .358.[8] The record for lowest career batting average for a player with more than 2,500 at-bats belongs to Bill Bergen, a catcher who played from 1901 to 1911 and recorded a .170 average in 3,028 career at-bats.[9] Hugh Duffy, who played from 1888 to 1906, is credited with the highest single-season batting average, having hit .440 in 1894.[10] The modern-era (post-1900) record for highest batting average for a season is held by Nap Lajoie, who hit .426 in 1901,[10] the first year of play for the American League. The modern-era record for lowest batting average for a player that qualified for the batting title is held by Chris Davis, who hit .168 in 2018.[11] While finishing six plate appearances short of qualifying for the batting title, Adam Dunn of the Chicago White Sox hit .159 for the 2011 season, nine points lower than the record.[12] The highest batting average for a rookie was .408 in 1911 by Shoeless Joe Jackson.[13]

The league batting average in MLB for the 2018 season was .248, with the highest modern-era MLB average being .296 in 1930, and the lowest being .237 in 1968.[14] For non-pitchers, a batting average below .230 is often considered poor, and one below .200 is usually unacceptable. This latter level is sometimes referred to as "The Mendoza Line", named for Mario Mendoza — a lifetime .215 hitter but a good defensive shortstop.[15]

Sabermetrics, the study of baseball statistics, considers batting average a weak measure of performance because it does not correlate as well as other measures to runs scored, thereby causing it to have little predictive value. Batting average does not take into account bases on balls (walks) or power, whereas other statistics such as on-base percentage and slugging percentage have been specifically designed to measure such concepts. Adding these statistics together form a player's on-base plus slugging or "OPS". This is commonly seen as a much better, though not perfect, indicator of a player's overall batting ability as it is a measure of hitting for average, hitting for power, and drawing walks.

Anomalies

In 1887, bases on balls were counted as hits by the major leagues in existence at the time. This inflated batting averages, with 11 players batting .400 or better, and the experiment was abandoned the following season. Historical statistics for the season were later revised, such that "Bases on balls shall always be treated as neither a time at bat nor a hit for the batter."[16]

In rare instances, MLB players have concluded their careers with a perfect batting average of 1.000. John Paciorek had three hits in all three of his turns at bat.[17] Esteban Yan went two-for-two, including a home run. Hal Deviney's two hits in his only plate appearances included a triple, while Steve Biras, Mike Hopkins, Chet Kehn, Jason Roach and Fred Schemanske also went two-for-two. A few dozen others have hit safely in their only career at-bat.

Qualifications for the batting title

The MLB batting averages championships (often referred to as "the batting title") are awarded annually to the player in each league who has the highest batting average. Ty Cobb holds the MLB and American League (AL) record for most batting titles, officially winning 11 in his career.[18] The National League (NL) record of eight batting titles is shared by Honus Wagner and Tony Gwynn. Most of Cobb's career and all of Wagner's career took place in what is known as the Dead-Ball Era, which was characterized by higher batting averages by star players (although the overall league batting average was historically at its lowest during that era) and much less power, whereas Gwynn's career took place in the Live-Ball Era.

To determine which players are eligible to win the batting title, the following conditions have been used over the sport's history:[19]

  • Pre-1920 – A player generally is required to appear in at least 100 or more games when the schedule was 154 games, and 90 games when the schedule was 140 games. An exception to the rule was made for Ty Cobb in 1914, who appeared in 98 games but had a big lead and was also a favorite of American League President Ban Johnson.
  • 1920–1949 – A player had to appear in 100 games to qualify in the NL; the AL used 100 games from 1920 to 1935, and 400 at-bats from 1936 to 1949. The NL was advised to adopt 400 at-bats for the 1945 season, but National League President Ford Frick refused, feeling that 100 games should stand for the benefit of catchers and injured players. (Taffy Wright is often erroneously said to have been cheated out of the 1938 batting title; he batted .350 in exactly 100 games, with 263 ABs. Jimmie Foxx hit .349, in 149 games and 565 AB. But since the AL requirement that year was 400 at-bats, Foxx's batting title is undisputed.)
  • 1950–1956 – A player needed 2.6 at-bats per team game originally scheduled. (With the 154-game schedule of the time, that meant a rounded-off 400 at-bats.) From 1951 to 1954, if the player with the highest average in a league failed to meet the minimum at-bat requirement, the remaining at-bats until qualification (e.g., five at-bats, if the player finished the season with 395 at-bats) were hypothetically considered hitless at-bats; if his recalculated batting average still topped the league, he was awarded the title. This standard was applied in the AL from 1936 to 1956.
  • 1957 to the present – A player has needed 3.1 plate appearances per team game originally scheduled; thus, players were no longer penalized for walking so frequently, nor did they benefit from walking so rarely. (In 1954, for example, Ted Williams batted .345 but had only 386 ABs, while topping the AL with 136 walks. Williams thus lost the batting title to Cleveland's Bobby Ávila, who hit .341 in 555 ABs.) In the 154-game schedule, the required number of plate appearances was 477, and since the era of the 162-game schedule, the requisite number of plate appearances has been 502. Adjustments to this figure have been made during strike-shortened seasons, such as 1972, 1981, 1994, and 1995.

From 1967 to the present, if the player with the highest average in a league fails to meet the minimum plate-appearance requirement, the remaining at-bats until qualification (e.g., five at-bats, if the player finished the season with 497 plate appearances) are hypothetically considered hitless at-bats; if his recalculated batting average still tops the league, he is awarded the title. This is officially Rule 10.22(a), but it is also known as the Tony Gwynn rule because the Padres' player won the batting crown in 1996 with a .353 average on just 498 plate appearances (i.e., he was four short). Gwynn was awarded the title since he would have led the league even if he'd gone 0-for-4 in those missing plate appearances. His average would have dropped to .349, five points better than second-place Ellis Burks' .344.[20] In 2012, a one-time amendment to the rule was made to disqualify Melky Cabrera from the title. Cabrera requested that he be disqualified after serving a suspension that season for a positive testosterone test. He had batted .346 with 501 plate appearances, and the original rule would have awarded him the title over San Francisco Giants teammate Buster Posey, who won batting .336.[21][22]

All-time leaders

Major League Baseball

Main article: List of Major League Baseball career batting average leaders

Different sources of baseball records present somewhat differing lists of career batting average leaders. There is consensus that Ty Cobb leads this category. Further rankings vary by source, primarily due to differences in minimums needed to qualify (number of games played or plate appearances), or differences in early baseball records. Baseball-Reference.com includes the Negro League teams considered major leagues by Major League Baseball.[23] The below table presents the top ten lists as they appear in four well-known sources, with the rankings and degree of precision (decimal places) as provided in the source. The main article linked above is sourced from Baseball-Reference.com, which is also presented here. None of the players listed below are still living; each is an inductee of the Baseball Hall of Fame, except for Lefty O'Doul, Pete Browning, and Shoeless Joe Jackson (who is ineligible due to his alleged role in the Black Sox Scandal of 1919).

Baseball-Reference.com[8] Baseball Almanac[24] ESPN[25] MLB.com[26]
Rank Player Average Rank Player Average Rank Player Average Rank Player Average
1 Ty Cobb .3662 1 Ty Cobb .36636 1 Ty Cobb .366 1 Ty Cobb .367
2 Oscar Charleston .3643 2 Rogers Hornsby .35850 2 Rogers Hornsby .358 2 Rogers Hornsby .358
3 Rogers Hornsby .3585 3 Shoeless Joe Jackson .35575 3 Shoeless Joe Jackson .356 3 Ed Delahanty .346
4 Shoeless Joe Jackson .3558 4 Ed Delahanty .34590 4 Ed Delahanty .346 4 Tris Speaker .345
5 Jud Wilson .3519 5 Tris Speaker .34468 5 Tris Speaker .345 5 Ted Williams .344
6 Lefty O'Doul .3493 6 Ted Williams .34441 6 Billy Hamilton .344 6 Billy Hamilton .344
7 Turkey Stearnes .3490 7 Billy Hamilton .34429 Ted Williams .344 7 Dan Brouthers .342
8 Ed Delahanty .3458 8 Babe Ruth .34206 8 Dan Brouthers .342 8 Babe Ruth .342
9 Tris Speaker .3447 9 Harry Heilmann .34159 Harry Heilmann .342 9 Harry Heilmann .342
10 Billy Hamilton .3444 10 Pete Browning .34149 Babe Ruth .342 10 Willie Keeler .341
Ted Williams .3444

Minor League Baseball

The highest recorded single-season batting average in Minor League Baseball is .462, accomplished by Gary Redus in 1978, when he played for the Billings Mustangs,[27][28] an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds in the Rookie Advanced-level Pioneer League. Redus was 117-for-253 in 68 games,[29] as the Pioneer League only plays from June to early September. Redus went on to play in MLB from 1982 through 1994, batting .252 during his MLB career.[30]

Nippon Professional Baseball

In Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), the leader in career batting average is Isao Harimoto, a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, who hit .319 in his NPB career.[31] Nori Aoki, an active NPB player, has a career NPB batting average of .316 as of April 2023.[32] Ichiro Suzuki batted .353 in NPB,[33] but does not have enough NPB career at-bats to qualify for the league's title. Sadaharu Oh batting average of .355 in 1973 season. Randy Bass batting average of .389 in 1986 season.

See also

References

  1. ^ Schiff, Andrew (2008). "Henry Chadwick". SABR. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "MLB Single-Season (Post-1900) Batting Leaders". ESPN. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  3. ^ Scott, Paul; Birnbaum, Phil (February 2010). "Do Motivated Players Have Higher Batting Averages?". SABR. Retrieved September 13, 2019. recorded batting averages are rounded to three decimal places
  4. ^ a b Nowlin, Bill (2013). "The Day Ted Williams Became the Last .400 Hitter in Baseball". SABR. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  5. ^ "Ted Williams". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  6. ^ Spaeder, Ryan (May 26, 2016), "Wade Boggs: 26 incredible Red Sox stats for No. 26", Sporting News, retrieved September 13, 2019
  7. ^ "Wade Boggs". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Career Leaders & Records for Batting Average". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  9. ^ Dittmar, Joe. "Bill Bergen". SABR. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Single Season Leaders for Batting Average". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  11. ^ Axisa, Mike (September 29, 2018). "Chris Davis finishes 2018 with the worst batting average in MLB history after Orioles shut him down". CBS Sports. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  12. ^ Reiter, Ben (June 4, 2012). "Death, Taxes And Adam Dunn". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved April 28, 2019 – via si.com/vault.
  13. ^ "Batting Average Records". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  14. ^ "Major League Baseball Batting Year-by-Year Averages". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  15. ^ Landers, Chris (May 22, 2018). "How did Mario Mendoza become a shorthand for batting futility?". MLB.com. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  16. ^ Thorn, John (May 4, 2015). "Why Is the National Association Not a Major League … and Other Records Issues". ourgame.mlblogs.com. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  17. ^ Keith, Ted (July 9, 2012). "The Perfect Game". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved April 28, 2019 – via si.com/vault.
  18. ^ . Sports Reference, Inc. Archived from the original on 9 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-30.
  19. ^ "Leaderboard Glossary – Baseball". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2012-05-26.
  20. ^ Kovacevic, Dejan (August 16, 2012). "Cadon't crown cheating Cabrera". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
  21. ^ . The State. Associated Press. 16 November 2012. Archived from the original on 27 June 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  22. ^ Baggarly, Andrew. . CSN Bay Area. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  23. ^ "The Negro Leagues Are Major Leagues". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  24. ^ "Career Leaders for Batting Average". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  25. ^ "MLB Career Batting Leaders". ESPN. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  26. ^ "Statistics". MLB.com. Retrieved May 29, 2019. All-Time Totals, sorted by AVG
  27. ^ Czerwinski, Kevin T. (August 2, 2006). "Redus' .462 in 1978 still Minor League best". MiLB.com. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  28. ^ Williams, Doug (April 16, 2013). "In '78, Redus hit .462, a season for the ages". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  29. ^ "Gary Redus Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  30. ^ "Gary Redus Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  31. ^ "Isao Harimoto". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  32. ^ "Aoki, Norichika". npb.jp. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
  33. ^ Lutz, Eric (March 21, 2019). "Ichiro Suzuki Retires at 45: Inside His Stats, Teams, and Legendary MLB Career". Men's Health. Retrieved April 28, 2019.

Further reading

  • Edwards, John (August 17, 2017). "Stat to the Future: Why it's time to stop relying on batting average". Sporting News. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  • Ryan, Bob (April 17, 2020). "In defense of the batting average". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 17, 2020.

External links

May 29, 2023
batting, average, baseball, baseball, batting, average, determined, dividing, player, hits, their, total, bats, usually, rounded, three, decimal, places, read, without, decimal, player, with, batting, average, batting, three, hundred, necessary, break, ties, b. In baseball batting average BA is determined by dividing a player s hits by their total at bats It is usually rounded to three decimal places and read without the decimal A player with a batting average of 300 is batting three hundred If necessary to break ties batting averages could be taken beyond the 001 measurement In this context 001 is considered a point such that a 235 batter is 5 points higher than a 230 batter Reggie Jackson batting at Yankee Stadium in 1979 Jackson batted 297 that season Contents 1 History 2 Values 2 1 Anomalies 3 Qualifications for the batting title 4 All time leaders 4 1 Major League Baseball 4 2 Minor League Baseball 4 3 Nippon Professional Baseball 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External linksHistory EditHenry Chadwick an English statistician raised on cricket was an influential figure in the early history of baseball 1 In the late 19th century he adapted the concept behind the cricket batting average to devise a similar statistic for baseball Rather than simply copy cricket s formulation of runs scored divided by outs he realized that hits divided by at bats would provide a better measure of individual batting ability This is because while in cricket scoring runs is almost entirely dependent on one s batting skill in baseball it is largely dependent on having other good hitters on one s team Chadwick noted that hits are independent of teammates skills so he used this as the basis for the baseball batting average His reason for using at bats rather than outs is less obvious but it leads to the intuitive idea of the batting average being a percentage reflecting how often a batter gets on base whereas hits divided by outs are not as simple to interpret in real terms Values Edit Ted Williams is the most recent MLB player to hit 400 or better in a season 1941 Ty Cobb has the highest MLB career batting average 366 In modern times a season batting average of 300 or higher is considered to be excellent and an average higher than 400 a nearly unachievable goal The last Major League Baseball MLB player to do so with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting championship was Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox who hit 406 in 1941 2 Note that batting averages are rounded 3 entering the final day of the 1941 season Williams was at 179 for 448 which is 39955 and would have been recorded as 400 via rounding 4 However Williams played in both games of a doubleheader went 6 for 8 and ended the season 185 for 456 5 which is 40570 and becomes 406 when rounded 4 Since 1941 the highest single season average has been 394 by Tony Gwynn of the San Diego Padres in 1994 2 Wade Boggs hit 401 over a 162 game span with Boston from June 9 1985 to June 6 1986 6 but never hit above 368 for an MLB season 7 There have been numerous attempts to explain the disappearance of the 400 hitter with one of the more rigorous discussions of this question appearing in Stephen Jay Gould s 1996 book Full House Ty Cobb holds the record for highest career batting average with 366 eight points higher than Rogers Hornsby who has the second highest career average at 358 8 The record for lowest career batting average for a player with more than 2 500 at bats belongs to Bill Bergen a catcher who played from 1901 to 1911 and recorded a 170 average in 3 028 career at bats 9 Hugh Duffy who played from 1888 to 1906 is credited with the highest single season batting average having hit 440 in 1894 10 The modern era post 1900 record for highest batting average for a season is held by Nap Lajoie who hit 426 in 1901 10 the first year of play for the American League The modern era record for lowest batting average for a player that qualified for the batting title is held by Chris Davis who hit 168 in 2018 11 While finishing six plate appearances short of qualifying for the batting title Adam Dunn of the Chicago White Sox hit 159 for the 2011 season nine points lower than the record 12 The highest batting average for a rookie was 408 in 1911 by Shoeless Joe Jackson 13 The league batting average in MLB for the 2018 season was 248 with the highest modern era MLB average being 296 in 1930 and the lowest being 237 in 1968 14 For non pitchers a batting average below 230 is often considered poor and one below 200 is usually unacceptable This latter level is sometimes referred to as The Mendoza Line named for Mario Mendoza a lifetime 215 hitter but a good defensive shortstop 15 Sabermetrics the study of baseball statistics considers batting average a weak measure of performance because it does not correlate as well as other measures to runs scored thereby causing it to have little predictive value Batting average does not take into account bases on balls walks or power whereas other statistics such as on base percentage and slugging percentage have been specifically designed to measure such concepts Adding these statistics together form a player s on base plus slugging or OPS This is commonly seen as a much better though not perfect indicator of a player s overall batting ability as it is a measure of hitting for average hitting for power and drawing walks Anomalies Edit In 1887 bases on balls were counted as hits by the major leagues in existence at the time This inflated batting averages with 11 players batting 400 or better and the experiment was abandoned the following season Historical statistics for the season were later revised such that Bases on balls shall always be treated as neither a time at bat nor a hit for the batter 16 In rare instances MLB players have concluded their careers with a perfect batting average of 1 000 John Paciorek had three hits in all three of his turns at bat 17 Esteban Yan went two for two including a home run Hal Deviney s two hits in his only plate appearances included a triple while Steve Biras Mike Hopkins Chet Kehn Jason Roach and Fred Schemanske also went two for two A few dozen others have hit safely in their only career at bat Qualifications for the batting title EditThe MLB batting averages championships often referred to as the batting title are awarded annually to the player in each league who has the highest batting average Ty Cobb holds the MLB and American League AL record for most batting titles officially winning 11 in his career 18 The National League NL record of eight batting titles is shared by Honus Wagner and Tony Gwynn Most of Cobb s career and all of Wagner s career took place in what is known as the Dead Ball Era which was characterized by higher batting averages by star players although the overall league batting average was historically at its lowest during that era and much less power whereas Gwynn s career took place in the Live Ball Era To determine which players are eligible to win the batting title the following conditions have been used over the sport s history 19 Pre 1920 A player generally is required to appear in at least 100 or more games when the schedule was 154 games and 90 games when the schedule was 140 games An exception to the rule was made for Ty Cobb in 1914 who appeared in 98 games but had a big lead and was also a favorite of American League President Ban Johnson 1920 1949 A player had to appear in 100 games to qualify in the NL the AL used 100 games from 1920 to 1935 and 400 at bats from 1936 to 1949 The NL was advised to adopt 400 at bats for the 1945 season but National League President Ford Frick refused feeling that 100 games should stand for the benefit of catchers and injured players Taffy Wright is often erroneously said to have been cheated out of the 1938 batting title he batted 350 in exactly 100 games with 263 ABs Jimmie Foxx hit 349 in 149 games and 565 AB But since the AL requirement that year was 400 at bats Foxx s batting title is undisputed 1950 1956 A player needed 2 6 at bats per team game originally scheduled With the 154 game schedule of the time that meant a rounded off 400 at bats From 1951 to 1954 if the player with the highest average in a league failed to meet the minimum at bat requirement the remaining at bats until qualification e g five at bats if the player finished the season with 395 at bats were hypothetically considered hitless at bats if his recalculated batting average still topped the league he was awarded the title This standard was applied in the AL from 1936 to 1956 1957 to the present A player has needed 3 1 plate appearances per team game originally scheduled thus players were no longer penalized for walking so frequently nor did they benefit from walking so rarely In 1954 for example Ted Williams batted 345 but had only 386 ABs while topping the AL with 136 walks Williams thus lost the batting title to Cleveland s Bobby Avila who hit 341 in 555 ABs In the 154 game schedule the required number of plate appearances was 477 and since the era of the 162 game schedule the requisite number of plate appearances has been 502 Adjustments to this figure have been made during strike shortened seasons such as 1972 1981 1994 and 1995 From 1967 to the present if the player with the highest average in a league fails to meet the minimum plate appearance requirement the remaining at bats until qualification e g five at bats if the player finished the season with 497 plate appearances are hypothetically considered hitless at bats if his recalculated batting average still tops the league he is awarded the title This is officially Rule 10 22 a but it is also known as the Tony Gwynn rule because the Padres player won the batting crown in 1996 with a 353 average on just 498 plate appearances i e he was four short Gwynn was awarded the title since he would have led the league even if he d gone 0 for 4 in those missing plate appearances His average would have dropped to 349 five points better than second place Ellis Burks 344 20 In 2012 a one time amendment to the rule was made to disqualify Melky Cabrera from the title Cabrera requested that he be disqualified after serving a suspension that season for a positive testosterone test He had batted 346 with 501 plate appearances and the original rule would have awarded him the title over San Francisco Giants teammate Buster Posey who won batting 336 21 22 All time leaders EditMajor League Baseball Edit Main article List of Major League Baseball career batting average leaders Different sources of baseball records present somewhat differing lists of career batting average leaders There is consensus that Ty Cobb leads this category Further rankings vary by source primarily due to differences in minimums needed to qualify number of games played or plate appearances or differences in early baseball records Baseball Reference com includes the Negro League teams considered major leagues by Major League Baseball 23 The below table presents the top ten lists as they appear in four well known sources with the rankings and degree of precision decimal places as provided in the source The main article linked above is sourced from Baseball Reference com which is also presented here None of the players listed below are still living each is an inductee of the Baseball Hall of Fame except for Lefty O Doul Pete Browning and Shoeless Joe Jackson who is ineligible due to his alleged role in the Black Sox Scandal of 1919 Baseball Reference com 8 Baseball Almanac 24 ESPN 25 MLB com 26 Rank Player Average Rank Player Average Rank Player Average Rank Player Average1 Ty Cobb 3662 1 Ty Cobb 36636 1 Ty Cobb 366 1 Ty Cobb 3672 Oscar Charleston 3643 2 Rogers Hornsby 35850 2 Rogers Hornsby 358 2 Rogers Hornsby 3583 Rogers Hornsby 3585 3 Shoeless Joe Jackson 35575 3 Shoeless Joe Jackson 356 3 Ed Delahanty 3464 Shoeless Joe Jackson 3558 4 Ed Delahanty 34590 4 Ed Delahanty 346 4 Tris Speaker 3455 Jud Wilson 3519 5 Tris Speaker 34468 5 Tris Speaker 345 5 Ted Williams 3446 Lefty O Doul 3493 6 Ted Williams 34441 6 Billy Hamilton 344 6 Billy Hamilton 3447 Turkey Stearnes 3490 7 Billy Hamilton 34429 Ted Williams 344 7 Dan Brouthers 3428 Ed Delahanty 3458 8 Babe Ruth 34206 8 Dan Brouthers 342 8 Babe Ruth 3429 Tris Speaker 3447 9 Harry Heilmann 34159 Harry Heilmann 342 9 Harry Heilmann 34210 Billy Hamilton 3444 10 Pete Browning 34149 Babe Ruth 342 10 Willie Keeler 341Ted Williams 3444Minor League Baseball Edit The highest recorded single season batting average in Minor League Baseball is 462 accomplished by Gary Redus in 1978 when he played for the Billings Mustangs 27 28 an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds in the Rookie Advanced level Pioneer League Redus was 117 for 253 in 68 games 29 as the Pioneer League only plays from June to early September Redus went on to play in MLB from 1982 through 1994 batting 252 during his MLB career 30 Nippon Professional Baseball Edit In Nippon Professional Baseball NPB the leader in career batting average is Isao Harimoto a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame who hit 319 in his NPB career 31 Nori Aoki an active NPB player has a career NPB batting average of 316 as of April 2023 update 32 Ichiro Suzuki batted 353 in NPB 33 but does not have enough NPB career at bats to qualify for the league s title Sadaharu Oh batting average of 355 in 1973 season Randy Bass batting average of 389 in 1986 season See also EditList of Major League Baseball batting champions Baseball statistics Batting averageReferences Edit Schiff Andrew 2008 Henry Chadwick SABR Retrieved April 28 2019 a b MLB Single Season Post 1900 Batting Leaders ESPN Retrieved April 28 2019 Scott Paul Birnbaum Phil February 2010 Do Motivated Players Have Higher Batting Averages SABR Retrieved September 13 2019 recorded batting averages are rounded to three decimal places a b Nowlin Bill 2013 The Day Ted Williams Became the Last 400 Hitter in Baseball SABR Retrieved September 13 2019 Ted Williams Retrosheet Retrieved September 13 2019 Spaeder Ryan May 26 2016 Wade Boggs 26 incredible Red Sox stats for No 26 Sporting News retrieved September 13 2019 Wade Boggs Retrosheet Retrieved September 13 2019 a b Career Leaders amp Records for Batting Average Baseball Reference com Retrieved June 29 2021 Dittmar Joe Bill Bergen SABR Retrieved April 28 2019 a b Single Season Leaders for Batting Average Baseball Almanac Retrieved April 28 2019 Axisa Mike September 29 2018 Chris Davis finishes 2018 with the worst batting average in MLB history after Orioles shut him down CBS Sports Retrieved April 28 2019 Reiter Ben June 4 2012 Death Taxes And Adam Dunn Sports Illustrated Retrieved April 28 2019 via si com vault Batting Average Records Baseball Almanac Retrieved April 28 2019 Major League Baseball Batting Year by Year Averages Baseball Reference com Retrieved April 28 2019 Landers Chris May 22 2018 How did Mario Mendoza become a shorthand for batting futility MLB com Retrieved April 28 2019 Thorn John May 4 2015 Why Is the National Association Not a Major League and Other Records Issues ourgame mlblogs com Retrieved April 28 2019 Keith Ted July 9 2012 The Perfect Game Sports Illustrated Retrieved April 28 2019 via si com vault Year by Year League Leaders for Batting Average Sports Reference Inc Archived from the original on 9 February 2007 Retrieved 2007 01 30 Leaderboard Glossary Baseball Baseball Reference com Retrieved 2012 05 26 Kovacevic Dejan August 16 2012 Cadon t crown cheating Cabrera Pittsburgh Tribune Review Cabrera Posey are MVPs The State Associated Press 16 November 2012 Archived from the original on 27 June 2013 Retrieved 13 October 2018 Baggarly Andrew Melky Cabrera ruled ineligible to win batting crown CSN Bay Area Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 The Negro Leagues Are Major Leagues Baseball Reference com Retrieved 2021 06 29 Career Leaders for Batting Average Baseball Almanac Retrieved May 29 2019 MLB Career Batting Leaders ESPN Retrieved May 29 2019 Statistics MLB com Retrieved May 29 2019 All Time Totals sorted by AVG Czerwinski Kevin T August 2 2006 Redus 462 in 1978 still Minor League best MiLB com Retrieved September 13 2019 Williams Doug April 16 2013 In 78 Redus hit 462 a season for the ages ESPN com Retrieved April 16 2013 Gary Redus Minor Leagues Statistics amp History Baseball Reference com Retrieved September 13 2019 Gary Redus Stats Baseball Reference com Retrieved September 13 2019 Isao Harimoto Baseball Reference com Retrieved January 5 2023 Aoki Norichika npb jp Retrieved April 16 2023 Lutz Eric March 21 2019 Ichiro Suzuki Retires at 45 Inside His Stats Teams and Legendary MLB Career Men s Health Retrieved April 28 2019 Further reading EditEdwards John August 17 2017 Stat to the Future Why it s time to stop relying on batting average Sporting News Retrieved April 17 2020 Ryan Bob April 17 2020 In defense of the batting average The Boston Globe Retrieved April 17 2020 External links EditCareer Leaders amp Records for Batting Average at Baseball Reference com Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Batting average baseball amp oldid 1156968699, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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