American League Batting Leaders

Wins Above Replacement--all

<strong>Wins Above Replacement</strong><br>A single number that presents the number of wins the player added<br>to the team above what a replacement player (think AAA or AAAA) would add.<br>Scale for a single-season: 8+ MVP Quality, 5+ All-Star Quality, 2+ Starter,<br>0-2 Reserve, < 0 Replacement Level <br>Developed by Sean Smith of BaseballProjection.com

1. Lofton • CLE 7.2
2. Griffey • SEA 6.9
3. Cone • KCR 6.9
4. Thomas • CHW 6.4
5. Clemens • BOS 6.0
6. Belle • CLE 5.7
7. Johnson • SEA 5.5
8. Mussina • BAL 5.4
9. Hentgen • TOR 5.4
10. Phillips • DET 4.7

WAR Position Players

<strong>Wins Above Replacement for position players</strong><br>A single number that presents the number of wins the player added<br>to the team above what a replacement player (think AAA or AAAA) would add.<br>Scale: 8+ MVP Quality, 5+ All-Star Quality, 2+ Starter,<br>0-2 Reserve, < 0 Replacement Level <br> Developed by Sean Smith of BaseballProjection.com

1. Lofton • CLE 7.2
2. Griffey • SEA 6.9
3. Thomas • CHW 6.4
4. Belle • CLE 5.7
5. Phillips • DET 4.7
6. Boggs • NYY 4.5
7. O'Neill • NYY 4.3
8. Valentin • BOS 4.3
9. Knoblauch • MIN 4.1
10. Ripken • BAL 4.0

Offensive WAR

<strong>Offensive Wins Above Replacement (everything but Fielding)</strong><br>The same statistic as Wins Above Replacement for Position<br>Players (WAR), but with the fielding value excluded.<br>oWAR + dWAR does not equal WAR.<br>Adding would count positions twice.<br>Contains the factor for batting stats, baserunning, a positional adjustment, and the replacement player adjustment.<br> Factors developed by Sean Smith of BaseballProjection.com

1. Thomas • CHW 7.1
2. Belle • CLE 6.7
3. Lofton • CLE 6.0
4. Griffey • SEA 5.9
5. O'Neill • NYY 4.9
6. Boggs • NYY 4.3
7. Clark • TEX 3.9
8. Molitor • TOR 3.8
9. Phillips • DET 3.8
10. Knoblauch • MIN 3.7

Defensive WAR

<strong>Defensive Wins Above Replacement for position players</strong><br>A defensive measure of wins above replacement, but given<br>only the defensive stats of the player and his position adjustment. For this calculation, we use a<br>replacement level on defense is the league average.<br>Based on Baseball Info Solutions defensive runs saved from 2003 on<br>and total zone rating developed by Sean Smith of BaseballProjection.com previously

1. Ripken • BAL 2.3
2. Disarcina • CAL 2.0
3. Gallego • NYY 1.7
4. Lofton • CLE 1.5
5. Valentin • BOS 1.5
6. Steinbach • OAK 1.5
7. Gagne • KCR 1.3
8. Valentín • MIL 1.3
9. Griffey • SEA 1.2
10. Hoiles • BAL 1.2

Batting Average

<strong>Hits/At Bats</strong><br>For recent years, leaders need 3.1 PA<br>per team game played<br>Bold indicates either highest BA using current stats<br>or awarded title at end of year.

1. O'Neill • NYY .359
2. Belle • CLE .357
3. Thomas • CHW .353
4. Lofton • CLE .349
5. Boggs • NYY .342
6. Molitor • TOR .341
7. Mack • MIN .333
8. Clark • TEX .329
9. Griffey • SEA .323
10. Palmeiro • BAL .319

On-Base%

<strong>(H + BB + HBP)/(At Bats + BB + HBP + SF)</strong><br>For recent years, leaders need 3.1 PA<br>per team game played

1. Thomas • CHW .487
2. O'Neill • NYY .460
3. Belle • CLE .438
4. Boggs • NYY .433
5. Clark • TEX .431
6. Tettleton • DET .419
7. Lofton • CLE .412
8. Henderson • OAK .411
9. Davis • CAL .410
10. Molitor • TOR .410

Slugging %

Total Bases/At Bats or
(1B + 2*2B + 3*3B + 4*HR)/AB
For recent years, leaders need 3.1 PA
per team game played

1. Thomas • CHW .729
2. Belle • CLE .714
3. Griffey • SEA .674
4. O'Neill • NYY .603
5. Hamelin • KCR .599
6. Vaughn • BOS .576
7. Mack • MIN .564
8. Davis • CAL .561
9. Canseco • TEX .552
10. Palmeiro • BAL .550

On-Base Plus Slugging

<strong>On-Base + Slugging Percentages </strong><br>For recent years, leaders need 3.1 PA<br>per team game played

1. Thomas • CHW 1.217
2. Belle • CLE 1.152
3. Griffey • SEA 1.076
4. O'Neill • NYY 1.064
5. Hamelin • KCR .987
6. Vaughn • BOS .984
7. Davis • CAL .971
8. Mack • MIN .966
9. Lofton • CLE .948
10. Palmeiro • BAL .942

Games Played

Games Played or Pitched

1. Molitor • TOR 115
2. Curtis • CAL 114
Fryman • DET 114
Phillips • DET 114
McRae • KCR 114
Bordick • OAK 114
7. Thomas • CHW 113
8. Ripken • BAL 112
Disarcina • CAL 112
Franco • CHW 112
Lofton • CLE 112

At Bats

At Bats

1. Fryman • DET 464
2. Lofton • CLE 459
3. Molitor • TOR 454
4. Anderson • BAL 453
Curtis • CAL 453
6. Knoblauch • MIN 445
7. Ripken • BAL 444
8. Baerga • CLE 442
9. Puckett • MIN 439
10. Phillips • DET 438
Coleman • KCR 438

Plate Appearances

<strong>Plate Appearances</strong><br>When available, we use actual plate appearances from play-by-play game accounts<br>Otherwise estimated using AB + BB + HBP + SF + SH,<br>which excludes catcher interferences.<br>When <span class=tooltip>this color</span> click for a summary of each PA.

1. Phillips • DET 538
2. Fryman • DET 528
3. Anderson • BAL 525
4. Lofton • CLE 523
5. Thomas • CHW 517
6. Molitor • TOR 516
7. Curtis • CAL 506
8. Franco • CHW 505
McRae • KCR 505
Canseco • TEX 505

Runs Scored

Runs Scored/Allowed

1. Thomas • CHW 106
2. Lofton • CLE 105
3. Griffey • SEA 94
4. Phillips • DET 91
5. Belle • CLE 90
6. Canseco • TEX 88
7. Molitor • TOR 86
8. Knoblauch • MIN 85
9. Palmeiro • BAL 82
10. Baerga • CLE 81

Hits

Hits/Hits Allowed

1. Lofton • CLE 160
2. Molitor • TOR 155
3. Belle • CLE 147
4. Thomas • CHW 141
5. Ripken • BAL 140
Griffey • SEA 140
7. Palmeiro • BAL 139
Baerga • CLE 139
Knoblauch • MIN 139
Puckett • MIN 139

Total Bases

<strong>Total Bases</strong><br>Singles + 2 x Doubles + 3 x Triples + 4 x Home Runs.

1. Belle • CLE 294
2. Griffey • SEA 292
3. Thomas • CHW 291
4. Lofton • CLE 246
5. Palmeiro • BAL 240
6. Puckett • MIN 237
Canseco • TEX 237
8. Molitor • TOR 235
9. Baerga • CLE 232
10. Carter • TOR 228

Doubles

Doubles Hit/Allowed

1. Knoblauch • MIN 45
2. Belle • CLE 35
3. Thomas • CHW 34
Fryman • DET 34
5. Palmeiro • BAL 32
Baerga • CLE 32
Lofton • CLE 32
Puckett • MIN 32
9. Molitor • TOR 30
10. Williams • NYY 29
Olerud • TOR 29

Triples

Triples Hit/Allowed

1. Johnson • CHW 14
2. Coleman • KCR 12
3. Lofton • CLE 9
4. Diaz • MIL 7
5. McRae • KCR 6
Polonia • NYY 6
White • TOR 6
8. Anderson • BAL 5
Guillén • CHW 5
Raines • CHW 5
Fryman • DET 5
Samuel • DET 5
Cole • MIN 5

Home Runs

Home Runs Hit/Allowed

1. Griffey • SEA 40
2. Thomas • CHW 38
3. Belle • CLE 36
4. Canseco • TEX 31
5. Fielder • DET 28
6. Carter • TOR 27
7. Vaughn • BOS 26
Davis • CAL 26
9. Hamelin • KCR 24
10. Palmeiro • BAL 23
Salmon • CAL 23
Gibson • DET 23
Sierra • OAK 23

Runs Batted In

Runs Batted In

1. Puckett • MIN 112
2. Carter • TOR 103
3. Thomas • CHW 101
Belle • CLE 101
5. Franco • CHW 98
6. Sierra • OAK 92
7. Fielder • DET 90
Griffey • SEA 90
Canseco • TEX 90
10. Fryman • DET 85
González • TEX 85

Bases on Balls

Bases on Balls/Walks

1. Thomas • CHW 109
2. Tettleton • DET 97
3. Phillips • DET 95
4. O'Neill • NYY 72
Henderson • OAK 72
6. Clark • TEX 71
7. Davis • CAL 69
Canseco • TEX 69
9. Tartabull • NYY 66
Buhner • SEA 66

Strikeouts

Strikeouts

1. Fryman • DET 128
2. Canseco • TEX 114
3. Vaughn • BOS 112
4. Tartabull • NYY 111
5. Fielder • DET 110
6. Phillips • DET 105
7. Salmon • CAL 102
8. Tettleton • DET 98
9. Sprague • TOR 95
10. Vaughn • MIL 93

Stolen Bases

Stolen Bases

1. Lofton • CLE 60
2. Coleman • KCR 50
3. Nixon • BOS 42
4. Knoblauch • MIN 35
5. Anderson • BAL 31
6. Cole • MIN 29
7. McRae • KCR 28
8. Johnson • CHW 26
9. Curtis • CAL 25
10. Javier • OAK 24

Singles

Singles Hit/Allowed

1. Lofton • CLE 107
Molitor • TOR 107
3. Ripken • BAL 105
4. Fermín • SEA 98
5. Franco • CHW 97
6. Boggs • NYY 94
7. Nixon • BOS 93
8. Guillén • CHW 90
9. Clark • TEX 89
10. McRae • KCR 87

Adjusted OPS+

<strong>OPS+</strong><br>100*[OBP/lg OBP + SLG/lg SLG - 1]<br>Adjusted to the player&#x2019;s ballpark(s)

1. Thomas • CHW 212
2. Belle • CLE 194
3. O'Neill • NYY 177
4. Griffey • SEA 171
5. Davis • CAL 148
6. Hamelin • KCR 147
7. Vaughn • BOS 147
8. Mack • MIN 147
9. Lofton • CLE 145
10. Boggs • NYY 142

Runs Created

<strong>Runs Created</strong><br>A set of formulas developed by Bill James and others<br>that estimates a player&#x2019;s total contributions<br>to a team&#x2019;s runs total.<br>This is computed with the "technical" formula when possible.<br>If SB or CS data is missing, the "basic" formula is used.<br>If HBP, IBB, SH, SF, or GIDP data is missing, the "stolen base" version of the formula is used. <br>Team Runs Created is the sum of player Runs Created.

1. Thomas • CHW 145
2. Belle • CLE 131
3. Griffey • SEA 117
4. Lofton • CLE 111
5. Molitor • TOR 101
6. O'Neill • NYY 100
7. Palmeiro • BAL 95
8. Vaughn • BOS 93
9. Franco • CHW 92
10. Davis • CAL 91
Phillips • DET 91
Clark • TEX 91

Adj. Batting Runs

<strong>Adjusted Batting Runs</strong><br>A set of formulas developed by Gary Gillette, Pete Palmer and others<br>that estimates a player&#x2019;s total contributions<br>to a team&#x2019;s runs total via linear weights.<br>0.0 is an avg performance, <0 is worse than avg and >0 is better than avg

1. Thomas • CHW 75
2. Belle • CLE 59
3. O'Neill • NYY 47
4. Griffey • SEA 44
5. Lofton • CLE 33
6. Davis • CAL 31
7. Vaughn • BOS 29
8. Clark • TEX 29
9. Molitor • TOR 28
10. Boggs • NYY 27

Adj. Batting Wins

<strong>Adjusted Batting Wins</strong><br>A set of formulas developed by Gary Gillette, Pete Palmer and others<br>that estimates a player&#x2019;s total contributions<br>to a team&#x2019;s wins with his bat.<br>0.0 is an avg performance, <0 is worse than avg and >0 is better than avg

1. Thomas • CHW 6.7
2. Belle • CLE 5.3
3. O'Neill • NYY 4.2
4. Griffey • SEA 4.0
5. Lofton • CLE 2.9
6. Davis • CAL 2.8
7. Vaughn • BOS 2.6
8. Clark • TEX 2.6
9. Molitor • TOR 2.5
10. Boggs • NYY 2.4

Extra Base Hits

<strong>Extra Base Hits</strong><br>Doubles + Triples + Home Runs

1. Thomas • CHW 73
Belle • CLE 73
3. Griffey • SEA 68
4. Fryman • DET 57
5. Palmeiro • BAL 55
Puckett • MIN 55
7. Carter • TOR 54
8. Baerga • CLE 53
Lofton • CLE 53
Knoblauch • MIN 53

Times On Base

<strong>Times on Base</strong><br>Hits + Bases on Balls + Hit By Pitch<br>Does not include Reached on Error or Catcher Interference.

1. Thomas • CHW 252
2. Phillips • DET 220
3. Lofton • CLE 214
4. Molitor • TOR 211
5. Belle • CLE 210
6. Franco • CHW 205
7. O'Neill • NYY 204
8. Clark • TEX 202
9. Griffey • SEA 198
10. Palmeiro • BAL 195
Canseco • TEX 195

Offensive Win %

<strong>Offensive Winning Percentage</strong><br>The percentage of games a team with nine of this player<br>batting would win. Assumes average pitching and defense.<br>This uses the Pythagorean win pct formula with the player's RC/G for runs scored and the league's R/9 as runs allowed.

1. Thomas • CHW .849
2. Belle • CLE .825
3. O'Neill • NYY .770
4. Griffey • SEA .765
5. Lofton • CLE .726
6. Clark • TEX .719
7. Vaughn • BOS .711
8. Hamelin • KCR .705
9. Molitor • TOR .701
10. Davis • CAL .695

Hit By Pitch

Times Hit by a Pitch.

1. Macfarlane • KCR 18
2. Sprague • TOR 11
3. Anderson • BAL 10
Vaughn • BOS 10
Jaha • MIL 10
Knoblauch • MIN 10
7. Félix • DET 8
8. Puckett • MIN 7
González • TEX 7
Rodríguez • TEX 7

Sacrifice Hits

Sacrifice Hits (Sacrifice Bunts)

1. Kelly • NYY 14
2. Fermín • SEA 12
3. Cora • CHW 11
Vizquel • CLE 11
5. Disarcina • CAL 10
6. LaValliere • CHW 9
7. Lind • KCR 8
Wilson • SEA 8
Schofield • TOR 8
10. Naehring • BOS 7
Rodríguez • BOS 7
Curtis • CAL 7
Guillén • CHW 7
Javier • OAK 7
Amaral • SEA 7
Hulse • TEX 7
Alomar • TOR 7

Sacrifice Flies

Sacrifice Flies
First tracked in 1954.

1. Fryman • DET 13
Carter • TOR 13
3. Sierra • OAK 11
4. Ventura • CHW 8
Baerga • CLE 8
Nilsson • MIL 8
7. Thomas • CHW 7
Puckett • MIN 7
Berroa • OAK 7
10. Palmeiro • BAL 6
Davis • CAL 6
Lofton • CLE 6
Brosius • OAK 6
Gates • OAK 6
Steinbach • OAK 6
Clark • TEX 6

Intentional Bases on Balls

<strong>Intentional Bases on Balls</strong><br>First tracked in 1955.

1. Vaughn • BOS 20
2. Griffey • SEA 19
3. Ventura • CHW 15
4. O'Neill • NYY 13
5. Thomas • CHW 12
Olerud • TOR 12
7. Davis • CAL 11
Clark • TEX 11
9. Tettleton • DET 10
González • TEX 10

Double Plays Grounded Into

<strong>Double Plays Grounded Into</strong><br>Only includes standard 6-4-3, 4-3, etc. double plays.<br>First tracked in 1933.<br>For gamelogs only in seasons we have play-by-play, we include triple plays as well.<br>All official seasonal totals do not include GITP's.

1. Canseco • TEX 20
2. González • TEX 18
3. Ripken • BAL 17
Fielder • DET 17
5. O'Neill • NYY 16
6. Dawson • BOS 15
Thomas • CHW 15
Sierra • OAK 15
9. Franco • CHW 14
Alomar • TOR 14

Caught Stealing

Caught Stealing

1. Gagne • KCR 17
2. Lofton • CLE 12
José • KCR 12
Polonia • NYY 12
5. Curtis • CAL 11
6. Nixon • BOS 10
7. Williams • NYY 9
8. Owen • CAL 8
Coleman • KCR 8
McRae • KCR 8
Cole • MIN 8
Canseco • TEX 8
Alomar • TOR 8

SB %

Stolen Base Percentage
SB / (SB + CS)

1. Tinsley • BOS 100.00
Molitor • TOR 100.00
Carter • TOR 100.00
Raines • CHW 100.00
5. Anderson • BAL 96.88
6. Hulse • TEX 90.00
7. McDowell • TEX 87.50
8. Coleman • KCR 86.21
9. Shumpert • KCR 85.71
10. Knoblauch • MIN 85.37

Power-Speed #

<strong>Power/Speed Number</strong><br>2 x (Home Runs x Stolen Bases)/(Stolen Bases + Home Runs)<br>The harmonic mean of HR and SB.<br>To do well you need a lot of both.<br>Developed by Bill James.

1. Canseco • TEX 20.2
2. Lofton • CLE 20.0
3. Anderson • BAL 17.3
4. Griffey • SEA 17.3
5. Molitor • TOR 16.5
6. Carter • TOR 15.6
7. Phillips • DET 15.4
8. Curtis • CAL 15.3
9. Belle • CLE 14.4
10. Javier • OAK 14.1

AB per SO

<strong>At Bats Per Strikeout</strong><br>For career marks this only includes AB&#x2019;s for seasons where SO&#x2019;s were tracked.

1. Johnson • CHW 17.9
2. Fermín • SEA 17.2
3. Mattingly • NYY 15.5
4. Disarcina • CAL 13.9
5. Boggs • NYY 12.6
6. Greenwell • BOS 12.6
7. Reed • MIL 11.7
8. Ripken • BAL 10.8
9. Guillén • CHW 10.4
10. Baerga • CLE 9.8

AB per HR

<strong>At Bats Per Home Run</strong>

1. Thomas • CHW 10.5
2. Griffey • SEA 10.8
3. Belle • CLE 11.4
4. Hamelin • KCR 13.0
5. Canseco • TEX 13.8
6. Gibson • DET 14.3
7. Davis • CAL 15.1
8. Vaughn • BOS 15.2
9. Fielder • DET 15.2
10. Thome • CLE 16.1

Outs Made

<strong>Outs Made</strong><br>(At Bats - Hits) + Double Plays Grounded Into <br>+ Sac. Flies + Sac. Hits + Caught Stealing.

1. Curtis • CAL 369
2. Fryman • DET 364
3. Coleman • KCR 352
4. Anderson • BAL 347
5. Sierra • OAK 343
6. Murray • CLE 338
Canseco • TEX 338
8. McRae • KCR 337
9. Fielder • DET 336
Carter • TOR 336

Base-Out Runs Added (RE24)

<strong>Base-Out Runs Added</strong><br>Given the bases occupied/out situation, how many runs did the batter<br> or baserunner add in the resulting play.<br>Compared to average, so 0 is average, and above 0 is better than average

1. Thomas • CHW 65.10
2. Belle • CLE 54.75
3. Griffey • SEA 44.03
4. O'Neill • NYY 43.25
5. Clark • TEX 42.86
6. Puckett • MIN 37.29
7. Franco • CHW 33.95
8. Lofton • CLE 33.65
9. Molitor • TOR 32.12
10. Davis • CAL 28.76

Win Probability Added (WPA)

<strong>Win Probability Added for Offensive Player</strong><br>Given average teams, this is the change in probability<br>caused by this batter during the game.<br>See <a href='https://www.baseball-reference.com/about/wpa.shtml'>Win Expectancy explainer</a> for details.

1. Thomas • CHW 4.7
2. Belle • CLE 4.4
3. O'Neill • NYY 3.9
4. Griffey • SEA 3.4
5. Clark • TEX 3.2
6. Franco • CHW 3.1
7. Phillips • DET 3.1
8. Lofton • CLE 3.1
9. Hamelin • KCR 3.1
10. Puckett • MIN 3.0

Situ. Wins Added (WPA/LI)

<strong>Situational Wins (WPA/LI)</strong><br>It is the sum of WPA divided by the leverage index for each play.<br>WPA depends greatly on the context of the at bats.<br>This stat does not.

1. Thomas • CHW 6.5
2. Belle • CLE 5.3
3. Griffey • SEA 3.8
4. O'Neill • NYY 3.5
5. Lofton • CLE 3.2
6. Clark • TEX 3.1
7. Franco • CHW 3.1
8. Phillips • DET 2.6
9. Boggs • NYY 2.4
10. Canseco • TEX 2.4

Championship WPA (cWPA)

<strong>Championship Win Probability Added for Offensive Player</strong><br>Given average teams, this is the change in probability of winning the World Series, displayed in percentage points.<br>See <a href='https://www.baseball-reference.com/about/wpa.shtml'>Win Expectancy explainer</a> for details.

1. Belle • CLE 3.9
2. Thomas • CHW 3.8
3. O'Neill • NYY 2.8
4. Lofton • CLE 2.5
5. Franco • CHW 2.4
6. Clark • TEX 2.0
7. Griffey • SEA 2.0
8. Hamelin • KCR 1.9
9. Leyritz • NYY 1.6
10. Greer • TEX 1.5

Base-Out Wins Added (REW)

<strong>Base-Out Wins Added (REW)</strong><br>This is the number of wins above average the player was worth by their performance measured by the 24 <br>base-out situations across every play in the game.

1. Thomas • CHW 5.8
2. Belle • CLE 4.9
3. O'Neill • NYY 4.0
4. Griffey • SEA 3.9
5. Clark • TEX 3.9
6. Puckett • MIN 3.4
7. Franco • CHW 3.1
8. Lofton • CLE 3.1
9. Molitor • TOR 2.9
10. Davis • CAL 2.6

rOBA

rOBA
A measure of a player's offensive contributions, weighted in proportion to each event's actual run value

1. Thomas • CHW .504
2. Belle • CLE .486
3. O'Neill • NYY .457
4. Griffey • SEA .453
5. Lofton • CLE .437
6. Boggs • NYY .425
7. Mack • MIN .423
8. Molitor • TOR .421
9. Hamelin • KCR .419
10. Vaughn • BOS .417

Rbat+

Rbat+
Batting runs as computed for WAR, but indexed to the environment the player played in, where 100 is league average.

1. Thomas • CHW 209
2. Belle • CLE 197
3. O'Neill • NYY 179
4. Griffey • SEA 170
5. Boggs • NYY 155
6. Lofton • CLE 151
7. Mack • MIN 148
8. Davis • CAL 145
9. Hamelin • KCR 144
10. Vaughn • BOS 144

A ** by the stat's value indicates the player had fewer than the required number of at bats or plate appearances for the BA, OBP, SLG or OPS title that year. In order to rank the player, the necessary number of hitless at bats were added to the player's season total. The value printed here is their actual value and not the value used to rank them, therefore some numbers may appear out of order.

For rate stats, generally a minimum of 3.1 Plate Appearances/Team Game (batting), 1.0 IP/Team Game (pitching), 0.67 Gm and Chances/Team Game (fielding), 0.2 SB att/Team Game (catchers), 0.1 SB att/Team Game (baserunners only since 1951), and 0.1 decision/Team Game (W-L%) is needed for single-season leaderboards. For pitcher fielding the minimums are reduced by a third. For LF, CF, RF fielding stats, we only have reliable data since 1898, so all leaders are since 1898. Explanation of min. requirements