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. Johnson • SEA 8.6
2. Valentin • BOS 8.3
3. Martínez • SEA 7.0
4. Cone • 2TM 7.0
5. Belle • CLE 7.0
6. Knoblauch • MIN 6.7
7. Salmon • CAL 6.6
8. Williams • NYY 6.4
9. Mussina • BAL 6.1
10. Thome • CLE 5.9

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. Valentin • BOS 8.3
2. Martínez • SEA 7.0
3. Belle • CLE 7.0
4. Knoblauch • MIN 6.7
5. Salmon • CAL 6.6
6. Williams • NYY 6.4
7. Thome • CLE 5.9
8. Edmonds • CAL 5.6
9. Palmeiro • BAL 5.5
10. McGwire • OAK 5.5

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. Martínez • SEA 7.3
2. Salmon • CAL 7.2
3. Belle • CLE 7.1
4. Thomas • CHW 6.5
5. Valentin • BOS 6.2
6. Thome • CLE 5.9
7. Knoblauch • MIN 5.9
8. McGwire • OAK 5.6
9. Williams • NYY 5.2
10. Palmeiro • BAL 4.8

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. Valentin • BOS 3.0
2. Ripken • BAL 3.0
3. Gil • TEX 1.9
4. Fryman • DET 1.8
5. Gagne • KCR 1.7
Rodríguez • TEX 1.7
7. Bordick • OAK 1.7
8. Williams • NYY 1.7
9. Edmonds • CAL 1.6
10. Meares • MIN 1.5

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. Martínez • SEA .356
2. Knoblauch • MIN .333
3. Salmon • CAL .330
4. Boggs • NYY .324
5. Murray • CLE .323
6. Surhoff • MIL .320
7. Davis • CAL .318
8. Belle • CLE .317
9. Baerga • CLE .314
10. Thome • CLE .314

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. Martínez • SEA .479
2. Thomas • CHW .454
3. Thome • CLE .438
4. Salmon • CAL .429
5. Davis • CAL .429
6. Knoblauch • MIN .424
7. McGwire • OAK .441 **
8. Naehring • BOS .415
9. Boggs • NYY .412
10. Henderson • OAK .407

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. Belle • CLE .690
2. McGwire • OAK .685 **
3. Martínez • SEA .628
4. Thomas • CHW .606
5. Salmon • CAL .594
6. Palmeiro • BAL .583
7. Vaughn • BOS .575
8. Buhner • SEA .566
9. Ramirez • CLE .558
10. Thome • CLE .558

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. Martínez • SEA 1.107
2. Belle • CLE 1.091
3. Thomas • CHW 1.061
4. McGwire • OAK 1.125 **
5. Salmon • CAL 1.024
6. Thome • CLE .996
7. Vaughn • BOS .963
8. Palmeiro • BAL .963
9. Ramirez • CLE .960
10. Baines • BAL .943

Games Played

Games Played or Pitched

1. Thomas • CHW 145
Martínez • SEA 145
3. Ripken • BAL 144
Curtis • DET 144
Fryman • DET 144
Williams • NYY 144
Sprague • TOR 144
8. Anderson • BAL 143
Palmeiro • BAL 143
Salmon • CAL 143
Snow • CAL 143
Belle • CLE 143

At Bats

At Bats

1. Johnson • CHW 607
2. Nixon • TEX 589
3. Curtis • DET 586
4. Fryman • DET 567
5. Williams • NYY 563
6. Edmonds • CAL 558
Carter • TOR 558
8. Baerga • CLE 557
9. Anderson • BAL 554
Palmeiro • BAL 554

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. Curtis • DET 670
2. Anderson • BAL 657
3. Nixon • TEX 656
4. Williams • NYY 648
5. Thomas • CHW 647
6. Johnson • CHW 645
7. Phillips • CAL 643
8. Fryman • DET 640
9. Martínez • SEA 639
10. Salmon • CAL 638

Runs Scored

Runs Scored/Allowed

1. Belle • CLE 121
Martínez • SEA 121
3. Edmonds • CAL 120
4. Phillips • CAL 119
5. Salmon • CAL 111
6. Anderson • BAL 108
Valentin • BOS 108
8. Knoblauch • MIN 107
9. Thomas • CHW 102
10. Vaughn • BOS 98
Johnson • CHW 98

Hits

Hits/Hits Allowed

1. Johnson • CHW 186
2. Martínez • SEA 182
3. Knoblauch • MIN 179
4. Salmon • CAL 177
5. Baerga • CLE 175
6. Nixon • TEX 174
7. Belle • CLE 173
Williams • NYY 173
9. Palmeiro • BAL 172
10. Puckett • MIN 169

Total Bases

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

1. Belle • CLE 377
2. Palmeiro • BAL 323
3. Martínez • SEA 321
4. Salmon • CAL 319
5. Vaughn • BOS 316
6. Edmonds • CAL 299
Thomas • CHW 299
8. Martinez • SEA 286
9. Valentin • BOS 277
Puckett • MIN 277

Doubles

Doubles Hit/Allowed

1. Belle • CLE 52
Martínez • SEA 52
3. Puckett • MIN 39
4. Valentin • BOS 37
5. Martinez • SEA 35
6. Salmon • CAL 34
Knoblauch • MIN 34
8. Anderson • BAL 33
Ripken • BAL 33
Seitzer • MIL 33

Triples

Triples Hit/Allowed

1. Lofton • CLE 13
2. Johnson • CHW 12
3. Anderson • BAL 10
4. Williams • NYY 9
5. Knoblauch • MIN 8
6. Viña • MIL 7
Alomar • TOR 7
8. O'Leary • BOS 6
Disarcina • CAL 6
Durham • CHW 6
Nunnally • KCR 6
Hamilton • MIL 6
Hulse • MIL 6
Coleman • 2TM 6

Home Runs

Home Runs Hit/Allowed

1. Belle • CLE 50
2. Thomas • CHW 40
Buhner • SEA 40
4. Palmeiro • BAL 39
Vaughn • BOS 39
McGwire • OAK 39
7. Gaetti • KCR 35
8. Salmon • CAL 34
9. Edmonds • CAL 33
10. Tettleton • TEX 32

Runs Batted In

Runs Batted In

1. Vaughn • BOS 126
Belle • CLE 126
3. Buhner • SEA 121
4. Martínez • SEA 113
5. Thomas • CHW 111
Martinez • SEA 111
7. Edmonds • CAL 107
Ramirez • CLE 107
9. Salmon • CAL 105
10. Palmeiro • BAL 104

Bases on Balls

Bases on Balls/Walks

1. Thomas • CHW 136
2. Martínez • SEA 116
3. Phillips • CAL 113
4. Tettleton • TEX 107
5. Thome • CLE 97
6. Salmon • CAL 91
7. Davis • CAL 89
8. McGwire • OAK 88
9. Anderson • BAL 87
10. Olerud • TOR 84

Strikeouts

Strikeouts

1. Vaughn • BOS 150
2. Gil • TEX 147
3. Phillips • CAL 135
4. Edmonds • CAL 130
5. Blowers • SEA 128
6. Buhner • SEA 120
7. Fielder • DET 116
8. Gonzalez • TOR 114
9. Thome • CLE 113
10. Ramirez • CLE 112

Stolen Bases

Stolen Bases

1. Lofton • CLE 54
2. Goodwin • KCR 50
Nixon • TEX 50
4. Knoblauch • MIN 46
5. Coleman • 2TM 42
6. Johnson • CHW 40
7. Javier • OAK 36
8. Henderson • OAK 32
9. Alomar • TOR 30
10. Vizquel • CLE 29

Singles

Singles Hit/Allowed

1. Nixon • TEX 151
2. Johnson • CHW 146
3. Baerga • CLE 130
4. Knoblauch • MIN 126
5. Boggs • NYY 118
6. Williams • NYY 117
7. Fryman • DET 115
Goodwin • KCR 115
9. Seitzer • MIL 112
10. Alomar • TOR 111

Adjusted OPS+

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

1. Martínez • SEA 185
2. Thomas • CHW 179
3. Belle • CLE 177
4. Salmon • CAL 165
5. Thome • CLE 157
6. Ramirez • CLE 147
7. Davis • CAL 146
8. Palmeiro • BAL 145
9. Vaughn • BOS 144
10. Baines • BAL 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. Martínez • SEA 161
2. Thomas • CHW 144
Belle • CLE 144
4. Salmon • CAL 142
5. Palmeiro • BAL 123
6. Vaughn • BOS 121
7. Valentin • BOS 119
8. Thome • CLE 118
9. Knoblauch • MIN 115
10. Ramirez • CLE 109
Williams • NYY 109

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. Martínez • SEA 74
2. Thomas • CHW 68
3. Belle • CLE 62
4. Salmon • CAL 55
5. McGwire • OAK 52
6. Thome • CLE 43
7. Vaughn • BOS 36
8. Palmeiro • BAL 36
9. Ramirez • CLE 35
10. Davis • CAL 35

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. Martínez • SEA 6.7
2. Thomas • CHW 6.1
3. Belle • CLE 5.6
4. Salmon • CAL 5.0
5. McGwire • OAK 4.7
6. Thome • CLE 3.9
7. Vaughn • BOS 3.3
8. Palmeiro • BAL 3.2
9. Ramirez • CLE 3.2
10. Davis • CAL 3.2

Extra Base Hits

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

1. Belle • CLE 103
2. Martínez • SEA 81
3. Palmeiro • BAL 71
Salmon • CAL 71
5. Vaughn • BOS 70
6. Martinez • SEA 69
7. Edmonds • CAL 67
Thomas • CHW 67
9. Valentin • BOS 66
10. Buhner • SEA 63

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. Martínez • SEA 306
2. Thomas • CHW 294
3. Salmon • CAL 274
4. Knoblauch • MIN 267
5. Phillips • CAL 253
Williams • NYY 253
7. Belle • CLE 252
8. Vaughn • BOS 247
9. Valentin • BOS 246
10. Thome • CLE 244

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. Martínez • SEA .830
2. Thomas • CHW .780
3. Salmon • CAL .768
4. Thome • CLE .757
5. Belle • CLE .751
6. Davis • CAL .703
7. Palmeiro • BAL .696
Valentin • BOS .696
9. Ramirez • CLE .689
10. Vaughn • BOS .680

Hit By Pitch

Times Hit by a Pitch.

1. Sprague • TOR 15
2. Macfarlane • BOS 14
Vaughn • BOS 14
4. Meares • MIN 11
McGwire • OAK 11
6. Anderson • BAL 10
Valentin • BOS 10
Cordova • MIN 10
Knoblauch • MIN 10
10. Viña • MIL 9

Sacrifice Hits

Sacrifice Hits (Sacrifice Bunts)

1. Goodwin • KCR 14
2. Alicea • BOS 13
Cora • SEA 13
4. Mayne • KCR 11
5. Vizquel • CLE 10
Kelly • NYY 10
Gil • TEX 10
McLemore • TEX 10
9. Tinsley • BOS 9
Karkovice • CHW 9
Martinez • CHW 9
Gonzalez • TOR 9

Sacrifice Flies

Sacrifice Flies
First tracked in 1954.

1. Thomas • CHW 12
2. O'Neill • NYY 11
Gates • OAK 11
Clark • TEX 11
5. Vizquel • CLE 10
6. Alicea • BOS 9
Davis • CAL 9
Joyner • KCR 9
Stanley • NYY 9
10. Ripken • BAL 8
Ventura • CHW 8
Mattingly • NYY 8
Sierra • 2TM 8

Intentional Bases on Balls

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

1. Thomas • CHW 29
2. Martínez • SEA 19
3. Puckett • MIN 18
4. Vaughn • BOS 17
5. Martinez • SEA 15
6. Baines • BAL 13
7. Davis • CAL 12
8. Ventura • CHW 11
9. Joyner • KCR 10
Olerud • TOR 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. O'Neill • NYY 25
2. Belle • CLE 24
3. Sprague • TOR 19
4. Greenwell • BOS 18
Fryman • DET 18
Blowers • SEA 18
7. Baines • BAL 17
Vaughn • BOS 17
Fielder • DET 17
Meares • MIN 17
Mattingly • NYY 17
Olerud • TOR 17

Caught Stealing

Caught Stealing

1. Nixon • TEX 21
2. Goodwin • KCR 18
Knoblauch • MIN 18
4. Coleman • 2TM 16
5. Lofton • CLE 15
Curtis • DET 15
7. Vizquel • CLE 11
McLemore • TEX 11
9. Alicea • BOS 10
Phillips • CAL 10
Henderson • OAK 10

SB %

Stolen Base Percentage
SB / (SB + CS)

1. Amaral • SEA 91.30
2. Alomar • TOR 90.91
3. Javier • OAK 87.81
4. Johnson • CHW 86.96
5. Raines • CHW 86.67
6. Goodwin • BAL 84.62
7. Hulse • MIL 83.33
8. Listach • MIL 81.25
9. Valentin • BOS 80.00
10. Anderson • BAL 78.79

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. Curtis • DET 23.6
2. Valentin • BOS 23.0
3. Cordova • MIN 21.8
4. Anderson • BAL 19.8
5. Alomar • TOR 18.1
6. Knoblauch • MIN 17.8
7. Phillips • CAL 17.6
8. Vaughn • BOS 17.2
9. Carter • TOR 16.2
10. Johnson • CHW 16.0

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 19.6
2. Baerga • CLE 18.0
3. Cora • SEA 13.8
4. Greenwell • BOS 13.7
5. Mattingly • NYY 13.1
6. Alomar • TOR 11.5
7. Hamilton • MIL 11.4
8. Guillén • CHW 16.6 **
9. Rodríguez • TEX 10.3
10. Lofton • CLE 9.8

AB per HR

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

1. McGwire • OAK 8.1 **
2. Belle • CLE 10.9
3. Buhner • SEA 11.8
4. Thomas • CHW 12.3
5. Tettleton • TEX 13.4
6. Vaughn • BOS 14.1
7. Palmeiro • BAL 14.2
8. Gaetti • KCR 14.7
9. Ramirez • CLE 15.6
10. Sorrento • CLE 12.9 **

Outs Made

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

1. Curtis • DET 463
2. Nixon • TEX 451
3. Johnson • CHW 439
4. Fryman • DET 438
5. Carter • TOR 434
6. Vizquel • CLE 433
7. Ripken • BAL 431
8. Anderson • BAL 425
9. Gates • OAK 424
10. Sprague • TOR 421

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. Martínez • SEA 80.97
2. Salmon • CAL 65.95
3. Thomas • CHW 53.15
4. McGwire • OAK 49.40
5. Belle • CLE 45.27
6. Valentin • BOS 39.84
7. Knoblauch • MIN 36.31
8. Ramirez • CLE 36.04
9. Vaughn • BOS 35.77
10. Thome • CLE 33.70

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. Martínez • SEA 7.5
2. McGwire • OAK 5.6
3. Thomas • CHW 4.8
4. Salmon • CAL 4.7
5. Belle • CLE 4.1
6. Ramirez • CLE 4.0
7. Knoblauch • MIN 4.0
8. Thome • CLE 4.0
9. Henderson • OAK 3.9
10. Tettleton • TEX 3.4

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. Martínez • SEA 6.2
2. Thomas • CHW 5.8
3. Salmon • CAL 5.2
4. Belle • CLE 5.1
5. McGwire • OAK 4.7
6. Palmeiro • BAL 4.2
7. Thome • CLE 3.8
8. Knoblauch • MIN 3.6
9. Ramirez • CLE 3.3
10. Valentin • BOS 3.3

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. Martínez • SEA 6.9
2. McGwire • OAK 3.0
3. Tettleton • TEX 2.7
4. Clark • TEX 2.5
5. Martinez • SEA 2.5
6. Salmon • CAL 2.5
7. Henderson • OAK 2.2
8. Snow • CAL 2.1
9. Williams • NYY 1.9
10. Joyner • KCR 1.9

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. Martínez • SEA 7.3
2. Salmon • CAL 6.0
3. Thomas • CHW 4.9
4. McGwire • OAK 4.7
5. Belle • CLE 4.1
6. Valentin • BOS 3.6
7. Knoblauch • MIN 3.3
8. Ramirez • CLE 3.3
9. Vaughn • BOS 3.2
10. Thome • CLE 3.1

rOBA

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

1. Martínez • SEA .473
2. Belle • CLE .460
3. Salmon • CAL .449
4. Thomas • CHW .445
5. Thome • CLE .432
6. Knoblauch • MIN .421
7. Palmeiro • BAL .419
8. Valentin • BOS .416
9. Ramirez • CLE .413
10. Vaughn • BOS .411

Rbat+

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

1. Martínez • SEA 187
2. Belle • CLE 175
3. Thomas • CHW 173
4. Salmon • CAL 170
5. Thome • CLE 156
6. Knoblauch • MIN 146
7. Palmeiro • BAL 145
8. Ramirez • CLE 145
9. Davis • CAL 144
10. Henderson • OAK 143

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