Rankings of Negro League players should consider that Negro League data is not complete. Research is still ongoing and we’ll continue to publish updates as more information becomes available. Negro Leagues Data: Frequently Asked Questions

Major 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. Ruth • NYY 12.5
2. Gehrig • NYY 11.8
3. Hornsby • NYG 10.2
4. Frisch • STL 9.3
5. Lyons • CHW 7.9
6. Thomas • CHW 7.9
7. Wells • SLS 7.6
8. Vance • BRO 7.5
9. Foster • CAG 7.3
10. Combs • NYY 7.1

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. Ruth • NYY 12.5
2. Gehrig • NYY 11.8
3. Hornsby • NYG 10.2
4. Frisch • STL 9.3
5. Wells • SLS 7.6
6. Combs • NYY 7.1
7. Waner • PIT 7.1
8. Heilmann • DET 7.0
9. Lazzeri • NYY 6.4
10. Wilson • CHC 6.3

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. Ruth • NYY 11.3
2. Gehrig • NYY 11.3
3. Hornsby • NYG 9.0
4. Heilmann • DET 7.6
5. Wells • SLS 7.0
6. Waner • PIT 6.6
7. Wilson • CHC 6.3
8. Combs • NYY 6.3
9. Simmons • PHA 5.7
10. Frisch • STL 5.5

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. Frisch • STL 4.4
2. Lazzeri • NYY 2.0
3. Jackson • NYG 2.0
4. Day • HBG 1.9
5. Adams • CHC 1.9
6. Bluege • WSH 1.8
7. Hornsby • NYG 1.8
8. Lundy • AC 1.6
9. Koenig • NYY 1.5
10. Dressen • CIN 1.4

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. Wilson • 2TM .429
2. Parnell • BBB .419
3. Heilmann • DET .398
4. Charleston • HBG .392
5. Simmons • PHA .392
6. Davis • CAG .391
7. Rile • DS .385
8. Johnson • HBG .381
9. Waner • PIT .380
10. Eggleston • BBS .374

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. Charleston • HBG .500
2. Wilson • 2TM .498
3. Ruth • NYY .486
4. Heilmann • DET .475
5. Gehrig • NYY .474
6. Parnell • BBB .465
7. Johnson • HBG .459
8. Wells • SLS .455
9. Eggleston • BBS .451
10. Hornsby • NYG .448

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. Ruth • NYY .772
2. Gehrig • NYY .765
3. Wilson • 2TM .705
4. Wells • SLS .690
5. Charleston • HBG .678
6. Stearnes • DS .663
7. Parnell • BBB .654
8. Rile • DS .648
9. Simmons • PHA .645
10. Redus • SLS .621

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. Ruth • NYY 1.258
2. Gehrig • NYY 1.240
3. Wilson • 2TM 1.203
4. Charleston • HBG 1.178
5. Wells • SLS 1.145
6. Parnell • BBB 1.119
7. Rile • DS 1.092
8. Heilmann • DET 1.091
9. Stearnes • DS 1.090
10. Simmons • PHA 1.081

Games Played

Games Played or Pitched

1. Brown • BSN 155
Hornsby • NYG 155
Gehrig • NYY 155
Waner • PIT 155
5. Sewell • CLE 153
Lazzeri • NYY 153
Thompson • PHI 153
Frisch • STL 153
9. Stephenson • CHC 152
Combs • NYY 152
Bottomley • STL 152
Farrell • 2TM 152

At Bats

At Bats

1. Combs • NYY 648
2. Adams • CHC 647
3. Waner • PIT 629
4. Waner • PIT 623
5. Frisch • STL 617
6. Sisler • SLB 614
7. Rice • WSH 603
8. Thompson • PHI 597
9. Manush • DET 593
10. Gehrig • NYY 584

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. Combs • NYY 726
2. Gehrig • NYY 717
3. Waner • PIT 709
4. Adams • CHC 705
5. Frisch • STL 693
6. Ruth • NYY 691
7. Hornsby • NYG 684
8. Waner • PIT 683
9. Bottomley • STL 679
10. Stephenson • CHC 668

Runs Scored

Runs Scored/Allowed

1. Ruth • NYY 158
2. Gehrig • NYY 149
3. Combs • NYY 137
4. Hornsby • NYG 133
Waner • PIT 133
6. Wilson • CHC 119
7. Waner • PIT 114
8. Frisch • STL 112
9. Gehringer • DET 110
10. Lindstrom • NYG 107

Hits

Hits/Hits Allowed

1. Waner • PIT 237
2. Combs • NYY 231
3. Waner • PIT 223
4. Gehrig • NYY 218
5. Frisch • STL 208
6. Hornsby • NYG 205
7. Heilmann • DET 201
Sisler • SLB 201
9. Stephenson • CHC 199
10. Traynor • PIT 196

Total Bases

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

1. Gehrig • NYY 447
2. Ruth • NYY 417
3. Waner • PIT 342
4. Hornsby • NYG 333
5. Combs • NYY 331
6. Wilson • CHC 319
7. Heilmann • DET 311
8. Terry • NYG 307
9. Goslin • WSH 300
10. Bottomley • STL 292

Doubles

Doubles Hit/Allowed

1. Gehrig • NYY 52
2. Burns • CLE 51
3. Heilmann • DET 50
4. Sewell • CLE 48
5. Meusel • NYY 47
6. Stephenson • CHC 46
7. Speaker • WSH 43
8. Waner • PIT 42
9. Summa • CLE 41
10. Fothergill • DET 38

Triples

Triples Hit/Allowed

1. Combs • NYY 23
2. Manush • DET 18
Gehrig • NYY 18
Waner • PIT 18
5. Bottomley • STL 15
Goslin • WSH 15
7. Thompson • PHI 14
Rice • WSH 14
9. Kamm • CHW 13
Terry • NYG 13

Home Runs

Home Runs Hit/Allowed

1. Ruth • NYY 60
2. Gehrig • NYY 47
3. Wilson • CHC 30
Williams • PHI 30
5. Wells • SLS 29
6. Hornsby • NYG 26
7. Stearnes • DS 20
Terry • NYG 20
9. Bottomley • STL 19
10. Lazzeri • NYY 18
Redus • SLS 18
Hafey • STL 18

Runs Batted In

Runs Batted In

1. Gehrig • NYY 173
2. Ruth • NYY 165
3. Waner • PIT 131
4. Wilson • CHC 129
5. Hornsby • NYG 125
6. Bottomley • STL 124
7. Terry • NYG 121
8. Heilmann • DET 120
Goslin • WSH 120
10. Fothergill • DET 114

Bases on Balls

Bases on Balls/Walks

1. Ruth • NYY 137
2. Gehrig • NYY 109
3. Bishop • PHA 105
4. Hornsby • NYG 86
5. Harper • NYG 84
6. Grantham • PIT 74
Bottomley • STL 74
8. Heilmann • DET 72
9. Wilson • CHC 71
Dressen • CIN 71
Blue • DET 71

Strikeouts

Strikeouts

1. Ruth • NYY 89
2. Gehrig • NYY 84
3. Lazzeri • NYY 82
4. Wilson • CHC 70
5. Bell • STL 63
6. Sand • PHI 59
7. Meusel • NYY 58
8. Williams • PHI 57
9. Ward • CHW 56
10. Terry • NYG 53
Reeves • WSH 53

Stolen Bases

Stolen Bases

1. Frisch • STL 48
2. Carey • BRO 32
3. Hendrick • BRO 29
4. Sisler • SLB 27
5. Adams • CHC 26
6. Bell • SLS 25
7. Johnson • BBS 24
Richbourg • BSN 24
Meusel • NYY 24
10. Parnell • BBB 22
Neun • DET 22
Charleston • HBG 22
Jenkins • HBG 22
Lazzeri • NYY 22
Cobb • PHA 22

Singles

Singles Hit/Allowed

1. Waner • PIT 198
2. Waner • PIT 168
3. Combs • NYY 166
4. Adams • CHC 165
5. Sisler • SLB 156
Frisch • STL 156
7. Traynor • PIT 150
8. Farrell • 2TM 149
9. Hornsby • NYG 138
10. Stephenson • CHC 137

Adjusted OPS+

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

1. Ruth • NYY 225
2. Gehrig • NYY 220
3. Wilson • 2TM 211
4. Charleston • HBG 205
5. Wells • SLS 205
6. Parnell • BBB 198
7. Rile • DS 191
8. Stearnes • DS 190
9. Heilmann • DET 180
10. Hornsby • NYG 175

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. Gehrig • NYY 207
2. Ruth • NYY 201
3. Hornsby • NYG 147
Waner • PIT 147
5. Heilmann • DET 144
6. Combs • NYY 138
7. Wilson • CHC 127
8. Stephenson • CHC 115
Goslin • WSH 115
10. Simmons • PHA 114
Frisch • STL 114

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. Gehrig • NYY 105
2. Ruth • NYY 104
3. Hornsby • NYG 64
4. Heilmann • DET 64
5. Wells • SLS 55
6. Waner • PIT 50
7. Parnell • BBB 47
8. Wilson • CHC 45
9. Stearnes • DS 44
10. Wilson • 2TM 43

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. Gehrig • NYY 9.7
2. Ruth • NYY 9.7
3. Hornsby • NYG 6.2
4. Heilmann • DET 6.0
5. Wells • SLS 5.2
6. Waner • PIT 4.9
7. Parnell • BBB 4.4
8. Wilson • CHC 4.4
9. Stearnes • DS 4.1
10. Simmons • PHA 4.0

Extra Base Hits

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

1. Gehrig • NYY 117
2. Ruth • NYY 97
3. Heilmann • DET 73
4. Wilson • CHC 72
5. Waner • PIT 69
6. Hornsby • NYG 67
7. Terry • NYG 65
Combs • NYY 65
Bottomley • STL 65
Goslin • WSH 65

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. Gehrig • NYY 330
2. Ruth • NYY 329
3. Waner • PIT 300
4. Hornsby • NYG 295
Combs • NYY 295
6. Heilmann • DET 275
7. Stephenson • CHC 270
8. Waner • PIT 266
9. Frisch • STL 258
10. Bottomley • STL 253

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. Wilson • 2TM .896
2. Ruth • NYY .884
3. Charleston • HBG .880
4. Parnell • BBB .877
5. Gehrig • NYY .875
6. Wells • SLS .866
7. Rile • DS .852
8. Heilmann • DET .833
9. Stearnes • DS .833
10. Simmons • PHA .826

Hit By Pitch

Times Hit by a Pitch.

1. O'Rourke • SLB 12
2. Flagstead • BOS 9
Metzler • CHW 9
Sewell • CLE 9
Williams • PHI 9
Miller • SLB 9
Miller • 2TM 9
Robinson • 2TM 9
Ward • 2TM 9
10. Welsh • BSN 8
Crespo • CSE 8
Leach • PHI 8

Sacrifice Hits

Sacrifice Hits (Sacrifice Bunts)

1. Traynor • PIT 35
2. Harris • WSH 30
3. Welsh • BSN 28
Hale • PHA 28
Sand • PHI 28
6. Walker • CIN 27
Summa • CLE 27
8. Grimm • CHC 26
Barrett • CHW 26
Hornsby • NYG 26
Bottomley • STL 26
Frisch • STL 26

Intentional Bases on Balls

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

1. Gehrig • NYY 9
Smith • PIT 9
3. Hartnett • CHC 8
Harris • PIT 8
Goslin • WSH 8
6. Harper • NYG 7
Hornsby • NYG 7
Friberg • PHI 7
9. Henline • BRO 6
Fournier • BSN 6
Wilson • CHC 6
Sewell • CLE 6
DeVormer • NYG 6
Thevenow • STL 6
Taylor • 2TM 6

Caught Stealing

Caught Stealing

1. Roush • NYG 21
2. Cobb • PHA 19
3. Sewell • CLE 18
4. Adams • CHC 17
Fothergill • DET 17
6. Thompson • PHI 15
Myer • 2TM 15
8. Richbourg • BSN 14
Manush • DET 14
Lazzeri • NYY 14
Meusel • NYY 14
Frisch • STL 14

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. Lazzeri • NYY 19.8
2. Wilson • CHC 18.1
3. Wells • SLS 18.0
4. Stearnes • DS 17.1
5. Frisch • STL 16.6
6. Gehrig • NYY 16.5
7. Charleston • HBG 16.3
8. Goslin • WSH 16.1
9. Parnell • BBB 15.5
10. Hafey • STL 14.4

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. Sewell • CLE 81.3
2. Speaker • WSH 65.4
3. Cochrane • PHA 61.7
4. Frisch • STL 61.7
5. Rice • WSH 54.8
6. Traynor • PIT 52.1
7. Waner • PIT 44.5
8. Tobin • BOS 41.6
9. Sisler • SLB 40.9
10. Cobb • PHA 40.8

AB per HR

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

1. Ruth • NYY 9.0
2. Gehrig • NYY 12.4
3. Wells • SLS 12.6
4. Dihigo • CSE 15.9
5. Williams • PHI 16.4
6. Stearnes • DS 17.4
7. Wilson • CHC 18.4
8. Hafey • STL 19.2
9. Charleston • HBG 19.6
10. Redus • SLS 20.8

Outs Made

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

1. Adams • CHC 491
2. Thompson • PHI 449
Frisch • STL 449
4. Partridge • BRO 448
5. Rice • WSH 446
6. Manush • DET 445
7. Summa • CLE 444
8. Sisler • SLB 440
9. Barrett • CHW 435
Roush • NYG 435

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. Gehrig • NYY 112.95
2. Ruth • NYY 111.44
3. Hornsby • NYG 79.04
4. Heilmann • DET 70.85
5. Waner • PIT 67.47
6. Terry • NYG 57.88
7. Wilson • CHC 57.46
8. Simmons • PHA 51.22
9. Combs • NYY 50.01
10. Cobb • PHA 46.95

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. Gehrig • NYY 8.9
2. Ruth • NYY 8.6
3. Wilson • CHC 7.3
4. Hornsby • NYG 7.0
5. Waner • PIT 6.1
6. Terry • NYG 5.9
7. Heilmann • DET 5.8
8. Stephenson • CHC 4.5
9. Combs • NYY 4.4
10. Harper • NYG 4.2

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. Ruth • NYY 10.2
2. Gehrig • NYY 9.6
3. Hornsby • NYG 6.0
4. Heilmann • DET 5.9
5. Wilson • CHC 5.3
6. Simmons • PHA 4.6
7. Waner • PIT 4.5
8. Combs • NYY 4.2
9. Terry • NYG 3.8
10. Cobb • PHA 3.5

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. Waner • PIT 18.2
2. Wilson • CHC 16.0
3. Gehrig • NYY 13.8
4. Ruth • NYY 11.7
5. Stephenson • CHC 10.4
6. Schulte • STL 9.7
7. Hornsby • NYG 9.0
8. Terry • NYG 8.7
9. Harris • PIT 8.4
10. Grantham • PIT 7.9

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. Gehrig • NYY 10.6
2. Ruth • NYY 10.4
3. Hornsby • NYG 7.6
4. Heilmann • DET 6.6
5. Waner • PIT 6.3
6. Terry • NYG 5.6
7. Wilson • CHC 5.5
8. Combs • NYY 4.8
9. Simmons • PHA 4.7
10. Cobb • PHA 4.3

rOBA

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

1. Ruth • NYY .542
2. Wilson • 2TM .542
3. Gehrig • NYY .533
4. Charleston • HBG .530
5. Parnell • BBB .506
6. Wells • SLS .503
7. Heilmann • DET .492
8. Simmons • PHA .488
9. Rile • DS .483
10. Stearnes • DS .481

Rbat+

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

1. Ruth • NYY 227
2. Gehrig • NYY 225
3. Wilson • 2TM 210
4. Wells • SLS 208
5. Parnell • BBB 205
6. Charleston • HBG 204
7. Rile • DS 196
8. Heilmann • DET 195
9. Stearnes • DS 192
10. Hornsby • NYG 190

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