1938 Major League Baseball Batting Leaders

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

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

1. Ott • NYG 8.8

2. Vaughan • PIT 8.8

3. Lee • CHC 8.2

4. Foxx • BOS 7.4

5. Greenberg • DET 6.5

6. Mize • STL 6.4

7. Clift • SLB 6.3

8. Goodman • CIN 6.2

9. Cronin • BOS 6.1

10. Ruffing • NYY 6.0

WAR Position Players

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

1. Ott • NYG 8.8

2. Vaughan • PIT 8.8

3. Foxx • BOS 7.4

4. Greenberg • DET 6.5

5. Mize • STL 6.4

6. Clift • SLB 6.3

7. Goodman • CIN 6.2

8. Cronin • BOS 6.1

9. Hack • CHC 5.8

10. DiMaggio • NYY 5.6

Offensive WAR

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

1. Ott • NYG 8.3

2. Foxx • BOS 7.9

3. Vaughan • PIT 7.0

4. Mize • STL 6.5

5. Greenberg • DET 6.4

6. Clift • SLB 6.1

7. Hack • CHC 5.6

8. Cronin • BOS 5.6

9. DiMaggio • NYY 5.4

10. Goodman • CIN 5.4

Defensive WAR

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

1. Vaughan • PIT 2.9

2. Young • PIT 2.7

3. Bartell • NYG 2.3

4. Herman • CHC 2.1

5. Crosetti • NYY 1.8

6. Cronin • BOS 1.4

7. Gordon • NYY 1.3

8. Travis • WSH 1.3

9. Rogell • DET 1.3

10. Myers • CIN 1.2

Batting Average

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

1. Leonard • HG .416

2. Whatley • 2TM .396

3. Reeves • BCA .386

4. Williams • PC .384

5. Gibson • HG .368

6. Dandridge • NE .366

7. Hughes • BEG .362

8. Spearman • 3TM .354

9. Rogers • MRS .353

10. Brown • KCM .352

On-Base%

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

1. Leonard • HG .495

2. Gibson • HG .463

3. Foxx • BOS .462

4. Myer • WSH .454

5. Ott • NYG .442

6. Whatley • 2TM .439

7. Greenberg • DET .438

8. Williams • PC .438

9. Reeves • BCA .434

10. Vaughan • PIT .433

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. Leonard • HG .711

2. Foxx • BOS .704

3. Gibson • HG .703

4. Greenberg • DET .683

5. Williams • PC .623

6. Mize • STL .614

7. Brown • KCM .606

8. Heath • CLE .602

9. Reeves • BCA .583

10. Ott • NYG .583

On-Base Plus Slugging

On-Base + Slugging Percentages For recent years, leaders need 3.1 PA per team game played

1. Leonard • HG 1.206

2. Foxx • BOS 1.166

3. Gibson • HG 1.166

4. Greenberg • DET 1.122

5. Williams • PC 1.061

6. Mize • STL 1.036

7. Ott • NYG 1.024

8. Reeves • BCA 1.017

9. Hughes • BEG .999

10. Stone • NE .996

Games Played

Games Played or Pitched

1. Crosetti • NYY 157

Gehrig • NYY 157

3. Fox • DET 155

Greenberg • DET 155

5. Hack • CHC 152

Herman • CHC 152

Gehringer • DET 152

Johnson • PHA 152

9. Craft • CIN 151

McCormick • CIN 151

Rolfe • NYY 151

Lewis • WSH 151

At Bats

1. Cramer • BOS 658

2. Lewis • WSH 656

3. McCormick • CIN 640

4. Fox • DET 634

5. Almada • 2TM 633

6. Crosetti • NYY 631

Rolfe • NYY 631

8. Waner • PIT 625

9. Herman • CHC 624

10. Vosmik • BOS 621

Plate Appearances

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

1. Crosetti • NYY 757

2. Lewis • WSH 724

3. Cramer • BOS 717

4. Rolfe • NYY 715

5. Hack • CHC 707

6. Herman • CHC 696

7. Vosmik • BOS 690

8. Gehringer • DET 689

Gehrig • NYY 689

Almada • 2TM 689

Runs Scored

Runs Scored/Allowed

1. Greenberg • DET 143

2. Foxx • BOS 139

3. Gehringer • DET 133

4. Rolfe • NYY 132

5. DiMaggio • NYY 129

6. Lewis • WSH 122

7. Vosmik • BOS 121

8. Clift • SLB 119

9. Cramer • BOS 116

Ott • NYG 116

Hits

Hits/Hits Allowed

1. McCormick • CIN 209

2. Vosmik • BOS 201

3. Cramer • BOS 198

4. Foxx • BOS 197

Almada • 2TM 197

6. Rolfe • NYY 196

7. Hack • CHC 195

McQuinn • SLB 195

9. DiMaggio • NYY 194

Waner • PIT 194

Lewis • WSH 194

Total Bases

Total Bases Singles + 2 x Doubles + 3 x Triples + 4 x Home Runs.

1. Foxx • BOS 398

2. Greenberg • DET 380

3. DiMaggio • NYY 348

4. Mize • STL 326

5. Medwick • STL 316

6. Johnson • PHA 311

7. Ott • NYG 307

8. Goodman • CIN 303

9. Heath • CLE 302

10. Gehrig • NYY 301

Doubles

Doubles Hit/Allowed

1. Cronin • BOS 51

2. Medwick • STL 47

3. McQuinn • SLB 42

4. Chapman • BOS 40

McCormick • CIN 40

Trosky • CLE 40

7. Vosmik • BOS 37

8. Cramer • BOS 36

Lary • CLE 36

Rolfe • NYY 36

Martin • PHI 36

Young • PIT 36

Triples

Triples Hit/Allowed

1. Heath • CLE 18

2. Mize • STL 16

3. Averill • CLE 15

Gutteridge • STL 15

5. Suhr • PIT 14

6. Koy • BRO 13

Riggs • CIN 13

DiMaggio • NYY 13

9. Kreevich • CHW 12

Campbell • CLE 12

Finney • PHA 12

Home Runs

Home Runs Hit/Allowed

1. Greenberg • DET 58

2. Foxx • BOS 50

3. Ott • NYG 36

4. Clift • SLB 34

5. York • DET 33

6. DiMaggio • NYY 32

7. Goodman • CIN 30

Johnson • PHA 30

9. Gehrig • NYY 29

10. Dickey • NYY 27

Mize • STL 27

Runs Batted In

1. Foxx • BOS 175

2. Greenberg • DET 147

3. DiMaggio • NYY 140

4. York • DET 126

5. Medwick • STL 122

6. Clift • SLB 118

7. Ott • NYG 116

8. Dickey • NYY 115

9. Gehrig • NYY 114

Bonura • WSH 114

Bases on Balls

Bases on Balls/Walks

1. Foxx • BOS 119

Camilli • BRO 119

Greenberg • DET 119

4. Ott • NYG 118

Clift • SLB 118

6. Gehringer • DET 113

7. Gehrig • NYY 107

8. Crosetti • NYY 106

9. Vaughan • PIT 104

10. Hack • CHC 94

Strikeouts

1. DiMaggio • BSN 134

2. Camilli • BRO 101

3. Crosetti • NYY 97

4. Chapman • PHA 94

5. Greenberg • DET 92

6. Berger • CHW 80

Myers • CIN 80

8. Foxx • BOS 76

Hudson • BRO 76

Koy • BRO 76

Stolen Bases

1. Crosetti • NYY 27

2. Milton • KCM 26

3. Lary • CLE 23

4. Brown • KCM 20

5. Werber • PHA 19

6. Lewis • WSH 17

7. Hack • CHC 16

Fox • DET 16

9. Koy • BRO 15

Lavagetto • BRO 15

Moses • PHA 15

Singles

Singles Hit/Allowed

1. McCormick • CIN 160

2. Almada • 2TM 158

3. Waner • PIT 157

4. Cramer • BOS 154

5. Travis • WSH 150

6. Vosmik • BOS 149

7. Hack • CHC 146

8. Rolfe • NYY 142

9. Lewis • WSH 138

10. Moses • PHA 136

Adjusted OPS+

OPS+ 100*[OBP/lg OBP + SLG/lg SLG - 1] Adjusted to the player’s ballpark(s)

1. Leonard • HG 215

2. Gibson • HG 204

3. Reeves • BCA 190

4. Foxx • BOS 183

5. Brown • KCM 182

6. Ott • NYG 178

7. Williams • PC 177

8. Mize • STL 176

9. Greenberg • DET 169

10. Whatley • 2TM 166

Runs Created

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

1. Foxx • BOS 183

2. Greenberg • DET 164

3. Mize • STL 136

4. DiMaggio • NYY 135

5. Ott • NYG 133

6. Johnson • PHA 124

Clift • SLB 124

8. Gehrig • NYY 123

9. Trosky • CLE 122

10. Cronin • BOS 120

Adj. Batting Runs

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

1. Foxx • BOS 75

2. Ott • NYG 63

3. Greenberg • DET 61

4. Mize • STL 57

5. Clift • SLB 40

6. Vaughan • PIT 38

7. Johnson • PHA 37

8. Goodman • CIN 35

9. Lombardi • CIN 34

10. Averill • CLE 33

Adj. Batting Wins

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

1. Foxx • BOS 6.7

2. Ott • NYG 6.2

3. Mize • STL 5.6

4. Greenberg • DET 5.5

5. Vaughan • PIT 3.8

6. Clift • SLB 3.6

7. Goodman • CIN 3.5

8. Lombardi • CIN 3.4

9. Johnson • PHA 3.3

10. Medwick • STL 3.2

Extra Base Hits

Extra Base Hits Doubles + Triples + Home Runs

1. Foxx • BOS 92

2. Greenberg • DET 85

3. DiMaggio • NYY 77

Mize • STL 77

5. Medwick • STL 76

6. Cronin • BOS 73

7. Heath • CLE 70

8. Trosky • CLE 68

9. Goodman • CIN 67

Gehrig • NYY 67

Times On Base

Times on Base Hits + Bases on Balls + Hit By Pitch Does not include Reached on Error or Catcher Interference.

1. Foxx • BOS 316

2. Greenberg • DET 297

3. Gehringer • DET 291

4. Hack • CHC 289

5. Ott • NYG 287

Crosetti • NYY 287

7. Gehrig • NYY 282

8. Vaughan • PIT 280

9. Clift • SLB 278

10. Rolfe • NYY 273

Offensive Win %

Offensive Winning Percentage The percentage of games a team with nine of this player batting would win. Assumes average pitching and defense. 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. Leonard • HG .885

2. Gibson • HG .857

3. Reeves • BCA .847

4. Foxx • BOS .837

5. Williams • PC .822

6. Mize • STL .820

7. Brown • KCM .815

8. Whatley • 2TM .810

9. Ott • NYG .805

10. Greenberg • DET .796

Hit By Pitch

Times Hit by a Pitch.

1. Goodman • CIN 15

Crosetti • NYY 15

3. Bartell • NYG 8

4. Lodigiani • PHA 7

5. Cronin • BOS 5

Jurges • CHC 5

Riggs • CIN 5

Rogell • DET 5

Ott • NYG 5

Ripple • NYG 5

Gehrig • NYY 5

Wilson • PC 5

Rizzo • PIT 5

Clift • SLB 5

Sacrifice Hits

Sacrifice Hits (Sacrifice Bunts)

1. Doerr • BOS 22

2. Hale • CLE 18

3. Young • PHI 15

4. Ripple • NYG 14

Harris • PS 14

Newsom • SLB 14

Stripp • 2TM 14

8. Riggs • CIN 13

Melton • NYG 13

McQuinn • SLB 13

Travis • WSH 13

Intentional Bases on Balls

Intentional Bases on Balls First tracked in 1955.

1. Lombardi • CIN 21

2. Greenberg • DET 15

3. Ott • NYG 13

4. Foxx • BOS 12

Collins • CHC 12

Vaughan • PIT 12

7. Dickey • NYY 11

DiMaggio • NYY 11

Suhr • PIT 11

Medwick • STL 11

Mize • STL 11

Double Plays Grounded Into

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

1. Lombardi • CIN 30

2. Todd • PIT 25

3. Herman • CHC 24

4. Jurges • CHC 22

5. Medwick • STL 21

6. Hudson • BRO 20

7. Cuccinello • BSN 19

Ripple • NYG 19

9. Demaree • CHC 17

10. Rizzo • PIT 16

Waner • PIT 16

Caught Stealing

1. Hack • CHC 15

Werber • PHA 15

3. Crosetti • NYY 12

4. Koy • BRO 11

Gutteridge • STL 11

6. Doerr • BOS 10

7. Cramer • BOS 9

Higgins • BOS 9

DiMaggio • BSN 9

Lewis • WSH 9

Power-Speed #

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

1. Gehringer • DET 16.5

2. Clift • SLB 15.5

3. Gordon • NYY 15.3

4. Lewis • WSH 14.1

5. Werber • PHA 13.9

6. Johnson • PHA 13.8

7. Crosetti • NYY 13.5

8. Koy • BRO 12.7

9. Greenberg • DET 12.5

10. DiMaggio • BSN 12.3

AB per SO

At Bats Per Strikeout For career marks this only includes AB’s for seasons where SO’s were tracked.

1. Waner • PIT 56.3

2. Brown • STL 42.4

3. McCormick • CIN 37.6

4. Sullivan • SLB 37.5

5. Cooney • BSN 36.0

6. Lombardi • CIN 34.9

7. Cramer • BOS 34.6

8. Radcliff • CHW 29.6

9. DiMaggio • NYY 28.5

10. Owen • STL 28.4

AB per HR

At Bats Per Home Run

1. Greenberg • DET 9.6

2. Foxx • BOS 11.3

3. Gibson • HG 14.0

4. York • DET 14.0

5. Ott • NYG 14.6

6. Clift • SLB 15.7

7. Dickey • NYY 16.8

8. Gordon • NYY 18.3

9. Leonard • HG 18.4

10. DiMaggio • NYY 18.7

Outs Made

Outs Made (At Bats - Hits) + Double Plays Grounded Into + Sac. Flies + Sac. Hits + Caught Stealing.

1. Herman • CHC 487

2. Crosetti • NYY 482

3. Waner • PIT 481

4. Lewis • WSH 480

5. Cramer • BOS 474

6. Fox • DET 463

7. Craft • CIN 462

8. McCormick • CIN 456

9. Waner • PIT 452

10. Almada • 2TM 448

Base-Out Runs Added (RE24)

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

1. Foxx • BOS 90.48

2. Averill • CLE 59.47

3. Ott • NYG 58.35

4. York • DET 55.79

5. Mize • STL 52.46

6. Greenberg • DET 52.12

7. Medwick • STL 49.57

8. DiMaggio • NYY 46.12

9. Dickey • NYY 45.54

10. Heath • CLE 43.26

Win Probability Added (WPA)

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

1. Foxx • BOS 6.9

2. Ott • NYG 5.8

3. Mize • STL 5.2

4. Averill • CLE 5.0

5. Heath • CLE 5.0

6. York • DET 4.9

7. DiMaggio • NYY 4.7

8. Goodman • CIN 4.3

9. Clift • SLB 4.2

10. Greenberg • DET 4.1

Situ. Wins Added (WPA/LI)

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

1. Foxx • BOS 7.2

2. Mize • STL 5.5

3. Greenberg • DET 5.4

4. Ott • NYG 4.7

5. Gehrig • NYY 4.5

6. DiMaggio • NYY 4.4

7. Averill • CLE 4.0

8. Clift • SLB 4.0

9. Goodman • CIN 3.7

10. Lombardi • CIN 3.5

Championship WPA (cWPA)

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

1. Ott • NYG 15.5

2. Hartnett • CHC 14.6

3. Averill • CLE 14.3

4. Vaughan • PIT 13.9

5. Suhr • PIT 13.2

6. Rizzo • PIT 11.6

7. Heath • CLE 10.5

8. Collins • CHC 9.6

9. Hack • CHC 8.9

10. DiMaggio • NYY 8.5

Base-Out Wins Added (REW)

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

1. Foxx • BOS 7.8

2. Ott • NYG 5.8

3. Averill • CLE 5.4

4. Mize • STL 5.1

5. York • DET 4.8

6. Medwick • STL 4.8

7. Greenberg • DET 4.5

8. Goodman • CIN 4.3

9. DiMaggio • NYY 4.1

10. Dickey • NYY 4.1

rOBA

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

1. Leonard • HG .528

2. Gibson • HG .505

3. Foxx • BOS .496

4. Greenberg • DET .473

5. Williams • PC .469

6. Reeves • BCA .464

7. Mize • STL .458

8. Ott • NYG .455

9. Brown • KCM .454

10. Hughes • BEG .446

Rbat+

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

1. Leonard • HG 211

2. Gibson • HG 197

3. Ott • NYG 189

4. Foxx • BOS 188

5. Mize • STL 186

6. Reeves • BCA 182

7. Williams • PC 176

8. Brown • KCM 172

9. Greenberg • DET 171

10. Whatley • 2TM 165

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

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1938 Major League Season