Houndcat, I've never said this to anyone online before, and I mean it in a helpful, supportive sort of way.  But you should think about giving up this hobby of posting to newsgroups, because you may well be *too stupid.* One thing we do know already is that you're so stupid that you don't realize how stupid you are.  The above paragraph, admitting you don't understand the meaning of OBP, is apparently intended to portray all of us who understand it as loser geeks, right?  If you understand OBP, you must be a pimply-faced shut-in with bad social skills, uh? Eric M. Van continues: Houndcat, OBP is the percentage of times a guy comes to the plate that he doesn't make an out.   On _base_ Percentage, right? You either get on _base_ or you make an out. It's the simplest, cleanest, purest batting stat in the world.  Everybody understands it but you.  The entire aim of the defense, after all, is to retire the batter in any way possible.  This is why walks will kill you. I am going to *e n j o y* doing this to you, Eric M. Van . I'm going to enjoy it quite a lot! This is the official definition of   On _base_ Percentage from the Statistics section of the MLB website. Here is the address. http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/_base_ball_basics/mlb_basics_abbrevia... sp On _base_ Percentage (OBP)  Divide the total number of hits, _base_s on balls and times hit by pitch by the total of at-bats, _base_s on balls, times hit by pitch and sacrifice flies. For example, if Shawn Green has 619 at-bats, 184 hits, 72 _base_s on balls, 5 times hit by pitch and 5 sacrifice flies, his on-_base_ percentage is .372 ((184+72+5)/(619+72+5+5)). This is a test.  And more than your online reputation may be at stake.

that hit home runs score more runs. This is somewhat misleading, even though I'm sure it wasn't your attention. There may very well be a correlation between strikeouts and runs scored

.372 ((184+72+5)/(619+72+5+5)). and your point?  Eric's formula of (H+B/(AB+B was an estimate as he said.  Looking at the full formula and ignoring the SF flies part for a second, what is this measuring?  The ability of a p_layer_ to get on _base_: H+BB+HBP.  It doesn't count reaching on an error and fielder's choice because those aren't due to the hitters skill.  Now, why are SFs added to the denominator?  Because SFs are not counted as ABs for purposes of BA

On _base_ Percentage (OBP)  Divide the total number of hits, _base_s on balls and times hit by pitch by the total of at-bats, _base_s on balls, times hit by pitch and sacrifice flies. For example, if Shawn Green has 619 at-bats, 184 hits, 72 _base_s on balls, 5 times hit by pitch and 5 sacrifice flies, his on-_base_ percentage is .372 ((184+72+5)/(619+72+5+5)). BTW, the fact that you seem to consider taking 5 numbers, adding up three of them, adding up four of them, and then dividing the two as some kind of HORRID MATHEMATICAL complexity is almost too painfully funny for words.  

I repeat: OBP is the simplest, cleanest, most pure batting stat in the world. This doesn't have anything to do with how easy it is to *calculate*.  It is simple, clean, and pure in its MEANING.  It is the simplest stat to interpret and understand.  It is the cleanest stat to interpret and understand.  It is the purest stat to interpret and understand. And the fact that you can GODDAMN LOOK IT UP renders the complexity of its derivation meaningless. You should get a job at Enron, or maybe Arthur Andersen. Forget about how we get the numbers, JUST WORSHIP OUR GODDAMNED NUMBERS!!! WORSHIP THEM! NOW!! It's not that doing the math is COMPLEX; the formula is just confusing. My unfathomable confusion lies in the question: why add up total at-bats, BBs, HBPs AND Sac Flies? Aren't you over- counting when you do that, since sac flies count as OUTS and OUTS count as AT BATS?? Jeezus! Here are some rules of _base_ball from MLB.com: 1)   At-Bats (A  A batter is charged with an at-bat when he makes an out, reaches _base_ on a _base_ hit, reaches _base_ on a fielding error or reaches _base_ on catcher's interference. 2) Sacrifice Flys (SF)  A batter is credited with a sacrifice fly when he hits a fly ball or line drive with less than two outs that is caught by an outfielder, or by an infielder running into the outfield, and a runner scores after the catch. See ya tomorrow. Houndcat