Misplaced Pages

#937062

17-606: The Hardball Times maintains a large and ever-changing stable of writers; many of its writers have gone on to work for larger media organizations (former writers Aaron Gleeman and Craig Calcaterra both work for NBC ) or major league baseball teams (including Carlos Gomez, who is a scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks ; Dan Fox, who is the Director of Baseball Systems Development for the Pittsburgh Pirates ; Adam Guttridge, who

34-643: A journalism major. However, the Minnesota Daily did not hire him as a staff writer, despite annual attempts (although they did give him one freelance story which ran on the Daily website) and Gleeman eventually dropped out of the University without obtaining his degree. On November 25, 2003, Gleeman used his blog to introduce a new statistic called Gleeman Production Average. The name was later changed to Gross Production Average to make it more palatable. The formula

51-523: A batter with more than 3,000 plate appearances is .482 by Ted Williams . The lowest is by Bill Bergen , who had an OBP of .194. On-base percentage is calculated using this formula: where In certain unofficial calculations, the denominator is simplified and replaced by Plate Appearance (PA); however, the calculation PAs includes certain infrequent events that will slightly lower the calculated OBP (i.e. catcher's interference , and sacrifice bunts ). Sacrifice bunts are excluded from consideration on

68-440: A cartoonist who goes by “Tuck!” One of THT's best-known and most controversial writers, John Brattain, died on March 24, 2009. The site is edited by Joe Distelheim, Travis Conrads, Jeremiah Oshan and Bryan Tsao. THT also features a blog, THT Live, which is run by Novick. The Hardball Times includes a dedicated fantasy section, running multiple articles a day five days a week. Its writers include Derek Carty, who has been there from

85-454: A pre-season book, The Hardball Times Season Preview . The book consisted of 30 team essays, over 1,000 player comments, and projections for each player. It also featured projected standings, career projections, and multiple essays in the back of the book, mostly concerning fantasy baseball. In the 2010, the book was replaced by THT Forecasts. In 2004, Steve Treder and Dave Studeman also released The Hardball Times Bullpen Book , which chronicled

102-399: Is where OBP is on-base percentage and SLG is slugging percentage . The result is a number that resembles a batting average but reflects the player's ability to avoid outs and hit for power. On-base percentage In baseball statistics , on-base percentage ( OBP ) measures how frequently a batter reaches base . An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it

119-607: Is a Baseball Operations Analyst for the Milwaukee Brewers; and Josh Kalk, who is a Baseball Operations Analyst with the Tampa Bay Rays ). Its staff as of 2010 included Richard Barbieri, John Barten, Brian Borawski, Kevin Dame, Joshua Fisher, Brandon Isleib, Chris Jaffe, Brad Johnson, Max Marchi, Bruce Markusen, Dan Novick, Harry Pavlidis, Alex Pedicini, Jeff Sackmann, Mike Silver, Nick Steiner, Steve Treder, Geoff Young, Ricky Zanker, and

136-429: Is sometimes referred to as on-base average ( OBA ), as it is rarely presented as a true percentage . Generally defined as "how frequently a batter reaches base per plate appearance ", OBP is specifically calculated as the ratio of a batter's times on base (the sum of hits , bases on balls , and times hit by pitch ) to the sum of at bats , bases on balls, hit by pitch, and sacrifice flies . OBP does not credit

153-552: The AL and NL. Launched in March 2010, THT Forecasts begins its third season as a subscription-only section featuring Brian Cartwright's Oliver Projections . Subscribers can access six years worth of projections, including minor league players, which are updated weekly during the season. Since its inception in 2004, The Hardball Times has released an annual book, The Hardball Times Baseball Annual . From 2007–2009, The Hardball Times also released

170-635: The baseball statistics website, The Hardball Times before leaving to write for NBC Sports. In 2006, Gleeman was featured in a short profile in Sports Illustrated . He is the author of the book, “The Big 50: Minnesota Twins: The Men and Moments that Made the Minnesota Twins.” Gleeman is a graduate of Highland Park High School in St. Paul, MN . After high school, he attended the University of Minnesota as

187-403: The batter for reaching base on fielding errors , fielder's choice , uncaught third strikes , fielder's obstruction , or catcher's interference . OBP is added to slugging average (SLG) to determine on-base plus slugging (OPS). The OBP of all batters faced by one pitcher or team is referred to as "on-base against". On-base percentage is calculable for professional teams dating back to

SECTION 10

#1732851819938

204-522: The best on-base percentages bat as leadoff hitter , unless they are power hitters, who traditionally bat slightly lower in the batting order . The league average for on-base percentage in Major League Baseball has varied considerably over time; at its peak in the late 1990s, it was around .340, whereas it was typically .300 during the dead-ball era . On-base percentage can also vary quite considerably from player to player. The highest career OBP of

221-415: The first year of National Association of Professional Base Ball Players competition in 1871, because the component values of its formula have been recorded in box scores ever since. The statistic was invented in the late 1940s by Brooklyn Dodgers statistician Allan Roth with then-Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey . In 1954, Rickey, who was then the general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates ,

238-538: The history of major league relievers and reviewed, in detail, the best and worst performers of each major league bullpen from 2002 through 2004. Aaron Gleeman Aaron Gleeman is an American writer primarily covering the Minnesota Twins for The Athletic and is the former Editor-in-Chief at Baseball Prospectus. He co-hosts Gleeman and the Geek, a Twins Baseball podcast. He was the co-founder and main operator of

255-445: The influential 2003 book Moneyball highlighted Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane 's focus on the statistic. Many baseball observers, particularly those influenced by the field of sabermetrics , now consider on-base percentage superior to the statistic traditionally used to measure offensive skill, batting average , which accounts for hits but ignores other ways a batter can reach base. Traditionally, players with

272-544: The start, as well as Derek Ambrosino, Jeffrey Gross, Matt Hagen, Jonathan Halket, Jeremiah Oshan, Josh Shepardson, and Jonathan Sher. THT Fantasy is edited by Travis Conrads, Ben Jacobs, and Jeremiah Oshan. THT Fantasy runs a weekly "Roster Doctor" column in which writers dissect a reader's roster and features a daily updated "Closer Watch" feature, which allows readers to keep up tabs on the closer situation for all 30 Major League teams. THT Fantasy also features weekly waiver wire articles that dissect undervalued fantasy players in

289-432: Was featured in a Life Magazine graphic in which the formula for on-base percentage was shown as the first component of an all-encompassing "offense" equation. However, it was not named as on-base percentage, and there is little evidence that Roth's statistic was taken seriously at the time by the baseball community at large. On-base percentage became an official MLB statistic in 1984. Its perceived importance jumped after

#937062