1. What is Batting Average?

Batting average is a statistic in baseball that measures a batter's performance by calculating the ratio of hits to at bats. It's one of the oldest and most traditional metrics for evaluating hitters.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the simple batting average formula:

Where:

• Hits — Number of successful hits by the batter
• At Bats — Number of official at bats (excluding walks, sacrifices, etc.)

Explanation: The result is typically expressed as a decimal rounded to three places (e.g., 0.300).

3. Importance of Batting Average

Details: While modern baseball analytics use more advanced metrics, batting average remains a fundamental statistic for evaluating a player's hitting ability and is often used in contract negotiations and awards voting.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter whole numbers for hits and at bats. Hits cannot exceed at bats. At bats must be greater than zero.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What is considered a good batting average?
A: In Major League Baseball, .300 is considered excellent, .250 is average, and below .200 is poor.

Q2: How is batting average different from on-base percentage?
A: Batting average only counts hits per at bats, while OBP includes walks and hit-by-pitches in its calculation.

Q3: Why is batting average expressed to three decimal places?
A: This tradition dates back to the early days of baseball statistics when newspapers reported averages this way.

Q4: What's the highest possible batting average?
A: The theoretical maximum is 1.000 (a hit every at bat), though in practice no player has maintained this over a full season.

Q5: Does batting average account for power hitting?
A: No, batting average treats all hits equally - a single counts the same as a home run in this calculation.