Glossary: Standard
View Glossary Entries by
For hitters: Singles
For pitchers: Singles Allowed
For positions: First Baseman
For hitters: Doubles
For pitchers: Doubles Allowed
For positions: Second Baseman
For hitters: Triples
For pitchers: Triples Allowed
For positions: Third Baseman
According to the MLB offical rules, an assist is "credited to a fielder whose action contributes to a runner being put out."
Official plate appearances where the batter doesn't walk, get hit by a pitch, hit a recognized sacrifice or is interfered with by the catcher.
Hitters: Batting average
Pitchers: Batting average allowed
Hitters: Base on balls (walks)
Pitchers: Base on balls (walks) allowed
Bases on balls allowed per 9 innings pitched.
Not recorded 1876-1880.
Batters Left On Base
Occurs when a pitcher comes into the game in a save situation and surrenders the lead at any point during his appearance. The runners that score may be inherited from another pitcher, but the blown save is still charged to the pitcher who allowed them to score. Assigned for both closers and middle relievers.
Batting average; hits divided by at-bats. In PECOTA, Batting Average is one of five primary production metrics used in identifying a hitter's comparables. It is defined as H/AB.
Bequeathed baserunners. More simply, the number of runners a pitcher left on base when exiting the game, including runners still on base put there by a preceding pitcher.
Complete Games.
CS are not available for the NL from 1876-1950 (except for 1915, 1920-25, and some players for 1916), in the AL from 1901-19 (except 1914-15 and some 1916 players), and are not available at all for the AA, UA, PL, or FL. Surprisingly, they are available for the NA. In catcher's fielding, not available prior to 1978.
Double plays, turned or hit into.
Errors.
Earned Run Average. Earned runs, divided by innings pitched, multiplied by nine.
Fielder's Choice
Properly speaking, a pitcher should only be credited with a game played on his batting line when he actually appears in the lineup (i.e., not when a DH hits for him.) The BP database is currently inconsistent in this respect.
Ratio of ground balls to fly balls.
In player or team statistical context, batted balls that were classified as ground balls.
In team standings context, Games Back. How far this team is behind the team leading the division. The formula is
((Division Leader's Wins - This team's Wins) + (This team's Losses - Division Leader's Losses)) / 2
The Division Leader is the team with the highest team Wins minus team Losses. GB is traditionally expressed as a dash (-) for the division leader and a whole or half number for teams behind that team. For teams lagging the Division Leader, a win or a Division Leader Loss will reduce their GB by half a game.
GB is not recalculated for League or All MLB groupings; it always reflects a team's status relative to the leader of their division.
Grounded into double play. Not recorded prior to 1933 in the NL, or 1939 in the AL, and not at all for the other leagues. Unfortunately, without opportunity information, I don't find it very useful for inclusion in EqA. There is also evidence, from Tom Ruane, that players who hit into more DP also tend to advance more runners with outs, enough to offset the DPs.
Games started by a pitcher.
Hits, or hits allowed.
Hits allowed per 9 innings pitched.
Not recorded for the NL 1876-1886, the AA in 1882-83, the 1884 UA, and the 1871-75 NA, for either hitters or pitchers.
Home runs, or home runs allowed.
Home runs allowed per 9 innings pitched.
Hits allowed per 9 innings pitched
Holds. A Hold is credited any time a relief pitcher enters a game in a Save Situation, records at least one out, and leaves the game never having relinquished the lead.
Not recorded for any league prior to 1955.
Innings officated.
Innings Pitched.
Innings pitched per start.
Strikeouts per 9 innings pitched.
Refers to a pitcher's losses. In context of a team rather than an individual pitcher, refers to team losses.
League. 'A' or 'AL' denotes American League. 'N' or 'NL' denotes National League.
Player's name.
Total number of pitches thrown.
On-base percentage. (H + BB + HBP) divided by (AB + BB + HBP + SF). For pitchers, OBP is on base percentage allowed.
On Base Percentage + Slugging Percentage
Plate appearances; AB + BB + HBP + SH + SF.
Passed balls; not available for the NA.
Putouts.
Player's position.
Complete statistical data is available for:
- Batters vs left-handed pitchers (LHP)
- Batters vs right-handed pitchers (RHP)
- Pitchers vs left-handed batters (LH)
- Pitchers vs right-handed batters (RH)
In the sortable statistics reports, these can be displayed for any choice of years and levels (MLB, Triple-A, etc.).
On the Player Card pages, these are displayed for both the current (or most recent) season, as well as a career-long "Multi" combination, which weights plate appearances by a factor of:
(.5) ^ ([current year] - [year])
... so the current season is weighted 100%, the previous season 50%, etc.
Runs scored (for hitters) or allowed (pitchers).
Actual team runs allowed. Can also stand for Run Average--runs allowed, earned or otherwise, divided by innings pitched, times 9.
Runs Batted In.
Actual runs scored by a team.
Stolen bases. Not recorded for any league between 1876 and 1885. On the catcher's fielding charts, not available prior to 1978.
Sacrifice flies. The statistical category of "sacrifice flies" did not exist prior to 1954; the concept had been around, on and off, since 1908, but had been always been part of the "SH" category. See SH.
Sacrifice hits. Not recorded prior to 1894. From 1894-1907, they were essentially the same as the modern rule - a bunt which advanced a baserunner. From 1908-25, they included what we would now call a sacrifice fly (sacrifices increase 25% between 1907 and 1908 as a result). From 1926-30, they included any fly ball on which a runner advanced, not just ones where the runner scored (another 25% increase in 1926). From 1931-38, sacrifice flies were eliminated completely (causing a 45% drop in sacrifices, and a 4-point decline in batting averages); that brought us back to the modern definition of sacrifice hit. In 1939 they re-introduced the run-scoring sac fly (returning to the 1908-25 rules), but eliminated it again in 1940. When sacrifice flies appeared again in 1954, they had their own category, so the rule for what we would call a sacrifice hit has not changed since 1940.
Shutouts.
Slugging percentage (hitters) or slugging percentage allowed (pitchers). Total bases divided by at-bats.
Strikeouts. For pitchers, batters struck out, for batters, times struck out.
Strikeouts per 9 innings pitched.
Percentage of pitches thrown for strikes.
Saves.
Strikeouts per plate appearance.
Total bases - A home run is 4 total bases, a triple is 3, a double is 2, and a single is 1. Walks, steals, sacrifices, and other non-hit advancement do not count as a total base.
Not recorded for the NL 1876-1886, the AA of 1882-83, the 1884 UA, or the NA of 1871-75.
Team.
As used in most places (including the PECOTA cards), Team is the three letter abbreviation for a major league, minor league, or foreign team.
Team.
Hits plus doubles plus two times triples plus three times home runs.
Umpire's name.
Refers to a pitcher's wins. In context of a team rather than an individual pitcher, refers to team wins.
Walks plus hits allowed per inning pitched.
Wild pitches.
Walks allowed per 9 innings pitched
| 
