Batting average
A batting average (abbreviated to BA) is defined as the number of hits a player has made divided by the number of at bats they have had. It is normally reported to three decimal places, for example .358 which is read as three fifty-eight.
| BA | = | H ÷ AB |
The batting average is used is to measure a batter's probability on reaching base on a particular at bat, and does not account for any particular type of hit, since doubles, triples, and home runs are all counted first as a hit.
Batting average is one of the three batting statistics used in the batter's Triple Crown (together with HR and RBI), although there has never been a batting Triple Crown winner in the Bull League.
An average is considered great if it is over .300, while a poor average is considered anything below .230. Modern baseball sabermetrics give reduced weight to the significance of a batting average, instead preferring the on base percentage as a better measure of a player's ability to contribute to runs scored by a team, as any player scoring a run must reach base first, and batting average does not account for walks.
Contents
Batting average records
The season record for highest batting average belongs to Hall of Fame second baseman Chuck Provost, who in 1995 hit with an average of .444 with the Richmond Ravens. The highest season batting average since the 162-game season was introduced in 2019 is .390, set by Danny Sanchez in 2019.
The highest career batting averages are as follows:
| † | denotes active player |
|---|---|
| * | denotes Hall of Famer |
| Rank | Player | Average |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danny Sanchez† | .341 |
| 2 | Chuck Provost* | .339 |
| 3 | Ben Day | .324 |
| 4 | George Slammer* | .323 |
| 5 | Prennick Argon | .318 |
| 6 | Narushi Ohata | .317 |
| 7 | Mike Lapi* | .316 |
| 8 | Alex Viramontes† | .315 |
| 9 | Errol Corfield | .314 |
| 10 | Shane Powers | .313 |
League batting records
The highest league batting average was set in 1995, the first of the "modern era" seasons, when the American Eagle League (now Metropolitan League) average was .274. The lowest was set by the Lake League in 1993, a 28-game season, at just .133. The lowest since 1995 was set by the Lake League in 2017 at .246.
Season batting records
For seasons 1991 & 1993, min. 90 at bats. For 1992 season, min. 40 at bats. For seasons 1995-2011, min. 248 at bats. For seasons 2012-2016, min. 254 at bats. For seasons 2017-2018, min. 310 at bats. For seasons 2019 and later, min. 502 at bats.
Highlighted and bold players are in the Hall of Fame.
| Year | Lake League | Metro League | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Avg. | Player | Team | Avg. | |
| 1991[1] | Billy Kidd | Toronto | .428 | Cola Classique | Seattle | .389 |
| 1992[2] | Billy Kidd (2) | Toronto | .307 | Travis Jameson | Seattle | .297 |
| 1993[3] | Stan Johnson | Toronto | .403 | Chuck Provost | Richmond | .510 |
| 1994 | No season played | |||||
| 1995 | Allen Kennedy | Boston | .353 | Chuck Provost (2) | Richmond | .444 |
| 1996 | Chuck Provost (3) | Montreal | .393 | Josh Adams | Denver | .298 |
| 1997 | Chris Felix | Chicoutimi | .419 | Dill Falton | Chicago | .378 |
| 1998 | Chuck Provost (4) | Montreal | .360 | George Slammer | Chicago | .390 |
| 1999 | Dave Norman | Chicoutimi | .370 | Prennick Argon | San Diego | .401 |
| 2000 | Chris Felix (2) | New York | .373 | George Slammer (2) | California | .405 |
| 2001 | Ben Day | Montreal | .379 | Carl Simms | Nevada | .389 |
| 2002 | Barry Bats | New York | .343 | Deadend Myfriend | Calgary | .333 |
| 2003 | Mike Lapi | Chicoutimi | .349 | Dave Norman (2) | Calgary | .362 |
| 2004 | Narushi Ohata | Toronto | .388 | George Slammer (3) | California | .338 |
| 2005 | Errol Corfield | Chicoutimi | .330 | Carl Simms | Nevada | .354 |
| 2006 | Eric Tessier | Toronto | .378 | Barry Janmaat | Nevada | .363 |
| 2007 | Bryan Tate | Toronto | .348 | Bill Ross | Nevada | .351 |
| 2008 | Guido Groeneveld | Chicoutimi | .392 | Zenjiro Suga | Nevada | .396 |
| 2009 | Narushi Ohata (2) | Ohio | .326 | Carlos Mendoza | California | .339 |
| 2010 | Barry Janmaat (2) | Kingston | .349 | Carlos Mendoza (2) | Calgary | .339 |
| 2011 | Francisco Erazo | Boston | .362 | Koji Kondo | Calgary | .346 |
| 2012 | Narushi Ohata (3) | Ohio | .353 | Section Attack | Seattle | .359 |
| 2013 | Danny Sanchez | Montreal | .356 | Luis Silva | California | .353 |
| 2014 | Xavier de Soto | Kingston | .334 | Danny Sanchez (2) | Norfolk | .358 |
| 2015 | Xavier de Soto (2) | Kingston | .354 | Alex Viramontes | San Diego | .389 |
| 2016 | Bruce Aberto | Boston | .336 | Alex Viramontes (2) | San Diego | .365 |
| 2017 | Jose Ramirez | Montreal | .342 | Danny Sanchez (3) | Norfolk | .369 |
| 2018 | Les Groves | Louisville | .371 | Miguel Ortega | Norfolk | .377 |
| 2019 | Les Groves (2) | Milwaukee | .362 | Danny Sanchez (4) | Norfolk | .390 |
| 2020 | John Rambo | Chicago | .374 | Danny Sanchez (5) | Norfolk | .349 |
References
- ↑ 1991 Bull League stats. BNN archives. http://bullleague.org/bull-league/archives/1991stats.pdf. Accessed: 31 Aug 2019.
- ↑ 1992 Bull League stats. BNN archives. http://bullleague.org/bull-league/archives/1992stats.pdf. Accessed: 31 Aug 2019.
- ↑ 1993 Bull League stats. BNN archives. http://bullleague.org/bull-league/archives/1993stats.pdf. Accessed: 31 Aug 2019.
