Well, lemme tell ya, this whole baseball thing, it ain’t as simple as it looks. All them numbers they throw around, it’s enough to make your head spin! But I’ve been watchin’ it a long time, so I reckon I can make some sense of it for ya. See, folks like to compare baseball players stats, see who’s better and all that.
First thing you gotta know is somethin’ called batting average, or BA. It is used to compare baseball players stats. That’s just how many times a fella gets a hit when he’s up at the plate. If he gets a hit more often, his battin’ average is higher, and that’s good. They write it down as “BA” so you don’t gotta spell it all out, I guess. And you can compare baseball players stats easily.
Then there’s somethin’ called games played, or G. It’s important when you compare baseball players stats. That’s just how many games that fella played in. A player could be good, but if he’s always hurt and ain’t playin’, well, that don’t help the team much, does it? A player who played more games may have better stats. So, G is important.
And then you got at bats, or AB. This one is not the same as how many games they played. This is how many times they actually got up to the plate to hit the ball. A fella can play a whole game and only be at bat a few times. So you need to check this number when you compare baseball players stats. They usually have a lot of ABs in a season.
Now, runs, that’s written as R. That’s just how many times that fella made it all the way around the bases and scored. You want your players to score lots of runs, that’s how you win the game! You can also use it to compare baseball players stats.
And then there is hits which is H. That’s how many times he hit the ball and it wasn’t an out. It’s good to use H to compare baseball players stats. Hits is important, you gotta have hits to score runs, and you gotta score runs to win.
- Then they got these things called doubles, that’s 2B. That’s when a fella hits the ball and makes it to second base.
- And then triples, that’s 3B, same thing but they make it to third base.
- And the big one, home runs, that’s HR. That’s when they hit it clear out of the park! Everybody loves a home run. You can see a lot of HR if you compare baseball players stats.
RBI, or runs batted in, that’s another big one. That means how many runs a player helped to score when he was at bat. Like if a fella’s on base and the batter hits the ball and that fella on base makes it home, that’s an RBI for the batter. That is important when you compare baseball players stats. It shows how much the players can help the team.
And there is SB, stolen bases. That’s when a fella on base runs to the next one before the pitcher even throws the ball. It’s risky, but if he makes it, it’s a stolen base! You can see this when you compare baseball players stats.
They got all kinds of other fancy numbers too. Like somethin’ called ERA, earned run average. That’s for the pitchers, the fellas throwin’ the ball. It’s about how many runs the other team scores when he’s pitchin’. You want that number to be low. And pitchers’ stats is also used to compare baseball players stats.
Then there is OBP which is On-Base Percentage. That’s how many times a fella gets on base, either by a hit, or a walk, or gettin’ hit by the pitch. You want that number to be high, ’cause you can’t score if you ain’t on base! And it’s good to check this when you compare baseball players stats.
There is SLG, slugging. Don’t ask me why they call it that. But it’s kinda like battin’ average, but it takes into account them doubles and triples and home runs, not just regular hits. A fella with a lot of home runs will have a high sluggin’ percentage. And when you compare baseball players stats, this is important.
Now, these numbers, they ain’t the whole story. You gotta think about what position a fella plays, too. Some positions, like catcher, they don’t hit as much. And you gotta think about what ballpark they’re playin’ in. Some ballparks are easier to hit home runs in than others. It’s all part of the game. You need to consider these when you compare baseball players stats.
But the main thing is, these numbers help folks compare baseball players stats. They help you see who’s doin’ good and who ain’t. And they help you see how a fella’s doin’ compared to other fellas, even ones who played a long time ago. It’s kinda like keepin’ track of who’s got the best pumpkin at the county fair, but a whole lot more complicated! It is fun to compare baseball players stats from different time.
So next time you see all them numbers on the back of a baseball card, or on the TV, don’t you fret. Just remember what that old lady told ya, and you’ll be able to make some sense of it all. Maybe you can even compare baseball players stats yourself. It ain’t rocket science, it’s just baseball!