1. What is Batting Average?

Batting average (BA) is a statistic in baseball that measures a batter's success rate at achieving a hit during an at bat. It is calculated by dividing the number of hits by the number of at bats.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the batting average formula:

Where:

• \( BA \) — Batting average (dimensionless)
• \( H \) — Number of hits
• \( AB \) — Number of at bats

Explanation: The formula represents the ratio of successful hits to total opportunities (at bats). It's typically expressed as a decimal rounded to three places.

3. Importance of Batting Average

Details: While modern baseball analytics use more advanced metrics, batting average remains one of the traditional "triple crown" statistics and provides a quick measure of a player's hitting ability.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter whole numbers for hits and at bats. At bats must be greater than 0, and hits cannot exceed at bats. The result is automatically rounded to three decimal places.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What is considered a good batting average?
A: .300 is generally considered excellent, .270-.299 is good, and below .250 is poor. The league average typically ranges between .240-.260.

Q2: What's not counted as an at bat?
A: Walks, hit-by-pitches, sacrifices, and catcher's interference are not counted as at bats.

Q3: Why is batting average expressed to three decimals?
A: This tradition dates back to the early days of baseball statistics when batting averages were published in newspapers without the leading zero (e.g., .300 was shown as 300).

Q4: What are the limitations of batting average?
A: It doesn't account for power (extra base hits) or patience (walks), which is why metrics like OBP and OPS are now more valued.

Q5: What's the highest possible batting average?
A: 1.000 (a hit every at bat), though this is only theoretically possible over very small samples.