The New Ballgame: Understanding Baseball Statistics for the Casual Fan (4 page)

Single-season milestones are 100 for runs scored and 100 for runs
batted in.

A batter who bunts with the intention of making an out so that his teammate
on base can advance gets credit for a sacrifice, and is not charged a time at bat.
If, however, the bunter is not effective-the defense retires the teammate baserunner after all-the bunter does not get credit for a sacrifice and is charged
with a time at bat. A batter who takes a full swing and is put out does not get
credit for a sacrifice, even if his teammate(s) on base advance.

A flyball that is caught for the first or second out of an inning (or should have
been, but was dropped for an error), yet scores a baserunner, is a sacrifice fly.
The batter gets credit for a run batted in and is not charged a time at-bat.

A baserunner is credited with a stolen base only when he advances on his own
speed without a teammate hitting the ball or otherwise getting on base. No
stolen base is credited to the baserunner who advances on a wild pitch, passed
ball, or balk. Nor is a stolen base credited if the defense is indifferent to the
runner's advance. This last situation usually happens late in games when the
team on defense is ahead by more than one run. Then, it may decide not to
keep the runner close to his base, nor throw to get him out. That is called
"defensive indifference."

Obviously, if a player is thrown out attempting to steal, he is caught stealing.
Less obviously, if he is picked off by a pitcher or catcher's throw without attempting to advance to the next base, this does not count as a caught stealing.

A pitcher gets a win either when he pitches the entire game of a victory or is
replaced when his team has a lead that it never relinquishes.

For example, if Randy Johnson leaves with his New York Yankees leading 5-2 and the Yankees win 5-4, Johnson is the winning pitcher. If he leaves
with a 5-2 lead, but the Red Sox come back to tie it and then the Yankees
finally prevail after all, Johnson is not the winning pitcher. A teammate who
was the pitcher when the Yankees went ahead for good will get that win.

A pitcher whose team was tied or trailing when he was pinch hit for can
get the win if his team goes ahead while at-bat in the same inning as the pinch
hit provided, of course, that the team never loses that lead.

To win, a starting pitcher must pitch at least five innings. There are
cases where a reliever has won without even throwing a pitch! (By recording
an out by picking off a runner, for instance, and then his team goes ahead in
their next turn at bat.)

The rules governing a loss are similar to those for a win. The losing pitcher is
the pitcher who is charged with the run that puts his team behind for good.

A pitcher is responsible for any runners he leaves on base. Therefore,
a pitcher who leaves the game with a lead can still be charged with the loss
if he departs after allowing the potential lead run to reach base and that man
comes around to score while another pitcher is on the mound. Those runs are
charged to the pitcher who put them on base, not to the relief pitcher who allowed the hits that scored those inherited runners.

A pitcher who departs when his team is trailing can be spared a loss if,
at any subsequent point in the game, his team comes back to tie or take the
lead. If his team does this, but eventually loses anyway, the loss is charged to
the teammate who surrendered the run that put his team behind for good.

A starting pitcher does not have to pitch five innings to get a loss. There
are numerous cases where the losing pitcher started the game and failed to get
out a single batter before giving up the eventual winning run.

The official MLB rule book describes this somewhat complicated system as
well as anything:

Credit a pitcher with a save when he meets all three of the
following conditions: (1) He is the finishing pitcher in a game
won by his club; and (2) He is not the winning pitcher; and (3)
He qualifies under one of the following conditions:

(a) He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs
and pitches for at least one inning; or

(b) He enters the game, regardless of the count, with the potential tying run either on base, or at-bat, or on deck (that is, the
potential tying run is either already on base or is one of the first
two batsmen he faces); or

(c) He pitches effectively for at least three innings. No more
than one save may be credited in each game.

Therefore, only relief pitchers earn saves. The relief pitchers who do so
are called "closers."

This is the number of earned runs (ER)-runs that are charged against the
pitcher rather than to defensive mistakes-per nine innings pitched.

To compute ERA, multiply the number of earned runs allowed by 9,
then divide by innings pitched.

Runs attributable to fielding errors, passed balls, and some other rare
plays are unearned runs and do not count in the calculation of earned run
average.

The number of innings a pitcher completed, expressed as units of three outs
each. For instance, a relief pitcher who gets one out before being replaced has
pitched one-third of an inning. If, the next time he pitches, he gets two outs
before being replaced, he has pitched an additional two-thirds of an inning
and his total for the two outings is one inning (not two).

For convenience in small-print box scores and in spreadsheets, partial
innings are often written with decimal points. One-third of an inning is 0.1
innings; two-thirds is 0.2 innings. Because this can be confusing outside of
box scores, a pitcher's total innings are often rounded off to the closest whole
inning-rounded down if the pitcher has pitched an extra one-third of an inning and rounded up if he has pitched an extra two-thirds of an inning.

This is counted only when the starting pitcher can pitch a complete game.
However, he doesn't necessarily have to pitch nine innings to get credit for a
complete game.

A losing pitcher who pitches eight innings against a home team that
does not need to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning gets a complete game.
So does a pitcher who has pitched all of the innings in a shortened, but legally complete game (usually, one that has gone at least five innings before
weather, curfew or another problem ends the game).

NOTE: A relief pitcher who is his team's final pitcher in that
game gets credit for a Game Finished (GF). This is strictly a
relief pitcher's stat. A starting pitcher who pitches a complete
game does not and cannot get a GF.

When a starting pitcher completes a game and allows no runs, he has pitched
a shutout. If he has allowed any runs-even if they are all unearned runs-it
cannot be a shutout. If he allows no runs, but doesn't complete the game, he
does not get credit for a shutout.

Any time a batter reaches base or a runner takes an extra base because a fielder dropped a ball or made a bad throw, it is an error. Errors can occur without
a ball being hit-a catcher might overthrow second base when a runner tries
to steal; a pitcher might make an errant throw trying to pick a runner off base.
It's also an error if a fielder drops a popup or flyball in foul territory, allowing
the batter to get another chance instead of being out.

Not all fielding misplays are errors, however.

Wild pitches and passed balls (see below) are not errors.

If a line drive or groundball is hit so wickedly that all the fielder can do
is slow it down, the official scorer is likely to score that a hit, not an error.

If a player misjudges a popup or flyball and it hits the ground without
any fielder touching it, that usually will be scored a hit, not an error. However,
a groundball that goes through a fielder's legs untouched almost always will
be scored an error.

The rules also specify that official scorers are not permitted to anticipate a double play. Let's say the shortstop makes a perfect throw to second
base to get a force out, then the second baseman pivots and throws wide of
first, pulling the first baseman off the bag and allowing the batter to be safe.
Although a good throw would have put the runner out, this will not be scored
an error. However, if the second baseman's throw was so bad that the batter
also made it to second, an error would be charged to the second baseman because the batter got an extra base.

The player who catches the ball or tags the runner for the out gets credit for
a putout. First basemen get putouts on throws by infielders after groundballs.
Catchers get putouts on strikeouts.

The player(s) who throws or directs the ball to the fielder making the putout
gets an assist. An infielder gets an assist after fielding a groundball and throwing it to the first baseman in time for the out. A pitcher gets an assist if a ball is
hit off his body, then is fielded by a teammate and thrown for a putout. More
than one assist is possible on a play. One example is a cutoff play involving two throws-one by the outfielder, then one by an infielder for a runner
thrown out on the bases. A rundown that involves several throws before the
putout is another.

When the batter reaches base, but a teammate is put out because the fielders
chose to make a play on the runner, the batter has hit into a fielder's choice.
This counts the same as an out for computing his batting average-one time
at-bat, no hit. On certain plays requiring a tag, even if the baserunner and the
batter are both safe, it counts as a fielder's choice.

When the team in the field records two outs on a single time at-bat, it is a
double play. This can happen many ways: a catch followed by throwing out a
runner; a strikeout followed by throwing out a base stealer; a line drive caught
by an infielder who then steps on the base before the runner can return, etc. Most of these are considered baserunning mistakes. When a double play happens on a groundball, it is a GIDP. This statistic is kept separately for batters
as an indication of the double plays that were the batter's fault.

A few very fast runners, usually left-handed hitters who bat leadoff and
thus seldom bat with other runners on first base, hit into few, if any, groundball double plays for a season. Hard-hitting, right-handed sluggers with little
speed, who bat in the middle of the lineup and therefore often bat with runners on first base, might hit into 20-25 double plays in a season.

This is the percentage of successful plays by a fielder, normally expressed as
a three-digit decimal. Add his putouts and assists, then divide that sum by his
number of fielding chances (putouts plus assists plus errors). A fielder with
no errors and at least one putout or assist is fielding 1.000 (expressed as "one
thousand").

A pitch to home plate deemed uncatchable that escapes the catcher and permits one or more runners to advance a base is a wild pitch. If no runner advances, there is no wild pitch, no matter how errant the toss.

A pitch to home plate deemed catchable but that escapes the catcher anyway
and permits one or more runners to advance a base is a passed ball. If no runner advances, there is no passed ball, no matter how far the ball traveled.

When a runner is on base, once a pitcher has begun his movement towards
home plate for a pitch, he must complete that throw in a continuous motion. If
he hesitates, stops, changes direction, or does anything to disrupt that motion
(e.g. accidentally drops the ball), he has committed a balk. The penalty for a
balk is that all runners move up one base. Balks are most often committed by
pitchers who try to deceive the baserunner(s). This can be done several ways,
but often by throwing to the base after making a motion towards home.

This happens when a starting pitcher completes a game allowing no hits.
Walks, hit batsmen, errors, and other events that allow runners to reach base
do not spoil a no-hitter. Only singles, doubles, triples and home runs do. A
pitcher can allow a run (or more)-and even lose the game-despite pitching
a no-hitter. It has happened several times.

A starting pitcher has thrown a perfect game when he completes a game allowing no baserunners at all-even a runner who reaches base on a fielding
error spoils a perfect game.

A player has hit for the cycle when he gets a single, double, triple and home
run in the same game.

Official major league rules can be found online at.
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/official info%official rules/forewordjsp