Barry Bonds holds the MLB record for highest slugging average in a season (.863).

In baseball statistics, slugging average (abbreviated SLG) is the most popular measure of the power of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats. Statistics are very important to baseball, perhaps more than any other sport. ... Barry Bonds batting Photo:Agência Brasil In baseball, batting is the act of facing the opposing pitcher and trying to produce offense for ones team. ... In baseball statistics, total bases refers to the number of bases a player has gained with hits, i. ... In baseball statistics, an at bat (AB) is used to calculate other data such as batting average. ...

SLG = (1B + (2 x 2B) + (3 x 3B) + (4 x HR))/ AB , where AB is the number of at-bats for a given player, and 1B, 2B, 3B, and HR are the number of singles, doubles, triples, and home runs, respectively. In baseball, a single is the most common type of base hit, accomplished through the act of a batter safely reaching first base by striking the ball and getting to first before being made out, without the benefit of a fielders misplay (see error) or another runner being put... In baseball, a double is the act of a batter safely reaching second base by striking the ball and getting to second before being made out, without the benefit of a fielders misplay (see error) or another runner being put out on a fielders choice. ... In baseball, a triple is the act of a batter safely reaching third base by striking the ball and getting to third before being made out, without the benefit of a fielders misplay (see error) or another runner being put out on a fielders choice. ... Mark McGwire swinging for the fences. ...

For example, in 1920, Babe Ruth was playing his first season for the New York Yankees. In 458 at bats, he had 172 hits, including 73 singles, 36 doubles, 9 triples, and 54 home runs, which brings the total base count to (73 + (36 × 2) + (9 × 3) + (54 × 4)) = 388. He had 458 at bats, so his total number of bases (388) divided by his total at-bats (458) is .847, his slugging average. The next year he slugged .846, and for 80 years those records went unbroken until 2001, when Barry Bonds hit 411 bases in 476 at-bats, bringing his average to .863, unmatched since. For the eponymous band, see Babe Ruth (band). ... Major league affiliations American League (1901–present) East Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 23, 32, 37, 44, 49 Name New York Yankees (1913–present) New York Highlanders (1903-1912) Baltimore Orioles (1901-1902) (Also referred to as... The following are the baseball events of the year 2001 throughout the world. ... Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964 in Riverside, California) is a Major League left fielder for the San Francisco Giants. ...

Significance

Long after it was first invented, slugging average gained new significance when baseball analysts realized that it combined with on-base percentage (OBP) to form a very good measure of a player's overall offensive production (in fact, OBP + SLG was originally referred to as "production" by baseball writer and statistician Bill James). A predecessor metric was developed by Branch Rickey in 1954. Rickey, in Life Magazine, suggested that combining OBP with what he called "extra base power" (EBP) would give a better indicator of player performance than typical Triple Crown stats. EBP was a predecessor to slugging average. In baseball statistics, on base percentage (OBP) (sometimes referred to as on base average (OBA)) is a measure of how often a batter gets to first base for any reason other than a fielding error or a fielders choice. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... 1914 E145 Crackerjack Branch Rickey Wesley Branch Rickey (December 20, 1881 - December 9, 1965) was an innovative Major League Baseball executive best known for two things: breaking baseballs color barrier by signing the African-American player Jackie Robinson, and later drafting the first Hispanic superstar, Roberto Clemente; and creating... A cover of Life Magazine from 1911 Life has been the name of two notable magazines published in the United States. ... In baseball, the Triple Crown refers to: A batter who (at seasons end) leads the league in three major categories -- home runs, runs batted in, and batting average. ...

Allen Barra and George Ignatin were apparently the early adopters in combining the two modern-day statistics, multiplying them together to form what is now known as "SLOB" (Slugging × On-Base). Bill James applied this principle to his runs created formula several years later (and perhaps independently), essentially multiplying SLOB × At-Bats (the actual formula for Runs Created is: RC = [(Hits + Walks)(TotalBases)] / [AtBats + Walks]). In 1984, Pete Palmer and John Thorn developed perhaps the most widespread means of combining slugging and on-base average: OPS. "OPS" simply stands for "on-base plus slugging", and is a simple addition of the two values. Because it is easy to calculate, OPS has been used with increased frequency in recent years as a shorthand form to evaluate contributions as a batter. This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Runs created (RC) is a baseball statistic invented by Bill James to estimate the number of runs a hitter contributes to his team. ... Pete Palmer is an American baseball [statistician]], and one of the leading creators of the mathematical system referred to as sabermetrics. ... John Thorn (born April 17, 1947) is a noted sports historian. ... In baseball statistics, on-base plus slugging (denoted by OPS) incorporates on base percentage (OBP) and slugging percentage (SLG). ... Barry Bonds batting Photo:Agência Brasil In baseball, batting is the act of facing the opposing pitcher and trying to produce offense for ones team. ...

Slugging "percentage"

Slugging average is sometimes referred to as slugging percentage. The term is a misnomer, for it is actually a weighted average, not a percentage. An editor has expressed a concern that the topic of this article may be unencyclopedic. ... In statistics, given a set of data, X = { x1, x2, ..., xn} and corresponding weights, W = { w1, w2, ..., wn} the weighted mean is calculated as Note that if all the weights are equal, the weighted mean is the same as the arithmetic mean. ... The percent sign. ...

Sources

• Citing to Rickey's EBP article