Baseball Statistics Lessons

Baseball is driven by statistics. About 90 percent of a ballplayer's ability is represented by the numbers, if only we have the patience and desire to interpret them.

These lessons will help you understand how to use the numbers to evaluate players.

Lesson 1: What's an on-base percentage?

This stat should have replaced batting average as the basic unit of measure for offensive players because it simply and concisely measures the most important element of being a hitter: getting on base. Read on for more.

Lesson 2: What is sabermetrics?

Sabermetrics is the study of baseball using advanced statistics to analyze the game. To show how it works, we'll examine the career of newly elected Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan. How does he really stack up as a great pitcher? Read on to learn more.

Lesson 3: What's an earned run average (ERA)?

As the basic statistical measure of a pitcher, ERA determines the average number of earned runs scored against a pitcher every nine innings. Read on to learn more.

If you like what you read...

Buy the downloadable e-book "Baseball Records & Stats: What Every Fan Needs to Know" by David Martinez.