In baseball statistics, at bats per home run (AB/HR) is a way to measure how frequently a batter hits a home run. It is determined by dividing the number of at bats by the number of home runs hit. Mark McGwire possesses the MLB record for this statistic with a career ratio of 10.61 at bats per home run and Babe Ruth is second, with 11.76 at bats per home run. Aaron Judge has the best career ratio among active players with 11.99 at bats per home run, as of October 5, 2022. [1]
Totals are current as of September 2022 [update] , minimum 3,000 plate appearances. [1]
Single-season statistics are current as of July 2021 [update] . [2]
Babe Ruth was the first batter to average fewer than nine at-bats per home run over a season, hitting his 54 home runs of the 1920 season in 457 at-bats; an average of 8.463. Seventy-eight years later, Mark McGwire became the first batter to average fewer than eight AB/HR, hitting his 70 home runs of the 1998 season in 509 at-bats (an average of 7.2714). In 2001, Barry Bonds became the first batter to average fewer than seven AB/HR, setting the Major League record by hitting his 73 home runs of the 2001 season in 476 at-bats for an average of 6.5205. [3]
Ruth led the American League every year from 1918 until 1931, except for 1925. [4]
Ruth, McGwire and Bonds are the only batters in history to average nine or fewer AB/HR over a season, having done so a combined ten times:
Aaron Judge's 62 HR season in 2022 came at a rate of 9.19 AB/HR.
| Batter | Season | HR | AB | AB/HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Babe Ruth | 1920 | 54 | 457 | 8.4630 |
| Babe Ruth | 1927 | 60 | 540 | 9.0000 |
| Mark McGwire | 1996 | 52 | 423 | 8.1346 |
| Mark McGwire | 1998 | 70 | 509 | 7.2714 |
| Mark McGwire | 1999 | 65 | 521 | 8.0154 |
| Barry Bonds | 2001 | 73 | 476 | 6.5205 |
| Barry Bonds | 2002 | 46 | 403 | 8.7610 |
| Barry Bonds | 2003 | 45 | 390 | 8.6670 |
| Barry Bonds | 2004 | 45 | 373 | 8.2890 |
On-base plus slugging (OPS) is a sabermetric baseball statistic calculated as the sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The ability of a player both to get on base and to hit for power, two important offensive skills, are represented. An OPS of .800 or higher in Major League Baseball puts the player in the upper echelon of hitters. Typically, the league leader in OPS will score near, and sometimes above, the 1.000 mark.
Mark David McGwire, nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2001 for the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardinals. He won two World Series championships, one with Oakland as a player in 1989 and one with St. Louis as a coach in 2011. One of the most prolific home run hitters in baseball history, McGwire hit 583 home runs during his career, which ranked 5th-most in MLB history at the time of his retirement and currently ranks 11th. He holds the major-league career record for at bats per home run ratio (10.6), and is the former record holder for both home runs in a single season and home runs hit by a rookie. McGwire was one of several central figures in baseball's steroids scandal.
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