List of National League annual slugging percentage leaders

Last updated

List of National League Slugging Percentage Leaders

The National League slugging percentage Leader is the Major League Baseball player in the National League who has the highest slugging percentage in a particular season. [1]

In baseball statistics, slugging percentage' (abbreviated SLG) is a measure of the power of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats:

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. Walks are specifically excluded from this calculation.

Currently, a player needs to accrue an average of at least 3.1 plate appearances for each game his team plays in order to qualify for the title. An exception to this qualification rule is that if a player falls short of 3.1 plate appearances per game, but would still have the highest batting average if enough hitless at-bats were added to reach the 3.1 average mark, the player still wins the slugging percentage championship.

The latest example of this exception being employed was in 2007, when Ryan Braun had a .634 slugging percentage, but only 492 plate appearances – 10 short of the 502 necessary. The addition of 10 hitless at-bats would have lowered his slugging percentage to a value that was still better than anyone else in the league, so Braun was the National League slugging percentage champion. A similar situation occurred when Tony Gwynn won the NL batting title in 1996. [2]

Year-by-Year National League Slugging Percentage Leaders

Ryan Braun Ryan Braun 2008-2 (cropped).jpg
Ryan Braun
Larry Walker Larry Walker1.jpg
Larry Walker
Joe Morgan Joe Morgan crop.jpg
Joe Morgan
Willie Mays Willie Mays cropped.jpg
Willie Mays
Duke Snider Duke Snider 1953.jpg
Duke Snider
Johnny Mize Johnny Mize.png
Johnny Mize
Rogers Hornsby Rogers Hornsby.jpg
Rogers Hornsby
Honus Wagner Honus Wagner (crop).JPG
Honus Wagner

+ Hall of Famer

A ** by the stat's value indicates the player had fewer than the required number of plate appearances for the SLG title that year. In order to rank the player, the necessary number of hitless at bats were added to the player's season total. The value here is their actual value, and not the value used to rank them.

Related Research Articles

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rogers Hornsby</span> American baseball player, coach and manager

Rogers Hornsby Sr., nicknamed "The Rajah", was an American baseball infielder, manager, and coach who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants (1927), Boston Braves (1928), Chicago Cubs (1929–1932), and St. Louis Browns (1933–1937). He was named the National League (NL)'s Most Valuable Player (MVP) twice, and was a member of one World Series championship team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honus Wagner</span> American baseball player (1874–1955)

Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner, sometimes referred to as Hans Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wagner won his eighth batting title in 1911, a National League record that remains unbroken to this day, and matched only once, in 1997, by Tony Gwynn. He also led the league in slugging six times and stolen bases five times. Wagner was nicknamed "the Flying Dutchman" due to his superb speed and German heritage. This nickname was a nod to the popular folk-tale made into a famous opera by the German composer Richard Wagner. In 1936, the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Wagner as one of the first five members. He received the second-highest vote total, behind Ty Cobb's 222 and tied with Babe Ruth at 215.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stan Musial</span> American baseball player (1920–2013)

Stanley Frank Musial, nicknamed "Stan the Man", was an American baseball outfielder and first baseman. Widely considered to be one of the greatest and most consistent hitters in baseball history, Musial spent 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, from 1941 to 1944 and from 1946 to 1963, before becoming a first-ballot inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969. He batted .331 over the course of his career and set National League (NL) records for career hits (3,630), runs batted in (1,951), games played (3,026), at bats (10,972), runs scored (1,949) and doubles (725). His 475 career home runs then ranked second in NL history behind Mel Ott's total of 511. A seven-time batting champion, he was named the National League's (NL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) three times and was a member of three World Series championship teams. He also shares the major league record for the most All-Star Games played (24) with Hank Aaron and Willie Mays.

Runs created (RC) is a baseball statistic invented by Bill James to estimate the number of runs a hitter contributes to their team.

At the end of each Major League Baseball season, the league leaders of various statistical categories are announced. Leading either the American League or the National League in a particular category is referred to as a title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mel Ott</span> American baseball player and manager

Melvin Thomas Ott, nicknamed "Master Melvin", was an American professional baseball right fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Giants, from 1926 through 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batting order (baseball)</span> Sequence in which the members of the offense bat against the pitcher

In baseball, the batting order or batting lineup is the sequence in which the members of the offense take their turns in batting against the pitcher. The batting order is the main component of a team's offensive strategy. In Major League Baseball, the batting order is set by the manager, who before the game begins must present the home plate umpire with two copies of his team's lineup card, a card on which a team's starting batting order is recorded. The home plate umpire keeps one copy of the lineup card of each team, and gives the second copy to the opposing manager. Once the home plate umpire gives the lineup cards to the opposing managers, the batting lineup is final and a manager can only make changes under the Official Baseball Rules governing substitutions. If a team bats out of order, it is a violation of baseball's rules and subject to penalty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mickey Morandini</span> American baseball player

Michael Robert "Mickey" Morandini, is an American former professional baseball second baseman and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and Toronto Blue Jays. His career highlights include selection as a 1995 National League (NL) All-Star, playing for the Phillies in the 1993 NL Championship Series and World Series, and appearing for the Cubs in the 1998 NL Division Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Del Ennis</span> American baseball player (1925-1996)

Delmer Ennis was an American professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1946 to 1959 for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, and Chicago White Sox. From 1949 to 1957, he accumulated more runs batted in (RBI) than anyone besides Stan Musial and was eighth in the National League (NL) in home runs. In 1950, Ennis led the NL with 126 RBI as the Phillies won their first pennant in 35 years. He held the Phillies career record of 259 home runs from 1956 to 1980, and ranked 10th in National League history with 1,824 games in the outfield, when his career ended.

Gross production average (GPA) is a baseball statistic created in 2003 by Aaron Gleeman, as a refinement of on-base plus slugging (OPS). GPA attempts to solve two frequently cited problems with OPS. First, OPS gives equal weight to its two components, on-base percentage (OBP) and slugging percentage (SLG). In fact, OBP contributes significantly more to scoring runs than SLG does. Sabermetricians have calculated that OBP is about 80% more valuable than SLG. A second problem with OPS is that it generates numbers on a scale unfamiliar to most baseball fans. For all the problems with a traditional stat like batting average (AVG), baseball fans immediately know that a player batting .365 is significantly better than average, while a player batting .167 is significantly below average. But many fans do not immediately know how good a player with a 1.013 OPS is.

The Houston Astros' 1994 season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Houston Astros attempting to win the inaugural season of the National League Central division; they finished in second place. First baseman Jeff Bagwell was a unanimous selection for the National League Most Valuable Player Award. Despite nearly the last two months of the being cancelled due to the 1994–95 strike, Bagwell set a then-club record for home runs with 39 and a club record for batting average (.368) and slugging percentage (.750).

The 2002 San Francisco Giants season was the 120th in franchise history, the franchise's 45th season in San Francisco, and their third in Pacific Bell Park. The season ended with the Giants winning the National League pennant but losing to the Anaheim Angels in the 2002 World Series.

The 2001 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 119th year in Major League Baseball, their 44th year in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their second at Pacific Bell Park. The team finished in second place in the National League West with a 90–72 record, two games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks, and they finished three games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the Wild Card spot. The Giants set franchise records for home runs (235) and pinch hit home runs (14).

The 2004 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 122nd year in Major League Baseball, their 47th year in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their fifth at SBC Park. The team finished in second place in the National League West with a 91–71 record, 2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. Barry Bonds became the oldest player in the history of the National League to win the MVP Award. It would be the last winning season San Francisco would have until 2009. The Giants hit 314 doubles, the most in franchise history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award</span> Major League Baseball award

The League Championship Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award is given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players deemed to have the most impact on their teams' performances in each of the two respective League Championship Series that comprise the penultimate round of the MLB postseason. The award is given separately for a player in both the American League Championship Series and the National League Championship Series. It has been presented in the National League (NL) since 1977, and in the American League (AL) since 1980. Dusty Baker won the inaugural award in 1977 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Frank White won the first AL award in 1980 with the Kansas City Royals. The ten Hall of Famers to win LCS MVPs include Roberto Alomar, George Brett, Dennis Eckersley, Rickey Henderson, Kirby Puckett, Ozzie Smith, Willie Stargell, John Smoltz, Iván Rodríguez, and Mariano Rivera.

The Greatest Baseball Game Never Played was a 1982 simulated broadcast of a hypothetical baseball game between all-time Major League Baseball greats. The broadcast was aired on 200 radio stations in the United States and Canada and also released as a record album.

The St. Louis Cardinals, a professional baseball franchise based in St. Louis, Missouri, compete in the National League (NL) of Major League Baseball (MLB). After decades of early futility in the National League, St. Louis baseball encountered a renaissance with 11 World Series titles and 18 National League pennants since 1926. Sam Breadon's purchase of the majority stake in the club in 1920 spurred this revival; he then assumed the role as team president and assigned the young, enterprising Branch Rickey as his business manager, functioning as a prototype of today's general manager. In his tenure as owner until 1947, Breadon's Cardinals won nine NL pennants and six World Series titles. During this era in Cardinals franchise history, they also totaled 2,898 wins and 2,171 losses in the regular season for a .572 winning percentage.

References

  1. ↑ "Yearly League Leaders & Records for Slugging %". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Baseball Examiner". Baseball Examiner. June 13, 2006. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.