Gross production average (GPA) is a baseball statistic created in 2003 by Aaron Gleeman,[1] as a refinement of on-base plus slugging (OPS).[2][3] 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.[4][5] 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 basic formula for GPA is:[4]
Unlike OPS, this formula both gives proper relative weight to its two component statistics and generates a number that falls on a scale similar to the familiar batting average scale.[6]
All-time leaders
editThe all-time top 10 highest career gross production averages, among players with 3,000 or more plate appearances:
- Babe Ruth .3858
- Ted Williams .3754
- Lou Gehrig .3592
- Barry Bonds .3516
- Jimmie Foxx .3449
- Rogers Hornsby .3396
- Hank Greenberg .3367
- Manny Ramirez .3312
- Mickey Mantle .3287
- Stan Musial .3274
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-10-15. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "About Those Stats…". 3 May 2004.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b "Glossary – The Hardball Times".
- ^ "About Those Stats..." 3 May 2004.
- ^ "New Baseball Statistic, With a Nod to an Old Standard". The New York Times. 25 February 2007.
External links
edit- New Baseball Statistic, With a Nod to an Old Standard NYT Article of February 25, 2007 explaining GPA.
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