A measure of a baseball player's ability to get on base, and along with slugging percentage, one of the two most important statistics for measuring the ability of a hitter. Usually abbreviated .OBP, it is a more useful stat than batting average, because it takes into account walks.
To calculate on-base percentage... use the following formula:
(H + BB + HBP)/(AB + BB + HBP)
H = hits
BB = walks
HBP = hit-by-pitch
AB = at-bats
ALL-TIME .OBP LEADERS
SINGLE SEASON CAREER
Barry Bonds 2002 .582 Ted Williams .483
Ted Williams 1941 .553 Babe Ruth .474
John McGraw 1899 .548 John McGraw .466
Babe Ruth 1923 .545 Billy Hamilton .455
Babe Ruth 1920 .532 Lou Gehrig .447
Barry Bonds 2003 .529 Bill Joyce .435
Ted Williams 1957 .526 Rogers Hornsby .434
Billy Hamilton 1894 .529 Barry Bonds* .433
Babe Ruth 1926 .516 Ty Cobb .433
Barry Bonds 2001 .515 Frank Thomas* .428
Last Updated: End of 2003 season