Baseball is a
game of
numbers. What are the
odds that
Derek Jeter is going to
hit the
ball? How many points do
opponents normally
score off
Pedro Martinez? How much
money is
Alex Rodriguez going to have to pay to the
IRS? With all these
numbers floating around the
game of
baseball,
baseball statisticians (is that a
real job or did I just
make that up?) have invented some
terminology to make the
game all that much more fun to
study. What follows is a list of
common (and
official even!) abbreviations for
baseball terminology.
BTW, if you want to see someone really
crank out the numbers, check out
Rob Neyer's column on espn.com.
Offensive Statistics:
AB - Times at Bat
AVG - Batting Average
BB - Walks (Bases on Balls)
CS - Caught Stealing
DO - Doubles (2B is common, but not official)
GDP - Ground into Double Plays
GP - Games Played
GS - Games Started
GSH - Grand Slam Home Runs
H - Hits
HP - Hit by Pitch
HR - Home Runs
IBB - Intentional Walks
OBP - On-Base Percentage
OPS - On-Base Percentage plus Slugging Percentage
R - Runs Scored
RBI - Runs Batted In
SB - Stolen Bases
SF - Sacrifice Flies
SH - Sacrifice Hits (Bunts)
SLG - Slugging Percentage
SO - Strikeouts
TB - Total Bases
TR - Triples (3B is common, but not official!)
Pitching Statistics:
AO - Fly Outs (Air)
BB - Walks (Bases on Balls)
BK - Balks
CG - Complete Games
CGL - Complete Game Losses
ER - Earned Runs
ERA - Earned Run Average
GF - Games Finished
GO - Ground Outs
GOAO - Ground Outs / Fly Outs Ratio
GP - Games Played
GS - Games Started
H - Hits
HBP - Hit Batters
HR - Home Runs
IBB - Intentional Walks
IP - Innings Pitched
IRA - Inherited Runs Allowed
IPS - Innings Per Start
L - Losses
MB9 - Baserunners Per 9 Innings
OBA - Opponents' Batting Average
PA - Plate Appearances
R - Runs
RPF - Relief Failures
RW - Relief Wins
S/SHO - Shutouts
SO - Strikeouts
SV - Saves
SVO - Save Opportunities
TB - Total Bases
W - Wins
WP - Wild Pitches
Defensive Statistics
A - Assits
CS - Caught Stealing
DP - Double Plays
E - Errors
GP - Games Played
OFA - Outfield Assists
PB - Passed Balls
PK - Pickoffs
PO - Putouts
SB - Stolen Bases
TC - Total Chances
TP - Triple Plays
Here are some other abbreviations I've seen around, usually on espn.com. I don't think they're official, but they get used all the same. If anyone else sees something that's missing, please message me.
BI - Batted In
LOB - Left on Base
T - Length of Game
A - Attendance as well as assists (see above)