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

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