Definition of batting average

The term "batting average" in baseball originated in 1876 when the sport was still in its infancy. The first documented use of the phrase can be traced back to a sports news article in the Albany (New York) Argus, which reported on a game between the Pittsburgh Alleghenys and the Boston Red Caps. The article stated, "Red Caps' first batter was out. Next man up, caught. Third man Popular, hit a bright single; batting average two in three." The term "batting average" is a statistical measure used to determine how often a baseball player is able to get a hit during an at-bat. It is calculated by dividing the number of hits a player has by the number of officially recognized at-bats. In other words, a player's batting average is the percentage of times they are able to get a hit with the ball. The use of the word "average" in this context might seem counterintuitive, as one might expect a good batting statistic to be represented by a high number rather than a decimal. However, this use of the word "average" as a synonym for "mean" likely came from the fact that, in baseball, each at-bat has an equal chance of resulting in a hit, out, or other event. Therefore, the most typical outcome would be a batting average somewhere around .300, or approximately 3 hits for every 10 at-bats. In summary, the word "batting average" in baseball refers to a statistical measure that helps to quantify a player's success rate during official at-bats, and it has been in use since the early days of baseball record keeping.