Editing Batting Average

'''Batting Average''' was among one of the first baseball statistics created.  It is the quotient of [[hits]] over [[at bat]]s.

It has been used as one of the pre-eminent batting  statistics, as it is easily computed and has been in use for well over a century.  It merely is the empirical probability of a player getting a [[hit]] in a given [[at bat]].
Batting Average is an official statistic.  Currently, players qualify for the league batting average championship based on rule 10.22(a) of the 2009 Official Rules {{cite-web| url=http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2008/official_rules/10_the_official_scorer.pdf | year=2009 | month=10 | day=21 }}. Batting averages are traditionally expressed rounded to three decimal places.

==Formula==
<math>BA=\frac{H}{AB}</math>

==History==
Traditionally, newspapers and other media have ranked batters and team batting statistics by batting average.  The league leader in batting average is referred to as the batting champion.  A qualification (of 400 ABs) for the batting champion was added to the official rules in 1945 <ref name="Macmillan 9th edition">{{cite-book | title=The Baseball Encyclopedia 9th edition | publisher=Macmillan | city=New York | year=1993 }}))</ref>.  In 1951, the qualification was expanded to allow a player with less than 400 ABs to win the championship if his hits divided by 400 ABs gives a higher batting average than any other qualifier<ref name="Macmillan 9th edition" />.  In 1955, the 1951 qualification expansion was repealed<ref name="Macmillan 9th edition" />. In 1957, the qualification was changed from 400 ABs to 3.1 plate appearances (PA) for each scheduled game<ref name="Macmillan 9th edition" />.  In 1967, the qualification was expanded to allow a player with less than the required PA to win the championship if his hits divided by the sum of his ABs and the number of PAs below the qualification his PA total was gives a higher batting average than any other qualifier<ref name="Macmillan 9th edition" />.

<references/>
[[Category:Statistics]]
@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 ==History==
 Traditionally, newspapers and other media have ranked batters and team batting statistics by batting average.  The league leader in batting average is referred to as the batting champion.  A qualification (of 400 ABs) for the batting champion was added to the official rules in 1945 <ref name="Macmillan 9th edition">{{cite-book | title=The Baseball Encyclopedia 9th edition | publisher=Macmillan | city=New York | year=1993 }}))</ref>.  In 1951, the qualification was expanded to allow a player with less than 400 ABs to win the championship if his hits divided by 400 ABs gives a higher batting average than any other qualifier<ref name="Macmillan 9th edition" />.  In 1955, the 1951 qualification expansion was repealed<ref name="Macmillan 9th edition" />. In 1957, the qualification was changed from 400 ABs to 3.1 plate appearances (PA) for each scheduled game<ref name="Macmillan 9th edition" />.  In 1967, the qualification was expanded to allow a player with less than the required PA to win the championship if his hits divided by the sum of his ABs and the number of PAs below the qualification his PA total was gives a higher batting average than any other qualifier<ref name="Macmillan 9th edition" />.
-==External links==
-*[http://baseball-reference.com/leaders/batting_avg_career.shtml Career leaders in Batting Average]
-*[http://baseball-reference.com/leaders/batting_avg_season.shtml Single-season leaders in Batting Average]
-*[http://baseball-reference.com/leaders/batting_avg_active.shtml Batting Average leaders among active players]
-*[http://baseball-reference.com/leaders/batting_avg_leagues.shtml Year-by-year leaders in Batting Average]
-*[http://baseball-reference.com/leaders/batting_avg_progress.shtml Progression of leaders in Batting Average]
 <references/>
 [[Category:Statistics]]