100 Greatest MLB Hitters ranked by their regular season performances
Rank Player First season Last season Hitting PER Run Contribution Ave (RCA) Earned Bases Ave
(EBA)
Total Earned Bases Batting Ave On-Base Ave Slugging Percent
1 Babe Ruth 1914 1935 170.02 0.346 0.735 7,978 0.342 0.474 0.690
2 Ted Williams 1939 1960 162.95 0.318 0.705 6,929 0.344 0.482 0.634
3 Lou Gehrig 1923 1939 154.36 0.351 0.676 6,670 0.340 0.447 0.632
4 Hank Greenberg 1930 1947 153.04 0.327 0.656 4,052 0.313 0.412 0.605
5 Jimmie Foxx 1925 1945 151.23 0.325 0.661 6,495 0.325 0.428 0.609
6 Joe DiMaggio 1936 1951 150.17 0.335 0.618 4,768 0.325 0.398 0.579
7 Mickey Mantle 1951 1968 147.85 0.267 0.633 6,397 0.298 0.421 0.557
8 Ty Cobb 1905 1928 145.66 0.311 0.565 7,995 0.366 0.433 0.512
9 Barry Bonds 1986 2007 145.49 0.275 0.682 9,048 0.298 0.444 0.607
10 Joe Jackson 1908 1920 144.74 0.282 0.554 3,298 0.356 0.423 0.517
11 Dan Brouthers 1879 1904 143.34 0.354 0.579 4,580 0.342 0.423 0.519
12 Willie Mays 1951 1973 142.58 0.265 0.608 7,868 0.302 0.384 0.557
13 Charlie Keller 1939 1952 141.94 0.281 0.597 2,791 0.286 0.410 0.518
14 Rogers Hornsby 1915 1937 141.89 0.302 0.608 5,885 0.358 0.434 0.577
15 Johnny Mize 1936 1953 141.36 0.284 0.609 4,505 0.312 0.397 0.562
16 Hank Aaron 1954 1976 141.21 0.267 0.596 8,498 0.305 0.374 0.555
17 Dick Allen 1963 1977 140.76 0.255 0.588 4,406 0.292 0.378 0.534
18 Stan Musial 1941 1963 140.63 0.269 0.609 7,811 0.331 0.417 0.559
19 Albert Pujols 2001 2007 140.52 0.301 0.655 3,144 0.332 0.420 0.620
20 Ross Barnes 1871 1881 139.21 0.416 0.498 1,296 0.359 0.388 0.464
21 Sam Thompson 1885 1906 138.93 0.373 0.550 3,699 0.331 0.384 0.505
22 Frank Robinson 1956 1976 138.25 0.260 0.582 6,997 0.294 0.389 0.537
23 Harry Stovey 1880 1893 137.78 0.333 0.545 4,004 0.289 0.361 0.461
24 Ralph Kiner 1946 1955 137.64 0.258 0.619 3,885 0.279 0.398 0.548
25 Mark McGwire 1986 2001 137.56 0.261 0.647 4,968 0.263 0.394 0.588
26 King Kelly 1878 1893 136.60 0.347 0.513 3,500 0.308 0.368 0.438
27 Gavvy Cravath 1908 1920 136.49 0.253 0.535 2,539 0.287 0.380 0.478
28 Mel Ott 1926 1947 136.39 0.283 0.598 6,838 0.304 0.414 0.533
29 Tris Speaker 1907 1928 136.31 0.275 0.551 6,914 0.345 0.428 0.500
30 Honus Wagner 1897 1917 136.29 0.287 0.525 6,547 0.327 0.391 0.466
31 Mike Schmidt 1972 1989 136.24 0.254 0.589 6,085 0.267 0.380 0.527
32 Manny Ramirez 1993 2007 135.98 0.294 0.635 5,343 0.313 0.409 0.593
33 Willie Stargell 1962 1982 135.96 0.250 0.568 5,144 0.282 0.360 0.529
34 Duke Snider 1947 1964 134.94 0.265 0.588 4,935 0.295 0.380 0.540
35 Al Simmons 1924 1944 134.42 0.318 0.557 5,388 0.334 0.380 0.535
36 Todd Helton 1997 2007 134.41 0.279 0.634 4,320 0.332 0.430 0.583
37 Ken Williams 1915 1929 134.30 0.281 0.561 3,299 0.319 0.393 0.530
38 Hack Wilson 1923 1934 134.21 0.307 0.591 3,319 0.307 0.395 0.545
39 Jim Thome 1991 2007 134.08 0.265 0.631 5,340 0.281 0.409 0.565
40 Eddie Mathews 1952 1968 134.06 0.243 0.574 5,861 0.271 0.376 0.509
41 Hal Trosky 1933 1946 134.01 0.282 0.563 3,265 0.302 0.371 0.522
42 Larry Walker 1989 2005 133.97 0.284 0.605 5,047 0.313 0.400 0.565
43 Benny Kauff 1912 1920 133.84 0.260 0.520 1,992 0.311 0.389 0.450
44 Ed Delahanty 1888 1903 133.78 0.353 0.564 4,987 0.346 0.411 0.505
45 Alex Rodriguez 1994 2007 133.67 0.293 0.616 5,431 0.306 0.389 0.578
46 Mike Donlin 1899 1914 133.30 0.271 0.518 2,330 0.333 0.386 0.468
47 Harry Heilmann 1914 1932 133.25 0.295 0.550 5,022 0.342 0.410 0.520
48 Chuck Klein 1928 1944 133.06 0.289 0.580 4,202 0.320 0.379 0.543
49 Willie McCovey 1959 1980 132.98 0.234 0.574 5,590 0.270 0.374 0.515
50 Bob Johnson 1933 1945 132.66 0.278 0.569 4,672 0.296 0.393 0.506
51 Dave Orr 1883 1890 132.53 0.330 0.522 1,814 0.342 0.366 0.502
52 Frank Thomas 1990 2007 132.39 0.269 0.622 6,118 0.303 0.421 0.561
53 Tommy Henrich 1937 1950 132.24 0.280 0.551 3,010 0.282 0.382 0.491
54 Harmon Killebrew 1954 1975 132.16 0.233 0.580 5,721 0.256 0.376 0.509
55 Tip O'Neill 1883 1892 132.11 0.336 0.518 2,530 0.326 0.392 0.458
56 Earl Averill 1929 1941 132.01 0.298 0.577 4,234 0.318 0.395 0.534
57 Hugh Duffy 1888 1906 131.56 0.351 0.524 4,399 0.324 0.384 0.449
58 Charley Jones 1875 1888 131.12 0.307 0.475 1,915 0.298 0.345 0.444
59 Roger Connor 1880 1897 131.10 0.317 0.554 5,034 0.317 0.397 0.486
60 Jeff Heath 1936 1949 130.81 0.264 0.558 3,161 0.293 0.370 0.509
61 George Selkirk 1934 1942 130.56 0.292 0.553 1,882 0.290 0.400 0.483
62 Lance Berkman 1999 2007 130.55 0.269 0.616 3,213 0.300 0.412 0.559
63 Sherry Magee 1904 1919 130.41 0.258 0.484 4,352 0.291 0.364 0.427
64 Albert Belle 1989 2000 130.25 0.275 0.599 4,071 0.295 0.369 0.564
65 David Ortiz 1997 2007 130.03 0.274 0.609 3,016 0.289 0.384 0.559
66 Lefty O'Doul 1919 1934 129.99 0.288 0.570 2,105 0.349 0.413 0.532
67 Cap Anson 1871 1897 129.90 0.351 0.502 5,833 0.333 0.393 0.445
68 Sam Crawford 1899 1917 129.88 0.266 0.496 5,454 0.309 0.362 0.452
69 Joe Kelley 1891 1908 129.85 0.314 0.527 4,515 0.317 0.402 0.451
70 Elmer Flick 1898 1910 129.81 0.258 0.507 3,419 0.313 0.389 0.445
71 Nap Lajoie 1896 1916 129.70 0.289 0.494 5,370 0.338 0.380 0.467
72 Bobby Bonds 1968 1981 129.53 0.241 0.538 4,691 0.268 0.353 0.471
73 Jeff Bagwell 1991 2005 129.50 0.275 0.599 5,816 0.297 0.408 0.540
74 Babe Herman 1926 1945 129.46 0.273 0.569 3,594 0.324 0.383 0.532
75 Dolph Camilli 1933 1945 129.43 0.259 0.568 3,639 0.277 0.388 0.492
76 Larry Doby 1947 1959 129.25 0.266 0.554 3,539 0.283 0.386 0.490
77 Ken Griffey 1989 2007 129.20 0.261 0.598 6,230 0.290 0.374 0.553
78 Buck Ewing 1880 1897 128.94 0.336 0.521 3,190 0.303 0.351 0.456
79 Chipper Jones 1993 2007 128.76 0.271 0.607 5,054 0.307 0.403 0.546
80 Juan Gonzalez 1989 2005 128.74 0.284 0.578 4,159 0.295 0.343 0.561
81 George Gore 1879 1892 128.42 0.311 0.492 3,087 0.301 0.386 0.411
82 Reggie Smith 1966 1982 128.27 0.236 0.540 4,466 0.287 0.366 0.489
83 Vladimir Guerrero 1996 2007 128.14 0.272 0.609 4,303 0.325 0.391 0.579
84 Billy Williams 1959 1976 128.06 0.234 0.538 5,734 0.290 0.361 0.492
85 Reggie Jackson 1967 1987 127.97 0.236 0.547 6,437 0.262 0.356 0.490
86 Frank Baker 1908 1922 127.68 0.267 0.485 3,355 0.307 0.363 0.442
87 Norm Cash 1958 1974 127.66 0.224 0.546 4,360 0.271 0.374 0.488
88 Roger Maris 1957 1968 127.53 0.240 0.528 3,102 0.260 0.345 0.476
89 Hardy Richardson 1879 1892 127.49 0.310 0.487 3,035 0.299 0.344 0.435
90 Cal McVey 1871 1879 127.21 0.390 0.458 1,177 0.346 0.354 0.446
91 Travis Hafner 2002 2007 126.91 0.271 0.599 1,665 0.290 0.398 0.552
92 Joe Medwick 1932 1948 126.84 0.292 0.529 4,331 0.324 0.362 0.505
93 Darryl Strawberry 1983 1999 126.69 0.247 0.568 3,775 0.259 0.357 0.505
94 Joe Morgan 1963 1984 126.51 0.222 0.535 6,516 0.271 0.392 0.427
95 Orlando Cepeda 1958 1974 126.41 0.243 0.526 4,689 0.297 0.350 0.499
96 Billy Hamilton 1888 1901 126.39 0.315 0.566 4,807 0.344 0.455 0.432
97 Carlos Delgado 1993 2007 126.20 0.264 0.591 4,655 0.280 0.386 0.549
98 John McGraw 1891 1906 126.19 0.299 0.537 2,881 0.334 0.466 0.410
99 Frank Chance 1898 1914 126.14 0.269 0.481 2,646 0.296 0.394 0.394
100 Rocky Colavito 1955 1968 126.05 0.232 0.545 4,147 0.266 0.359 0.489

 

Revolutionary Baseball Performance Efficiency Rating
The Baseball Performance Efficiency Rating (PER) system evaluates hitter's and pitcher's performance relative to plate appearances and innings pitched respectively.

For Hitters, the concept of a Batting PER develops and measures a player's Run Contribution Average and Earned Base Average. Accordingly, I've developed the following concepts of Run Contribution Average, Total Earned Bases, and Earned Base Average to complement the Batting Efficiency Rating.

Run Contribution Average (RCA ) comprises Total Runs Scored plus Runs Batted In, less total Home Runs. This is all divided by Total Plate Appearances. An RCA of 0.250 or higher indicates a good run producer, while an average of at least 0.300 indicates a hitter is an efficient run producer.

The Earned Bases Average (EBA) comprises Total Earned Bases (Total Bases plus total Bases on Balls, and total Stolen Bases produced by the Hitter) divided by total plate appearances and total steal attempts. This is the single most important statistic of a hitter since it measures all facets of his performance: hits (measured by total bases), walks drawn, and stolen bases, and compares it against every time he is at the plate or attempts a steal. His overall baseball skills is therefore assessed, and a true measure of his greatness is established. An EBA of greater than .600 indicates a great batsman and base runner, while a .700 or higher EBA indicates a premier batsman and all-time great Hitter.

The concepts of Run Contribution Average and Earned Bases Average are then combined in a very intuitive formula (and
adjusted for total plate appearances) to determine his Batting Efficiency Rating. As such, this is the single best measure of a baseball player's overall hitting performance since it measures his average, power, speed and run production, all combined in one statistic.

Read more of the PER Hitting Analysis...

Read more of the PER Pitching analysis...

PER Analysis of the All-Time Greatest Hitters in MLB History

PER Analysis of the All-Time Greatest Pitchers in MLB History

PER Hitting Analysis of the 2007 AL Season

PER Hitting Analysis of the 2007 NL Season

PER 2007 AL Pitching Analysis

PER 2007 NL Pitching Analysis

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