Single Season Leaders for On Base Plus Slugging

The on base percentage statistic was originally created by Branch Rickey and Allan Roth in the 1950's as a means to measure the percentage of times a player reaches any base. It did not originally include the sacrifice fly denomination but when it was officially adapted in 1984 it appeared using the formula written above. Slugging Average was developed later and the two were combined to create On Base Plus Slugging.

Note: One-hundred single season games played are needed to make this list of the one-hundred greatest on base plus slugging leaders, raw averages are presented in parenthesis to further distinguish the top one-hundred, and a bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the previous Major League season.
"I could probably do a lot of things if I could just smile at everybody and wave. That's just not me. That's just not me." - Barry Bonds on ESPN Classic's SportsCentury Series (ESPN Television Series, 2003)
On Base Plus Slugging
Single Season Leaders

'Top 100'
Barry Bonds 1.422 (1.42173) 2004 San Francisco Giants NL 1
Barry Bonds 1.381 (1.38071) 2002 San Francisco Giants NL 2
Babe Ruth 1.379 (1.37908) 1920 New York Yankees AL 3
Barry Bonds 1.379 (1.37851) 2001 San Francisco Giants NL 4
Babe Ruth 1.359 (1.35863) 1921 New York Yankees AL 5
Babe Ruth 1.309 (1.30891) 1923 New York Yankees AL 6
Ted Williams 1.287 (1.28745) 1941 Boston Red Sox AL 7
Barry Bonds 1.278 (1.27781) 2003 San Francisco Giants NL 8
Babe Ruth 1.258 (1.25819) 1927 New York Yankees AL 9
Ted Williams 1.257 (1.25659) 1957 Boston Red Sox AL 10
Babe Ruth 1.253 (1.25295) 1926 New York Yankees AL 11
Babe Ruth 1.252 (1.25172) 1924 New York Yankees AL 12
Tip O'Neill 1.248 (1.24836) 1887 St. Louis Browns AA 13
Rogers Hornsby 1.245 (1.24492) 1925 St. Louis Cardinals NL 14
Lou Gehrig 1.240 (1.23955) 1927 New York Yankees AL 15
Babe Ruth 1.225 (1.22479) 1930 New York Yankees AL 16
Mark McGwire 1.222 (1.22235) 1998 St. Louis Cardinals NL 17
Jimmie Foxx 1.218 (1.21805) 1932 Philadelphia Athletics AL 18
Frank Thomas 1.217 (1.21675) 1994 Chicago White Sox AL 19
Rogers Hornsby 1.203 (1.20307) 1924 St. Louis Cardinals NL 20
Jeff Bagwell 1.201 (1.20094) 1994 Houston Astros NL 21
Mark McGwire 1.198 (1.19765) 1996 Oakland Athletics AL 22
Hugh Duffy 1.196 (1.19553) 1894 Boston Beaneaters NL 23
Babe Ruth 1.195 (1.19510) 1931 New York Yankees AL 24
Lou Gehrig 1.194 (1.19416) 1930 New York Yankees AL 25
Rogers Hornsby 1.181 (1.18095) 1922 St. Louis Cardinals NL 26
Hack Wilson 1.177 (1.17749) 1930 Chicago Cubs NL 27
Mickey Mantle 1.177 (1.17660) 1957 New York Yankees AL 28
Sammy Sosa 1.174 (1.17398) 2001 Chicago Cubs NL 29
Lou Gehrig 1.174 (1.17368) 1936 New York Yankees AL 30
Babe Ruth 1.172 (1.17197) 1928 New York Yankees AL 31
Larry Walker 1.172 (1.17188) 1997 Colorado Rockies NL 32
Lou Gehrig 1.172 (1.17161) 1934 New York Yankees AL 33
Mickey Mantle 1.169 (1.16934) 1956 New York Yankees AL 34
Larry Walker 1.168 (1.16814) 1999 Colorado Rockies NL 35
Jimmie Foxx 1.166 (1.16641) 1938 Boston Red Sox AL 36
Ted Williams 1.164 (1.16434) 1946 Boston Red Sox AL 37
Todd Helton 1.162 (1.16169) 2000 Colorado Rockies NL 38
Jimmie Foxx 1.158 (1.15795) 1939 Boston Red Sox AL 39
Manny Ramirez 1.154 (1.15381) 2000 Cleveland Indians AL 40
Jimmie Foxx 1.153 (1.15257) 1933 Philadelphia Athletics AL 41
Stan Musial 1.152 (1.15234) 1948 St. Louis Cardinals NL 42
Albert Belle 1.152 (1.15201) 1994 Cleveland Indians AL 43
Babe Ruth 1.150 (1.14980) 1932 New York Yankees AL 44
Norm Cash 1.148 (1.14825) 1961 Detroit Tigers AL 45
Ted Williams 1.148 (1.14802) 1954 Boston Red Sox AL 46
Ted Williams 1.147 (1.14676) 1942 Boston Red Sox AL 47
Ted Williams 1.141 (1.14059) 1949 Boston Red Sox AL 48
Rogers Hornsby 1.139 (1.13882) 1929 Chicago Cubs NL 49
Jason Giambi 1.137 (1.13652) 2001 Oakland Athletics AL 50
Barry Bonds 1.136 (1.13564) 1993 San Francisco Giants NL 51
Mickey Mantle 1.135 (1.13483) 1961 New York Yankees AL 52
Carlos Delgado 1.134 (1.13408) 2000 Toronto Blue Jays AL 53
Ted Williams 1.133 (1.13302) 1947 Boston Red Sox AL 54
Babe Herman 1.132 (1.13220) 1930 Brooklyn Robins NL 55
Al Simmons 1.130 (1.13014) 1930 Philadelphia Athletics AL 56
Rogers Hornsby 1.130 (1.13000) 1928 Boston Braves NL 57
Babe Ruth 1.128 (1.12771) 1929 New York Yankees AL 58
Barry Bonds 1.127 (1.12737) 2000 San Francisco Giants NL 59
Mark McGwire 1.125 (1.12530) 1995 Oakland Athletics AL 60
Chuck Klein 1.123 (1.12299) 1930 Philadelphia Phillies NL 61
Jason Giambi 1.123 (1.12296) 2000 Oakland Athletics AL 62
Jim Thome 1.122 (1.12243) 2002 Cleveland Indians AL 63
Hank Greenberg 1.122 (1.12151) 1938 Detroit Tigers AL 64
Mark McGwire 1.120 (1.12034) 1999 St. Louis Cardinals NL 65
Joe DiMaggio 1.119 (1.11887) 1939 New York Yankees AL 66
George Brett 1.118 (1.11807) 1980 Kansas City Royals AL 67
Ed Delahanty 1.117 (1.11667) 1895 Philadelphia Phillies NL 68
Luis Gonzalez 1.117 (1.11658) 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks NL 69
Todd Helton 1.116 (1.11649) 2001 Colorado Rockies NL 70
Lou Gehrig 1.116 (1.11609) 1937 New York Yankees AL 71
Lou Gehrig 1.115 (1.11516) 1928 New York Yankees AL 72
Babe Ruth 1.114 (1.11381) 1919 Boston Red Sox AL 73
Harry Heilmann 1.113 (1.11261) 1923 Detroit Tigers AL 74
Ted Williams 1.112 (1.11180) 1948 Boston Red Sox AL 75
Larry Walker 1.111 (1.11122) 2001 Colorado Rockies NL 76
Willie McCovey 1.108 (1.10845) 1969 San Francisco Giants NL 77
Lou Gehrig 1.108 (1.10801) 1931 New York Yankees AL 78
Edgar Martinez 1.107 (1.10705) 1995 Seattle Mariners AL 79
Nap Lajoie 1.106 (1.10638) 1901 Philadelphia Athletics AL 80
Babe Ruth 1.106 (1.10622) 1922 New York Yankees AL 81
Albert Pujols 1.106 (1.10608) 2003 St. Louis Cardinals NL 82
Manny Ramirez 1.105 (1.10502) 1999 Cleveland Indians AL 83
Hank Greenberg 1.105 (1.10469) 1937 Detroit Tigers AL 84
Joe Kelley 1.104 (1.10400) 1894 Baltimore Orioles NL 85
Hank Greenberg 1.103 (1.10344) 1940 Detroit Tigers AL 86
Ed Delahanty 1.103 (1.10319) 1896 Philadelphia Phillies NL 87
Albert Pujols 1.102 (1.10163) 2006 St. Louis Cardinals NL 88
Jimmie Foxx 1.102 (1.10160) 1934 Philadelphia Athletics AL 89
Arky Vaughan 1.098 (1.09809) 1935 Pittsburgh Pirates NL 90
Travis Hafner 1.097 (1.09731) 2006 Cleveland Indians AL 91
Rogers Hornsby 1.097 (1.09678) 1921 St. Louis Cardinals NL 92
Manny Ramirez 1.097 (1.09660) 2002 Boston Red Sox AL 93
Ted Williams 1.096 (1.09644) 1960 Boston Red Sox AL 94
Pete Browning 1.096 (1.09631) 1887 Louisville Colonels AA 95
Jimmie Foxx 1.096 (1.09622) 1935 Philadelphia Athletics AL 96
Albert Belle 1.091 (1.09111) 1995 Cleveland Indians AL 97
Mickey Mantle 1.091 (1.09083) 1962 New York Yankees AL 98
Harry Heilmann 1.091 (1.09080) 1927 Detroit Tigers AL 99
Gary Sheffield 1.090 (1.08957) 1996 Florida Marlins NL 100
Current Through End of 2007 Regular Season


Number one through four in single season leaders for on base plus slugging belong exclusively to Barry Bonds, but he is not the career leader for on base plus slugging! Who is? Click the link to see which three hall of famers are ranked higher.

The American League single season record for on base plus slugging was set in 1957 by Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox. The National League single season record for intentional bases on balls was set in 2004 by Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants.

Do you use the on base plus slugging statistic? Do you enjoy discussing and debating advanced statistics such as this one? Join in on Baseball Fever where we have a forum dedicated to the discussion of SABR Metric stats.
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