How to Rank the Top All-Time Best Baseball Hitters

One of the great debates in the history of Major League Baseball is which hitters are the game's all-time best. Hitters can be ranked differently in several statistical categories, making the task even more difficult. Some fans of the game prize home runs over batting average, and vice versa. Creating your own system to rank the best hitters is fairly simple but requires a little know-how.

Instructions

    • 1

      Establish a list of your most important hitting categories. Some fans and historians put home runs above other statistics because Babe Ruth's exploits revolutionized the game in the 1920s. But other statistical categories, including batting average, runs batted in, hits, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and on-base plus slugging (OPS), are considered important, as well.

    • 2

      Decide the number of players you will be ranking and list the top performers in each statistical category. For instance, a player that ranks in the top 10 in every category should be considered in the same discussion as someone who ranked in the top three in only one or two statistical categories.

    • 3

      Create a point system for each category. Some categories may need to be weighted for your preference. For instance, slugging percentage measures a player's power performance, with the total number of bases divided by the total number of at-bats, whereas home runs are a measure of only the number of times the ball is hit out of the park. Batting average shows consistency, while hits only indicate the number of times a batter puts the ball in play and reaches base safely. On-base percentage takes into account walks and hits, determining a player's value to a team based on how often he gets on base. OPS adds slugging and on-base percentage together. Add up the points for the top players across all categories to determine which player should rank first.

    • 4

      When players on your list are similar statistically, consider the impact of each player on the overall development of the game. For instance, Jackie Robinson, who changed the game's racial bias by breaking the color barrier, and Babe Ruth's unprecedented feats forever changed baseball in a positive way. Some players in the 1990s and 2000s made negative contributions due to steroid use. These factors can give one player a slight nudge over another.