Mains: Remembering some stats: Total Average

From SABR member Rob Mains at Baseball Prospectus on April 6, 2020:

Thomas Boswell has had a long career writing for the Washington Post. He joined the paper in 1969 as a copy aide and served as a general assignment sports reporter for 12 years. He’s been a columnist since 1984. He’s written six books, appeared extensively in Ken Burns’ Baseball, and has won numerous awards.

And he came up with a baseball statistic that’s been almost completely forgotten.

In 1978, Boswell introduced a new metric in the Post, writing “That all-encompassing offensive stat—which incorporates batting, slugging, bunting, drawing walks, stealing bases—has arrived. Call it the Total Average.” 

He tweaked it a bit after its introduction. This was his ultimate formula for Total Average (TA).

Read the full article here: https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/58129/remember-some-stats-total-average/



Originally published: April 7, 2020. Last Updated: April 7, 2020.