Sabermetrics is the analytical study of baseball statistics, named after the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). Key sabermetric metrics include OPS (on-base plus slugging), WAR (wins above replacement), FIP (fielding independent pitching), wOBA (weighted on-base average) and BABIP (batting average on balls in play). Popularised by Bill James in the 1970s-80s and mainstream after Michael Lewis’ Moneyball (2003), sabermetrics now underpins front office decision-making across every MLB franchise. The core principle: traditional stats (batting average, wins, RBIs) misattribute individual value; context-independent metrics are more predictive.
Key points
- Empirical analysis beyond traditional stats
- Named after SABR (Society for American Baseball Research)
- OPS, WAR, FIP, wOBA are key metrics
- Moneyball (2003) brought to mainstream attention