OBP formula

[texastincup]

Does HQ have a different formula for OBP than Fangraphs or Espn?

Fangraphs & Espn have Milton Bradley's OBP at .394 as of Sept 4.
BaseballHQ has Milton Bradley's OBP at .382 as of Sept 4.

[RAY@HQ]

We don't include HBP in our calculation, even though it's part of the "official" formula. We feel like HBP isn't a skill, and we figure HQ users want to see OBP as a skill measurement.

[makelele]

We don't include HBP in our calculation, even though it's part of the "official" formula. We feel like HBP isn't a skill, and we figure HQ users want to see OBP as a skill measurement.

Not me. I want to see OBP. HQ has enough skill measurement stats that there's no need to muck around with the basic common stats that some of us actually use as categories in our leagues. Maybe you don't feel triples are as much of a skill as HRs, so would you calculate BA and SLG differently to reflect that? I sure hope not!

[RON@HQ]

This was not a flip decision that we've made. We've been doing this for more than two decades, based on sabermetric research. The OBP issue has come up numerous times in these forums - the bottom line is it impacts no more than a handful of players by more than a handful of points. They may call their way "standard"; we call our way more "pure." Rest assured, it hardly impacts your analytical ability to manage that category in your leagues.

[makelele]

This was not a flip decision that we've made. We've been doing this for more than two decades, based on sabermetric research. The OBP issue has come up numerous times in these forums - the bottom line is it impacts no more than a handful of players by more than a handful of points. They may call their way "standard"; we call our way more "pure." Rest assured, it hardly impacts your analytical ability to manage that category in your leagues.

OK, then, in all seriousness, HRs and doubles are a better reflection of true "slugging" ability than triples, which are more related to speed. Have you considered adjusting the way you calculate SLG to reduce the influence of triples? That would certainly be a more "pure" way of measuring someone's slugging ability. Why OBP and not SLG?

But at the risk of rehashing old arguments, OBP stands for on-base percentage. Getting hit by a pitch puts a person on base. So one could argue that including HBP is more "pure" because on base is on base. If it were called on base skill, that would be one thing, but percentage is purely mathematical, indicating # of times out of 100.

And back to the original point, this HQ subscriber does not want OBP to be "made into a skill measurement" at the expense of being incorrect.

[Astros34]

And back to the original point, this HQ subscriber does not want OBP to be "made into a skill measurement" at the expense of being incorrect.

Good luck with that. I've tried off and on since I joined. I would like MACK reports to show the actual OBP since my sim leagues use individual HBP nos. and I use MACK to evaluate my team. Utley's 19 HBP this year are basically ignored by HQ.

[makelele]

Good luck with that. I've tried off and on since I joined. I would like MACK reports to show the actual OBP since my sim leagues use individual HBP nos. and I use MACK to evaluate my team. Utley's 19 HBP this year are basically ignored by HQ.

Sorry to hear that. I am not about to start a crusade to try to get things changed, but if anyone @HQ cares what the subscribers think about this issue, I just wanted my vote to be counted for the "original, true, and pure" OBP side.

[RON@HQ]

OK, then, in all seriousness, HRs and doubles are a better reflection of true "slugging" ability than triples, which are more related to speed. Have you considered adjusting the way you calculate SLG to reduce the influence of triples? That would certainly be a more "pure" way of measuring someone's slugging ability. Why OBP and not SLG?.

We already do that. It's called PX.

But at the risk of rehashing old arguments, OBP stands for on-base percentage. Getting hit by a pitch puts a person on base. So one could argue that including HBP is more "pure" because on base is on base. If it were called on base skill, that would be one thing, but percentage is purely mathematical, indicating # of times out of 100..

I could give it another name if I wanted, but *our* purpose remains to measure skill.

And back to the original point, this HQ subscriber does not want OBP to be "made into a skill measurement" at the expense of being incorrect.

Fair enough, but we believe "correctness" is in the eye of the beholder. I hate to say this, but I recognize that a few people disagree with our approach but we have to support the needs of the majority.

[makelele]

We already do that. It's called PX.

Right, it's not called SLG. You are making my point for me.

[PD@HQ]

OBP also includes SF in the denominator.