In the sport of

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, a baserunner is said to be in scoring position when they are on

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

. The distinction between being on first base and second or third base is that a runner on first can usually only score if the batter hits an

extra-base hit In baseball, an extra-base hit (EB, EBH or XBH), also known as a long hit, is any hit (baseball), base hit on which the batting (baseball), batter is able to advance past first base without the benefit of a fielder either committing an error (base ...

, while a runner on second or third can usually score on a single. Many of baseball's " small ball" or "one run" tactics center on attempts to move a runner on base into scoring position. Such tactics were dominant in the 1890s and the

dead-ball era In major league baseball, the dead-ball era refers to a period from about 1900 to 1920 in which run scoring was low and home runs were rare in comparison to the years that followed. In 1908, the major league batting average dropped to .239, and ...

, when extra-base hits were relatively rare. Runners in scoring position are sometimes colloquially referred to as "ducks on the pond". Runners left in scoring position refers to the number of runners on second or third at the end of an inning and is an inverse measure of a team's offensive efficiency.

Batting average with runners in scoring position

Batting average with runners in scoring position (abbreviated BA/RISP or BA/RSP) is a baseball statistic derived by dividing a players hits with runners in scoring positions by their at bats with runners in scoring position. BA/RISP is often used as an indicator of clutch ability, as a hit with a runner on second base or third will likely score the runner and is thus considered a clutch situation. Recently, however, the statistic has been replaced with Win Probability Added, considered to be a better measure of clutch ability. A variation to this statistic is called Batting Average with two outs and Runners in Scoring Position, which is also calculated by dividing a players' hits with runners on second or third by their at bats in this situation. A hit is more likely to score at least one or two runs-depending on the speed of the runner, the strength of the outfielder's arm, the number of runners in scoring position, etc.-because the runners will be going on contact—that is, they run once the batter hits the ball. But if the batter records an out, then the inning ends with those runners left on base.

Highest all-time single-season batting averages with runners in scoring position

''Minimum 100 at bats; through

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

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References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Albert, Jim, and Jay M. Bennett. ''Curve Ball: Baseball, Statistics, and the Role of Chance in the Game''. New York: Copernicus Books, 2001. . A book on new statistics for baseball. *

Alan Schwarz Alan Schwarz (born July 3, 1968) is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer and author, formerly at ''The New York Times'', best known for writing more than 100 articles that exposed the National Football League's cover-up of concussions and brought the ...

, ''The Numbers Game: Baseball’s Lifelong Fascination with Statistics'' (New York: St. Martin's, 2005). .
The Official Site of Major League baseball – Baseball Basics: Abbreviations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scoring Position Baseball terminology