Secondary Average Single Season Leaders on Baseball Almanac

Single Season Leaders for Secondary Average

Secondary Average is a SABERmetric statistic that attempts to describe a hitter's overall effectiveness. Secondary Average (SEC) is a tool used to gauge a player's ability to produce extra bases independent of their batting average. In other words, Secondary Average covers the three primary factors of an offensive contribution to a team outside of their batting average — power (extra bases), eye (walks) and speed (stolen bases).

Important notes: 100 single season games played are needed to make this list, raw averages are presented to further clarify the one-hundred greatest single season secondary averages of all-time, and a bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the previous Major League season.

"Babe Ruth is symbolic of baseball. If there is a record you want to go after, it’s Babe Ruth. Because Babe Ruth is Mr. Baseball, right? He’s considered the greatest baseball player, and if you want to compare yourself, you want to compare yourself to the greatest player. Because as a left-handed hitter, I wiped him out. That’s it. And in the baseball world, Babe Ruth’s everything, right? I got his slugging percentage, and I’ll take his home runs and that’s it. Don’t talk about him no more." - Barry Bonds at the 2003 All-Star Game

Secondary Average Single Season Leaders 'Top 100'
Name	Secondary Average	Year	Team	League	Rank
Barry Bonds	1.086 (1.08579)	2004	San Francisco Giants	NL	1
Barry Bonds	0.938 (0.93797)	2002	San Francisco Giants	NL	2
Barry Bonds	0.929 (0.92857)	2001	San Francisco Giants	NL	3
Barry Bonds	0.805 (0.80513)	2003	San Francisco Giants	NL	4
Babe Ruth	0.799 (0.79913)	1920	New York Yankees	AL	5
Mark McGwire	0.774 (0.77407)	1998	St. Louis Cardinals	NL	6
Babe Ruth	0.744 (0.74444)	1921	New York Yankees	AL	7
Mark McGwire	0.693 (0.69267)	1996	Oakland Athletics	AL	8
Barry Bonds	0.691 (0.69118)	2007	San Francisco Giants	NL	9
Babe Ruth	0.690 (0.68966)	1923	New York Yankees	AL	10
Mark McGwire	0.688 (0.68770)	1995	Oakland Athletics	AL	11
Mark McGwire	0.674 (0.67370)	1999	St. Louis Cardinals	NL	12
Babe Ruth	0.672 (0.67222)	1927	New York Yankees	AL	13
Barry Bonds	0.663 (0.66344)	1996	San Francisco Giants	NL	14
Babe Ruth	0.661 (0.66061)	1926	New York Yankees	AL	15
Barry Bonds	0.647 (0.64693)	1992	Pittsburgh Pirates	NL	16
Ted Williams	0.647 (0.64693)	1941	Boston Red Sox	AL
Frank Thomas	0.647 (0.64662)	1994	Chicago White Sox	AL	18
Ted Williams	0.642 (0.64249)	1954	Boston Red Sox	AL	19
Barry Bonds	0.642 (0.64167)	2000	San Francisco Giants	NL	20
Babe Ruth	0.640 (0.63993)	1928	New York Yankees	AL	21
Mickey Mantle	0.636 (0.63619)	1961	New York Yankees	AL	22
Babe Ruth	0.635 (0.63514)	1930	New York Yankees	AL	23
Mickey Mantle	0.635 (0.63502)	1957	New York Yankees	AL	24
Jack Clark	0.632 (0.63246)	1987	St. Louis Cardinals	NL	25
Mickey Mantle	0.631 (0.63130)	1962	New York Yankees	AL	26
Ted Williams	0.628 (0.62840)	1946	Boston Red Sox	AL	27
Jim Thome	0.625 (0.62500)	2002	Cleveland Indians	AL	28
Ted Williams	0.624 (0.62381)	1957	Boston Red Sox	AL	29
Babe Ruth	0.622 (0.62193)	1924	New York Yankees	AL	30
Barry Bonds	0.620 (0.62030)	1997	San Francisco Giants	NL	31
Brian Giles	0.614 (0.61368)	2002	Pittsburgh Pirates	NL	32
Barry Bonds	0.607 (0.60668)	1993	San Francisco Giants	NL	33
Sammy Sosa	0.607 (0.60659)	2001	Chicago Cubs	NL	34
Joe Morgan	0.606 (0.60593)	1976	Cincinnati Reds	NL	35
Babe Ruth	0.604 (0.60394)	1932	New York Yankees	AL	36
Willie McCovey	0.600 (0.60000)	1970	San Francisco Giants	NL	37
Gary Sheffield	0.597 (0.59730)	1996	Florida Marlins	NL	38
Barry Bonds	0.597 (0.59718)	1999	San Francisco Giants	NL	39
Barry Bonds	0.597 (0.59673)	2006	San Francisco Giants	NL	40
Ted Williams	0.597 (0.59659)	1947	Boston Red Sox	AL	41
Ted Williams	0.594 (0.59364)	1949	Boston Red Sox	AL	42
Hank Greenberg	0.586 (0.58633)	1938	Detroit Tigers	AL	43
Jason Giambi	0.586 (0.58627)	2000	Oakland Athletics	AL	44
Jeff Bagwell	0.585 (0.58541)	1999	Houston Astros	NL	45
Willie McCovey	0.582 (0.58248)	1969	San Francisco Giants	NL	46
Lou Gehrig	0.582 (0.58219)	1927	New York Yankees	AL	47
Jack Clark	0.581 (0.58084)	1990	San Diego Padres	NL	48
Harmon Killebrew	0.580 (0.58018)	1969	Minnesota Twins	AL	49
Mickey Mantle	0.580 (0.57974)	1956	New York Yankees	AL	50
Ralph Kiner	0.578 (0.57815)	1951	Pittsburgh Pirates	NL	51
Jimmie Foxx	0.576 (0.57607)	1932	Philadelphia Athletics	AL	52
Frank Thomas	0.576 (0.57606)	1995	Chicago White Sox	AL	53
Eric Davis	0.576 (0.57590)	1986	Cincinnati Reds	NL	54
Barry Bonds	0.575 (0.57545)	1994	San Francisco Giants	NL	55
Chipper Jones	0.575 (0.57496)	1999	Atlanta Braves	NL	56
Jeff Bagwell	0.572 (0.57250)	1994	Houston Astros	NL	57
Ted Williams	0.571 (0.57097)	1960	Boston Red Sox	AL	58
Ted Williams	0.571 (0.57088)	1942	Boston Red Sox	AL	59
Barry Bonds	0.571 (0.57065)	1998	San Francisco Giants	NL	60
Travis Hafner	0.570 (0.57048)	2006	Cleveland Indians	AL	61
Jimmy Wynn	0.570 (0.56970)	1969	Houston Astros	NL	62
Eric Davis	0.570 (0.56962)	1987	Cincinnati Reds	NL	63
Babe Ruth	0.569 (0.56929)	1931	New York Yankees	AL	64
Jason Giambi	0.569 (0.56923)	2001	Oakland Athletics	AL	65
Jimmie Foxx	0.568 (0.56814)	1938	Boston Red Sox	AL	66
Jeff Bagwell	0.567 (0.56714)	1997	Houston Astros	NL	67
Eddie Mathews	0.565 (0.56513)	1954	Milwaukee Braves	NL	68
Mark McGwire	0.565 (0.56481)	1997	Oakland Athletics	AL	69
Mark McGwire	0.565 (0.56481)	1997	St. Louis Cardinals	NL	69
Lou Gehrig	0.565 (0.56477)	1936	New York Yankees	AL	70
Mickey Mantle	0.565 (0.56455)	1958	New York Yankees	AL	71
David Ortiz	0.565 (0.56452)	2006	Boston Red Sox	AL	72
Rickey Henderson	0.562 (0.56237)	1990	Oakland Athletics	AL	73
Barry Bonds	0.561 (0.56126)	1995	San Francisco Giants	NL	74
Joe Morgan	0.560 (0.56024)	1975	Cincinnati Reds	NL	75
Carlos Pena	0.557 (0.55714)	2007	Tampa Bay Devil Rays	AL	76
Babe Ruth	0.557 (0.55665)	1922	New York Yankees	AL	77
Mike Schmidt	0.556 (0.55650)	1981	Philadelphia Phillies	NL	78
Willie McCovey	0.556 (0.55614)	1973	San Francisco Giants	NL	79
Jason Giambi	0.556 (0.55605)	2006	New York Yankees	AL	80
Reggie Jackson	0.556 (0.55556)	1969	Oakland Athletics	AL	81
Albert Pujols	0.555 (0.55458)	2009	St. Louis Cardinals	NL	82
Jim Edmonds	0.554 (0.55422)	2004	St. Louis Cardinals	NL	83
Jim Thome	0.545 (0.54455)	1996	Cleveland Indians	AL	84
Norm Cash	0.544 (0.54393)	1961	Detroit Tigers	AL	85
Manny Ramirez	0.542 (0.54214)	2000	Cleveland Indians	AL	86
Jim Thome	0.542 (0.54183)	2001	Cleveland Indians	AL	87
Jimmie Foxx	0.542 (0.54174)	1934	Philadelphia Athletics	AL	88
Jim Gentile	0.541 (0.54115)	1961	Baltimore Orioles	AL	89
Mike Schmidt	0.540 (0.53974)	1979	Philadelphia Phillies	NL	90
Lou Gehrig	0.539 (0.53886)	1934	New York Yankees	AL	91
Mickey Mantle	0.538 (0.53772)	1955	New York Yankees	AL	92
Carlos Beltran	0.535 (0.53529)	2006	New York Mets	NL	93
Larry Walker	0.535 (0.53521)	1997	Colorado Rockies	NL	94
Willie McCovey	0.535 (0.53488)	1974	San Diego Padres	NL	95
Carlos Delgado	0.534 (0.53427)	2000	Toronto Blue Jays	AL	96
Jim Thome	0.534 (0.53427)	1997	Cleveland Indians	AL
Ken Phelps	0.532 (0.53198)	1986	Seattle Mariners	AL	98
Ryan Howard	0.532 (0.53184)	2006	Philadelphia Phillies	NL	99
Harmon Killebrew	0.530 (0.53016)	1967	Minnesota Twins	AL	100
Name	Secondary Average	Year	Team	League	Rank
Current Through 2009 Season

Why is the secondary average statistic not used too commonly? Should it be? Is it better than on base percentage or slugging average? Share your opinion on our baseball message boards today where we have an entire forum dedicated to advanced statistics.

Slugger extraordinaire Barry Bondsis simply in a league of his own when it comes to seconday average. He is the only player with a career Secondary Average over .599 AND the only player in Major League history to have a single season seconday average over .799.

The American League single season record for secondary average was set in 1920 by Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees. The National League single season record for secondary average was recently broken in 2001 by Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants, who broke it again in 2002, then again in 2004!

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