A New, Possibly Useless Stat To Measure All-Around Offensive Skill Based On TB, SB, BB, SO And CS

What if we multiplied TB*SB*BB then divided by (SO + CS)? Who would end up on top? Maybe this is just what Bill James would call a "junk stat." Useless but maybe fun anyway.

The idea here is to combine different skills and then divide by something negative which also measures some skills.

By multiplying TB*SB*BB balance is rewarded. For example, if a guy steals 30 bases and hits 30 HRs, he gets a score of 900 (30*30). If a guy hits 50 HRs and steals 11 bases, he gets a score of 550. That is less than the 30/30. But if we added things, the latter guy would come out on top. But the 30/30 guy is more balanced.

I wanted to use "offsetting skills." Power hitters are usually good at getting total bases while fast guys are usually good at stealing bases. Power and speed don't necessarily go together.

Getting walks is another separate skill. You need a good eye and patience. Now power hitters tend to get more walks so this is not perfect. But power hitters strike out more, too and the formula divides by that (well, SO + CS).

So if you swing for the fences, you hit more HRs, raising your score. But you also are more likely to strike out, lowering your score. Something similar happens with stolen bases. When those go up, your score rises. But you are going to get caught stealing more, so your score falls. Of course, if you are fast, you can turn more singles into doubles and more doubles into triples, upping your TBs.

The ability to make contact is also rewarded since strikeouts are part of the penalty.

So the skills I am trying measure are:

-The ability to make contact
-The ability to get hits
-The ability to hit for power
-Speed (but that alone is not enough to steal bases)
-Being able to read pitchers
-Getting a good jump when attempting to steal
-The ability to get walks (a good eye and patience)

At this point I have not yet tried to adjust anything for park effects or the league average. I looked at every player who had 5000+ PAs since from 1951-2012. I start in 1951 because that is the first year both leagues continuously recorded caught stealing. The final score was divided by 1000. Otherwise, things would be in the millions.

So who would come out on top of this list? It is someone very well known who alot of people think should be in the Hall of Fame. His vote percentage has been growing in recent years. The number two guy might be a surprise.

Notice how big a lead Raines has over the number two guy, Nellie Fox.

Rank	Player	PA	CS	SB	SO	TB	BB	Score
1	Tim Raines	10359	146	808	966	3771	1330	7,715
2	Nellie Fox	9531	75	69	190	3133	650	5,238
3	Tony Gwynn	10232	125	319	434	4259	790	4,341
4	Davey Lopes	7340	114	557	852	2468	833	3,428
5	Joe Morgan	11329	162	689	1015	3962	1865	2,607
6	Richie Ashburn	7808	92	179	479	2541	1017	2,316
7	Carl Yastrzemski	13991	116	168	1393	5539	1845	2,105
8	Roberto Alomar	10400	114	474	1140	4018	1032	2,013
9	Tom Herr	6111	64	188	584	1870	627	1,878
10	Jimmy Rollins	8236	83	403	952	3234	630	1,855
11	Stan Musial	7320	31	29	461	3415	947	1,823
12	Mike Hargrove	6693	37	24	550	2176	965	1,760
13	Willie Mays	12492	103	338	1526	6066	1463	1,752
14	Barry Larkin	9057	77	379	817	3527	939	1,726
15	Chuck Knoblauch	7385	117	407	730	2583	804	1,698
16	Craig Biggio	12503	124	414	1753	4711	1160	1,687
17	Kenny Lofton	9234	160	622	1016	3433	945	1,648
18	Todd Helton	9008	29	37	1088	4124	1295	1,594
19	Rod Carew	10550	187	353	1028	3998	1018	1,486
20	Eddie Yost	6733	48	54	701	1999	1249	1,482
21	Mike Schmidt	10062	92	174	1883	4404	1507	1,471
22	Eddie Mathews	10101	39	68	1487	4349	1444	1,447
23	Dan Driessen	6344	63	154	719	2251	761	1,433
24	Barry Bonds	12606	141	514	1539	5976	2558	1,417
25	Chipper Jones	10614	46	150	1409	4755	1512	1,412