Moneyball was published in 2003 and the film was released in 2011. In the movie, we frequently saw “on-base” be mentioned. Since 2003, does on-base percentage become even more important? Firstly, let’s look at on-base percentage changes over these years.
In 2003, the league’s on-base percentage was .333 and the next season, the league’s OBP increased to .335. Over the next few years, the league’s on-base percentage remained over .330. However, in 2010, the MLB’s OBP dropped to .325. The next season, the number continued to decrease and, in 2012, the league’ OBP was under .320. From 2012 to 2015, on-base percentage of the MLB remained under .320. Nonetheless, the league’s on-base percentage went up in 2016 and the MLB’s OBP was over .320. In 2017, the league’s OBP was .324, but the number decreased to .318 in 2018. In 2019, the MLB’s OBP was .323. Last year, the season was shortened and the league’s OBP was over .320 as well. In the 2021 season, the league’s OBP declined to .317. It’s been almost two decades since Moneyball was published. Well, the league’s on-base percentage remained over .330 for several years. Nevertheless, the number has never reached .330 since 2010. Meanwhile, let’s see whether there are more players who finished a season with an at least .400 OBP.
In 2003, Barry Bonds won the NL MVP award and he finished the season with a .529 OBP. An over .500 OBP was just so unbelievable. In total, 15 players posted a .400+ OBP in 2003. The next season, Barry Bonds won the NL MVP award again and in that season, his OBP was over .600. Yes, an over .600 OBP. It was just sensational. Additionally, there were 12 players, who finished the 2004 season with a .400+ OBP. In the 2005 season, 11 players had a .400+ OBP. In 2006 and 2007, more than 15 players finished the season with a .400+ OBP each year. In 2008 and 2009, we saw that at least 10 players finished the season with a .400+ OBP each year. Nonetheless, things changed in 2010 and there were only 7 players, who owned a .400+ OBP. Since then, it has become rare to see a player own an over .400 OBP in a single season. From 2010 to 2016, each year, no more than 7 players finished the season with a .400+ OBP. Nonetheless, in 2017, we saw 11 players who had a .400+ OBP. Last year, there were also 11 players who posted an OBP of at least .400.
This year, only Juan Soto, Bryce Harper and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. finished the season with an over .400 OBP. Well, “on-base” was mentioned several times in the movie Moneyball. However, over nearly two decades, we already saw that the league’s OBP dropped to under .320. Additionally, there are fewer players to finish a season with a .400+OBP. On-base percentage can show a hitter’s ability to accomplish the task, which is to avoid making an out. But, we have seen that things have changed in today’s baseball games.
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