Hitting the ball is one of the main goals of any baseball player. When a player makes solid contact with the ball, he has a good chance of reaching base safely because he has gotten a base hit. Some players reach base because they have reached on a fielder's choice or an error. These are not considered hits in baseball. When a batter gets a hit, he improves his batting average and slugging percentage.
Step 1
Drive the ball through the infield and by the infielders. As a batter you will reach base safely because you have a clean base hit. If the ball had traveled through the legs of an infielder, it would not be a base hit. It would be an error. Reaching base as a result of an error may help your team, but it hurts your batting average.
Step 2
Hit a fly ball that lands safely in the outfield, hits the outfield wall or flies over the wall to earn a hit. These hits may result in a double, triple or home run. These are all considered hits. A fly ball that is caught is not a hit, even if it advances a runner. The batter must reach base safely on a ball that is fielded cleanly to achieve a base hit.
Step 3
Divide the number of hits a player has recorded by the number of at bats to calculate his batting average. A player with 30 hits in 100 at bats has a batting average of .300. An at bat occurs when a batter steps into the batter's box and gets a hit, records an out that is not a sacrifice bunt or sacrifice fly, or reaches base on an error. When a player receives a base on balls, gets hit by a pitch, hits a sacrifice fly or lays down a sacrifice bunt, he is not charged with a time at bat. However, any time a player steps into the batter's box, it is considered a plate appearance.
Step 4
Divide the number of bases a player has earned as a result of his base hits by his at bats to determine his slugging percentage. Slugging percentage is an important number that explains how likely a player is to hit the ball for distance. When a player hits a single, he earns one base, a double is worth two, a triple is worth three and a home run is worth four bases. A player with 22 singles, 7 doubles, 1 triple and 4 home runs has a slugging percentage of .550. That's because he has 55 total bases in his 100 at bats. The maximum slugging percentage would be 4.000 for a player who homered in each at bat.
Posted in: Baseball