Editing Slugging percentage (section)

==Significance==
Long after it was invented, slugging percentage gained new significance when baseball analysts realized that it combined with [[on-base percentage]] (OBP) to form a very good measure of a player's overall offensive production (OBP + SLG was originally referred to as "production" by baseball writer and statistician [[Bill James]]). A predecessor metric was developed by [[Branch Rickey]] in 1954. Rickey, in ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine, suggested that combining OBP with what he called "extra base power" (EBP) would give a better indicator of player performance than typical [[Major League Baseball Triple Crown|Triple Crown]] stats. EBP was a predecessor to slugging percentage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://old.nationalreview.com/weekend/play-ball/pb-lewis033101.shtml|title=Lies, Damn Lies, and RBIs|access-date=2012-07-01|date=2001-03-31|first=Dan|last=Lewis|publisher=nationalreview.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020211628/http://old.nationalreview.com/weekend/play-ball/pb-lewis033101.shtml|archive-date=2012-10-20}}</ref>

[[Allen Barra]] and [[George Ignatin]] were early adopters in combining the two modern-day statistics, multiplying them together to form what is now known as "SLOB" (Slugging × On-Base).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.salon.com/news/sports/col/barra/2001/06/20/bonds/print.html|title=The best season ever?|access-date= 2007-07-15|date= 2001-06-20|first=Allen|last= Barra|work=Salon.com}}</ref> [[Bill James]] applied this principle to his [[runs created]] formula several years later (and perhaps independently), essentially multiplying SLOB × at bats to create the formula:

: <math>\text{RC}=\frac{(\text{hits}+\text{walks})\times(\text{total bases})}{(\text{at bats}) + (\text{walks})}</math>

In 1984, [[Pete Palmer]] and [[John Thorn]] developed perhaps the most widespread means of combining slugging and on-base percentage: [[on-base plus slugging]] (OPS), which is a simple addition of the two values. Because it is easy to calculate, OPS has been used with increased frequency in recent years as a shorthand form to evaluate contributions as a [[Batting (baseball)|batter]].

In a 2015 article, Bryan Grosnick made the point that "on base" and "slugging" may not be comparable enough to be simply added together. "On base" has a theoretical maximum of 1.000 whereas "slugging" has a theoretical maximum of 4.000. The actual numbers do not show as big a difference, with Grosnick listing .350 as a good "on base" and .430 as a good "slugging."  He goes on to say that OPS has the advantages of simplicity and availability and further states, "you'll probably get it 75% right, at least."<ref>[https://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2015/9/18/9329763/separate-but-not-quite-equal-why-ops-is-a-bad-statistic Separate but not quite equal: Why OPS is a "bad" statistic], Bryan Grosnick, Beyond the Box Score, September 18, 2015.</ref>