BB to SO ratio, HR >= 493.

Matrix of the 29 batters who hit at least 493 Home Runs. In addition to BB/SO there are several other columns with somewhat related data.

Why look at BB/SO for batters, in this case for the top career HR hitters? It's the reverse of SO/BB for pitchers, which seems to resonate with many. The positive stat is used first to generate a positive number; here, more BB than SO for batters.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/

Strikeouts / Base On Balls

For pitchers, but nothing like it for batters. Why not? Here are the pitchers with the most career SO, sorted by SO/W (BB):

Rk	Player	SO/W	SO	BB	IP	ERA+	From	To	Age	G	GS	CG	SHO	GF	W	L	W-L%	SV	H	R	ER	ERA	FIP	HR	BF	IBB	HBP	BK	WP	Tm
1	Greg Maddux	3.37	3371	999	5008.1	132	1986	2008	20-42	744	740	109	35	3	355	227	.610	0	4726	1981	1756	3.16	3.26	353	20421	177	137	28	70	CHC-ATL-LAD-SDP
2	Randy Johnson	3.26	4875	1497	4135.1	135	1988	2009	24-45	618	603	100	37	7	303	166	.646	2	3346	1703	1513	3.29	3.19	411	17067	37	190	33	109	MON-SEA-HOU-ARI-NYY-SFG
3	Roger Clemens	2.96	4672	1580	4916.2	143	1984	2007	21-44	709	707	118	46	0	354	184	.658	0	4185	1885	1707	3.12	3.09	363	20240	63	159	20	143	BOS-TOR-NYY-HOU
4	Bert Blyleven	2.80	3701	1322	4970.0	118	1970	1992	19-41	692	685	242	60	3	287	250	.534	0	4632	2029	1830	3.31	3.19	430	20491	71	155	19	114	MIN-TEX-PIT-CLE-CAL
5	Don Sutton	2.66	3574	1343	5282.1	108	1966	1988	21-43	774	756	178	58	12	324	256	.559	5	4692	2104	1914	3.26	3.24	472	21631	102	82	21	112	LAD-HOU-MIL-OAK-CAL
6	Tom Seaver	2.62	3640	1390	4783.0	127	1967	1986	22-41	656	647	231	61	6	311	205	.603	1	3971	1674	1521	2.86	3.04	380	19369	116	76	8	126	NYM-CIN-CHW-BOS
7	Walter Johnson	2.57	3509	1363	5914.1	147	1907	1927	19-39	802	666	531	110	127	417	279	.599	34	4913	1902	1424	2.17	2.42	97	23405		205	4	154	WSH
8	Gaylord Perry	2.56	3534	1379	5350.0	117	1962	1983	23-44	777	690	303	53	33	314	265	.542	10	4938	2128	1846	3.11	3.06	399	21953	164	108	6	160	SFG-CLE-TEX-SDP-NYY-ATL-SEA-KCR
9	Steve Carlton	2.26	4136	1833	5217.2	115	1965	1988	20-43	741	709	254	55	13	329	244	.574	2	4672	2130	1864	3.22	3.15	414	21683	150	53	90	183	STL-PHI-SFG-CHW-MIN-CLE
10	Nolan Ryan	2.04	5714	2795	5386.0	112	1966	1993	19-46	807	773	222	61	13	324	292	.526	3	3923	2178	1911	3.19	2.97	321	22575	78	158	33	277	NYM-CAL-HOU-TEX

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/7/2017.

What, if anything, does that tell you about them? If something, flip it and apply it to batters.

This post is also another attempt to point out the silliness of distorting batting categories and putting into a less accurate pitching context. Two examples:
- hits per nine innings: Batting Average
- WHIP: Walks plus Hits per Innings Pitched: On Base Average.

If the relationship between BB and SO has meaning for pitchers, shouldn't it have as much for batters? In this case we're taking something that's been used for pitchers and applying it to batters.

The matrix is below and this link also contains the data and more.

Rk	Player	HR	OPS+	BB	SO	PA	AB	BB/SO	BB/PA	SO/PA	(BB+SO)/PA	AB/HR	PA/HR	SO/Outs	SO/HR	Player
1	Barry Bonds	762	182	2,558	1,539	12,606	9,847	1.6621	20.29%	12.21%	32.50%	12.9	16.5	21.96%	2.02	Barry Bonds
2	Hank Aaron	755	155	1,402	1,383	13,941	12,364	1.0137	10.06%	9.92%	19.98%	16.4	18.5	15.83%	1.83	Hank Aaron
3	Babe Ruth	714	206	2,062	1,330	10,623	8,399	1.5504	19.41%	12.52%	31.93%	11.8	14.9	23.59%	1.86	Babe Ruth
4	Alex Rodriguez	696	140	1,338	2,287	12,207	10,566	.5850	10.96%	18.74%	29.70%	15.2	17.5	30.18%	3.29	Alex Rodriguez
5	Willie Mays	660	156	1,464	1,526	12,496	10,881	.9594	11.72%	12.21%	23.93%	16.5	18.9	19.81%	2.31	Willie Mays
6	Ken Griffey	630	136	1,312	1,779	11,304	9,801	.7375	11.61%	15.74%	27.34%	15.6	17.9	24.95%	2.82	Ken Griffey
7	Jim Thome	612	147	1,747	2,548	10,313	8,422	.6856	16.94%	24.71%	41.65%	13.8	16.9	41.30%	4.16	Jim Thome
8	Sammy Sosa	609	128	929	2,306	9,896	8,813	.4029	9.39%	23.30%	32.69%	14.5	16.2	35.48%	3.79	Sammy Sosa
9	Albert Pujols	591	157	1,214	1,053	10,552	9,138	1.1529	11.50%	9.98%	21.48%	15.5	17.9	16.42%	1.78	Albert Pujols
10	Frank Robinson	586	154	1,420	1,532	11,742	10,006	.9269	12.09%	13.05%	25.14%	17.1	20.0	21.33%	2.61	Frank Robinson
11	Mark McGwire	583	163	1,317	1,596	7,660	6,187	.8252	17.19%	20.84%	38.03%	10.6	13.1	34.38%	2.74	Mark McGwire
12	Harmon Killebrew	573	143	1,559	1,699	9,833	8,147	.9176	15.85%	17.28%	33.13%	14.2	17.2	27.68%	2.97	Harmon Killebrew
13	Rafael Palmeiro	569	132	1,353	1,348	12,046	10,472	1.0037	11.23%	11.19%	22.42%	18.4	21.2	17.77%	2.37	Rafael Palmeiro
14	Reggie Jackson	563	139	1,375	2,597	11,418	9,864	.5295	12.04%	22.74%	34.79%	17.5	20.3	35.28%	4.61	Reggie Jackson
15	Manny Ramirez	555	154	1,329	1,813	9,774	8,244	.7330	13.60%	18.55%	32.15%	14.9	17.6	31.46%	3.27	Manny Ramirez
16	Mike Schmidt	548	147	1,507	1,883	10,062	8,352	.8003	14.98%	18.71%	33.69%	15.2	18.4	30.17%	3.44	Mike Schmidt
17	David Ortiz	541	141	1,319	1,750	10,091	8,640	.7537	13.07%	17.34%	30.41%	16.0	18.7	27.95%	3.23	David Ortiz
18	Mickey Mantle	536	172	1,733	1,710	9,907	8,102	1.0135	17.49%	17.26%	34.75%	15.1	18.5	29.75%	3.19	Mickey Mantle
19	Jimmie Foxx	534	163	1,452	1,311	9,676	8,134	1.1076	15.01%	13.55%	28.56%	15.2	18.1	23.58%	2.46	Jimmie Foxx
20	Frank Thomas	521	156	1,667	1,397	10,075	8,199	1.1933	16.55%	13.87%	30.41%	15.7	19.3	23.87%	2.68	Frank Thomas
21	Willie McCovey	521	147	1,345	1,550	9,692	8,197	.8677	13.88%	15.99%	29.87%	15.7	18.6	25.57%	2.98	Willie McCovey
22	Ted Williams	521	190	2,021	709	9,788	7,706	2.8505	20.65%	7.24%	27.89%	14.8	18.8	13.96%	1.36	Ted Williams
23	Ernie Banks	512	122	763	1,236	10,394	9,421	.6173	7.34%	11.89%	19.23%	18.4	20.3	17.71%	2.41	Ernie Banks
24	Eddie Mathews	512	143	1,444	1,487	10,100	8,537	.9711	14.30%	14.72%	29.02%	16.7	19.7	23.54%	2.90	Eddie Mathews
25	Mel Ott	511	155	1,708	896	11,348	9,456	1.9063	15.05%	7.90%	22.95%	18.5	22.2	13.40%	1.75	Mel Ott
26	Gary Sheffield	509	140	1,475	1,171	10,947	9,217	1.2596	13.47%	10.70%	24.17%	18.1	21.5	17.61%	2.30	Gary Sheffield
27	Eddie Murray	504	129	1,333	1,516	12,817	11,336	.8793	10.40%	11.83%	22.23%	22.5	25.4	18.46%	3.01	Eddie Murray
28	Fred McGriff	493	134	1,305	1,882	10,174	8,757	.6934	12.83%	18.50%	31.32%	17.8	20.6	29.68%	3.82	Fred McGriff
29	Lou Gehrig	493	179	1,508	790	9,663	8,001	1.9089	15.61%	8.18%	23.78%	16.2	19.6	14.67%	1.60	Lou Gehrig
Rk	Player	HR	OPS+	BB	SO	PA	AB	BB/SO	BB/PA	SO/PA	(BB+SO)/PA	AB/HR	PA/HR	SO/Outs	SO/HR	Player
	Min	493	122	763	709	7,660	6,187	.4029	7.34%	7.24%	19.23%	10.6	13.1	13.40%	1.36	Min
	Max	762	206	2,558	2,597	13,941	12,364	2.8505	20.65%	24.71%	41.65%	22.5	25.4	41.30%	4.61	Max
	Average	576	152	1,481	1,573	10,729	9,076	1.0520	13.95%	14.85%	28.80%	15.9	18.8	24.39%	2.74	Average

Somewhat surprising is that Ted Williams has the best BB/SO ratio. Barry Bonds might have seemed likely because of all the BB he drew late in his career. But Williams has the astonishing 2.85 ratio: 2,021 BB and only 709 SO. If you're OK with best, then you should be OK with worst: Sammy Sosa .4029. As mentioned in the previous post, Mantle and Aaron are almost dead even; each had just a few more BB than SO.

In 1928 Babe Ruth became the career leader in SO, finishing the season with 919. Ruth retired in 1935 with 1,330, the record through 1963. The 1964 season increased the total for Mickey Mantle to 1,348; Mantle retired in 1968 with 1,770 SO. Mantle was the career SO leader through 1977 when Willie Stargell passed him. Stargell was the leader through 1981 when he had 1,912. Stargell played in 1982 and had 24 more SO but he was passed by Reggie Jackson, who finished 1982 with 1,966. Jackson retired after 1987 with 2,597 SO, which is still the record.

In 1930 Ruth passed Eddie Collins (1,499) for most career BB; Ruth had 1,566. Ruth retired with 2,062. Rickey Henderson passed Ruth in 2001 with 2,141 and retired in 2003 with 2,190. In 2004 Barry Bonds reached 2,302 and retired in 2007 with 2,558.

So Ruth had the career records:
SO: 1928-1963
BB: 1930-2000.

Ruth's BB/SO ratio was 1.55, about 1.5 BB for every SO.

Mickey Mantle passed Ruth in SO and had just a few more BB than SO, almost the exact same ratio as Hank Aaron: 1.037.

Let's consider those three batters.

Despite having many more SO than Aaron in many fewer AB, Mantle's lead in BB gives him the edge.

BB/PA:
Aaron 10.06%
Mantle 17.49%
Ruth 19.41%

          SO/PA    SO/Outs:
Aaron 9.92%    15.83%
Mantle 17.76% 29.75%
Ruth 12.25%    23.59%

So, Aaron's SO rate is better than Mantle or Ruth. However, his 10% BB rate hurts him. Aaron and Mantle have BA that are pretty close to each other but Ruth is well ahead of them. Here's how their BB impact their overall On Base Average:

            BA    OBA:
Aaron  .305    .374
Mantle .298    .421
Ruth    .342    .474

So, Aaron having fewer SO and a better SO rate does not make up for the sheer number of BB that Mantle and Ruth have. And Ruth also has a BB/SO rate of about 1.5 compared to about 1 for both Aaron and Mantle.

Comments on some other stats (bold = maximum, red = minimum):

Ernie Banks is Mr. Cub but Ernie takes a pounding in these numbers. Banks has minimum: OPS+, BB, BB/PA, (BB+SO)/PA. Being minimum in (BB+SO)/PA is a positive. It means that Banks put the ball in play a high percentage of the time.

Conversely, Jim Thome has max for negative stats: SO, SO/PA, (BB+SO)/PA, SO/Outs (41.30%), SO/HR.

The best SO/Outs: Mel Ott 13.40%.

Barry Bonds has the most HR and BB but does not lead in any rates.

Mark McGwire has good minimums: PA, AB, AB/HR, PA/HR.

Ted Williams has good minimums BB, SO/PA, SO/HR; and good maximums BB/SO and SO/PA.

The only maximum for Ruth is OPS+, which is the best to have among these stats.