Batting Average (BA): should Barry Bonds have qualified the two times he led the league?

This is not piling on Barry Bonds. It's an extension of an issue that's been examined in recent posts.

The equation for Batting Average (BA) is Hits divided by At Bats (AB). The criteria, however, is Plate Appearances (PA). This is baseball, where logic usually falls victim to ... The current qualifier is 502 PA.

It would seem reasonable to make the qualifying criteria either Hits or AB. Maybe a combination. But let's look at the National League (NL) in 2002 and 2004 when Barry Bonds walked a ridiculous number of times, even without Buck Showalter ordering him walked with the bases loaded. We'll use the number of Hits and AB Bonds had in 2004 as the minimum and see how many batters qualify in 2004. That's when Bonds broke his 2002 record of 198 BB with 232 BB in 2004.

2004:

135 Hits: 64 batters qualify https://stathead.com/tiny/CCdFu

Rk	Player	H	BA	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Juan Pierre	221	.326	2004	26	FLA	NL	162	748	678	100	22	12	3	49	45	1	35	8	15	2	9	45	24	.374	.407	.781	*8
2	Mark Loretta	208	.335	2004	32	SDP	NL	154	707	620	108	47	2	16	76	58	3	45	9	4	16	10	5	3	.391	.495	.886	*4
3	Jack Wilson	201	.308	2004	26	PIT	NL	157	693	652	82	41	12	11	59	26	0	71	3	7	5	15	8	4	.335	.459	.794	*6/H
4	Adrian Beltre	200	.334	2004	25	LAD	NL	156	657	598	104	32	0	48	121	53	9	87	2	0	4	15	7	2	.388	.629	1.017	*5/6H
5	Albert Pujols	196	.331	2004	24	STL	NL	154	692	592	133	51	2	46	123	84	12	52	7	0	9	21	5	5	.415	.657	1.072	*3/DH

60	Endy Chavez	139	.277	2004	26	MON	NL	132	547	502	65	20	6	5	34	30	0	40	1	12	2	6	32	7	.318	.371	.688	*8/H
61	Jim Thome	139	.274	2004	33	PHI	NL	143	618	508	97	28	1	42	105	104	26	144	2	0	4	10	0	2	.396	.581	.977	*3/DH
62	Milton Bradley	138	.267	2004	26	LAD	NL	141	597	516	72	24	0	19	67	71	3	123	6	3	1	12	15	11	.362	.424	.786	897/H
63	Chad Tracy	137	.285	2004	24	ARI	NL	143	532	481	45	29	3	8	53	45	3	60	0	1	5	11	2	3	.343	.407	.750	*53H/7
64	Barry Bonds	135	.362	2004	39	SFG	NL	147	617	373	129	27	3	45	101	232	120	41	9	0	3	5	6	1	.609	.812	1.422	*7/HD

Rk	Player	H	BA ▼	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Barry Bonds	135	.362	2004	39	SFG	NL	147	617	373	129	27	3	45	101	232	120	41	9	0	3	5	6	1	.609	.812	1.422	*7/HD
2	Todd Helton	190	.347	2004	30	COL	NL	154	683	547	115	49	2	32	96	127	19	72	3	0	6	12	3	0	.469	.620	1.088	*3/H
3	Mark Loretta	208	.335	2004	32	SDP	NL	154	707	620	108	47	2	16	76	58	3	45	9	4	16	10	5	3	.391	.495	.886	*4
4	Adrian Beltre	200	.334	2004	25	LAD	NL	156	657	598	104	32	0	48	121	53	9	87	2	0	4	15	7	2	.388	.629	1.017	*5/6H
5	Albert Pujols	196	.331	2004	24	STL	NL	154	692	592	133	51	2	46	123	84	12	52	7	0	9	21	5	5	.415	.657	1.072	*3/DH
6	Juan Pierre	221	.326	2004	26	FLA	NL	162	748	678	100	22	12	3	49	45	1	35	8	15	2	9	45	24	.374	.407	.781	*8

Five had fewer than the required 502 PA:

60	Scott Rolen	157	.314	2004	29	STL	NL	142	593	500	109	32	4	34	124	72	5	92	13	1	7	8	4	3	.409	.598	1.007	*5
61	Jim Edmonds	150	.301	2004	34	STL	NL	153	612	498	102	38	3	42	111	101	12	150	5	0	8	4	8	3	.418	.643	1.061	*8/H3D
62	Chad Tracy	137	.285	2004	24	ARI	NL	143	532	481	45	29	3	8	53	45	3	60	0	1	5	11	2	3	.343	.407	.750	*53H/7
63	Johnny Estrada	145	.314	2004	28	ATL	NL	134	517	462	56	36	0	9	76	39	7	66	11	1	4	18	0	0	.378	.450	.828	*2H
64	Barry Bonds	135	.362	2004	39	SFG	NL	147	617	373	129	27	3	45	101	232	120	41	9	0	3	5	6	1	.609	.812	1.422	*7/HD

373 AB: 107 batters qualify https://stathead.com/tiny/D6hua

Rk	Player	AB	H	BA	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	R	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Juan Pierre	678	221	.326	2004	26	FLA	NL	162	748	100	22	12	3	49	45	1	35	8	15	2	9	45	24	.374	.407	.781	*8
2	Cesar Izturis	670	193	.288	2004	24	LAD	NL	159	728	90	32	9	4	62	43	2	70	0	12	3	6	25	9	.330	.381	.710	*6
3	Jimmy Rollins	657	190	.289	2004	25	PHI	NL	154	725	119	43	12	14	73	57	3	73	3	6	2	4	30	9	.348	.455	.803	*6
4	Jack Wilson	652	201	.308	2004	26	PIT	NL	157	693	82	41	12	11	59	26	0	71	3	7	5	15	8	4	.335	.459	.794	*6/H
5	Scott Podsednik	640	156	.244	2004	28	MIL	NL	154	713	85	27	7	12	39	58	2	105	7	6	1	7	70	13	.313	.364	.677	*8/H

103	Jose Castillo	383	98	.256	2004	23	PIT	NL	129	414	44	15	2	8	39	23	5	92	1	5	2	12	3	2	.298	.368	.666	*4/H6
104	Neifi Perez	381	97	.255	2004	31	TOT	NL	126	420	40	17	1	4	39	24	3	41	0	11	4	8	1	1	.296	.336	.632	64H/5
105	Marcus Giles	379	118	.311	2004	26	ATL	NL	102	434	61	22	2	8	48	36	0	70	9	3	7	6	17	4	.378	.443	.821	*4/H
106	Luis Gonzalez	379	98	.259	2004	36	ARI	NL	105	451	69	28	5	17	48	68	11	58	2	0	2	9	2	2	.373	.493	.866	*7/HD
107	Barry Bonds	373	135	.362	2004	39	SFG	NL	147	617	129	27	3	45	101	232	120	41	9	0	3	5	6	1	.609	.812	1.422	*7/HD

Rk	Player	AB	H	BA ▼	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	R	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Barry Bonds	373	135	.362	2004	39	SFG	NL	147	617	129	27	3	45	101	232	120	41	9	0	3	5	6	1	.609	.812	1.422	*7/HD
2	Todd Helton	547	190	.347	2004	30	COL	NL	154	683	115	49	2	32	96	127	19	72	3	0	6	12	3	0	.469	.620	1.088	*3/H
3	Mark Loretta	620	208	.335	2004	32	SDP	NL	154	707	108	47	2	16	76	58	3	45	9	4	16	10	5	3	.391	.495	.886	*4
4	Adrian Beltre	598	200	.334	2004	25	LAD	NL	156	657	104	32	0	48	121	53	9	87	2	0	4	15	7	2	.388	.629	1.017	*5/6H
5	Albert Pujols	592	196	.331	2004	24	STL	NL	154	692	133	51	2	46	123	84	12	52	7	0	9	21	5	5	.415	.657	1.072	*3/DH

83 of the 107 had the required 502 PA.

2002:

Rk	Player	BA	H	AB	PA	BB	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	R	2B	3B	HR	RBI	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Barry Bonds	.370	149	403	612	198	2002	37	SFG	NL	143	117	31	2	46	110	68	47	9	0	2	4	9	2	.582	.799	1.381	*7/DH
2	Larry Walker	.338	161	477	553	65	2002	35	COL	NL	136	95	40	4	26	104	6	73	7	0	4	8	6	5	.421	.602	1.023	*9/HD
3	Vladimir Guerrero	.336	206	614	709	84	2002	27	MON	NL	161	106	37	2	39	111	32	70	6	0	5	20	40	20	.417	.593	1.010	*9
4	Todd Helton	.329	182	553	668	99	2002	28	COL	NL	156	107	39	4	30	109	21	91	5	0	10	10	5	1	.429	.577	1.006	*3
5	Chipper Jones	.327	179	548	662	107	2002	30	ATL	NL	158	90	35	1	26	100	23	89	2	0	5	18	8	2	.435	.536	.972	*7/H