Runs produced

Runs produced is a statistic that calculates the number of runs for which a player is directly responsible. It is calculated by adding runs scored and runs batted in, and subtracting home runs (i.e. RP = R + RBI — HR). The logic behind that last operation is that home runs would otherwise be counted twice, thereby giving too much credit to home run hitters.

Runs produced was first introduced to a wide readership by Sports Illustrated in 1956 and were used in the magazine's baseball coverage over the following decade. Its purpose was to highlight the more complete players in baseball, who are adept at both scoring and driving in runs. Its originator was Bob Creamer, who was one of the main baseball writers at Sports Illustrated at the time. As Creamer put it: "while hitters who win batting titles and home run championships get the publicity, the most valuable players tend to be the ones who who ar at or near the top in runs produced."

Runs produced lost popularity as other less crude measures of offensive performance were developed in the 1970s, such as linear weights, total average or runs created (see Sabermetrics). The statistic has now been totally eclipsed, but for all its crudeness, the leaderboard for runs produced usually matches well with that of more sophisticated statistics.

Bill James talked about the statistic and its inadequacies in one of his Baseball Abstracts: it penalizes players who play for poor teams and who, as a result, have to bear a larger share of the offensive burden by themselves, and it completely ignores the contributions of players other than the one collecting the run or RBI. For example, if player A walks, goes to third on a double by player B, and scores on a ground out by player C, both A and C get credit for a run produced, while B, who did the yeoman's work, gets nothing. The same complaint could be made regarding RBI and runs.

Firther Reading

• Herm Krabbenhoft: "Who Invented Runs produced ?", in The Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Number 38, Volume 1 (Summer 2009), pp. 135-138.