Rankings of Negro League players should consider that Negro League data is not complete. Research is still ongoing and we’ll continue to publish updates as more information becomes available. More about data coverage

Negro American League Batting Leaders

Wins Above Replacement--all
1. LaMarque • KCM 3.9
2. Brown • KCM 2.6
3. Newberry • BBB 2.1
4. Powell • BBB 2.1
Thompson • KCM 2.1
6. Wilson • BBB 2.0
7. Davis • BBB 1.7
8. Smith • KCM 1.5
9. Clarke • CBE 1.4
10. Steele • BBB 1.2
WAR Position Players
1. Brown • KCM 2.6
2. Thompson • KCM 2.1
3. Wilson • BBB 2.0
4. Davis • BBB 1.7
5. Steele • BBB 1.2
6. Boyd • MRS 1.1
7. Hairston • IC 0.9
8. Taborn • KCM 0.9
9. Souell • KCM 0.8
10. LaMarque • KCM 0.7
Strong • IC 0.7
Offensive WAR
1. Brown • KCM 2.7
2. Wilson • BBB 1.9
3. Thompson • KCM 1.8
4. Steele • BBB 1.3
5. Davis • BBB 1.2
6. Boyd • MRS 1.2
7. Hairston • IC 0.9
8. LaMarque • KCM 0.7
9. Taborn • KCM 0.7
10. Neil • IC 0.6
Defensive WAR
1. Davis • BBB 0.6
2. Souell • KCM 0.4
3. Reynolds • CBE 0.3
4. Merchant • IC 0.3
5. Strong • IC 0.3
6. Wilson • BBB 0.3
Taborn • KCM 0.3
8. Zapp • BBB 0.2
9. Pérez • IC 0.2
10. Trouppe • CAG 0.2
Batting Average
1. Wilson • BBB .433
2. Brown • KCM .408
3. Davis • BBB .393
4. Steele • BBB .357
5. Hairston • IC .357
6. Thompson • KCM .337
7. Neil • IC .327
8. Ware • CBE .322
9. Grace • CBE .313
10. Renfroe • CBE .306
On-Base%
1. Wilson • BBB .500
2. Steele • BBB .488
3. Brown • KCM .477
4. Davis • BBB .444
5. Thompson • KCM .431
6. Hairston • IC .431
7. Scott • KCM .398
8. Cooper • KCM .387
9. Taborn • KCM .387
10. Scott • BBB .379
Slugging %
1. Brown • KCM .684
2. Wilson • BBB .592
3. Thompson • KCM .554
4. Steele • BBB .551
5. Davis • BBB .533
6. Neil • IC .469
7. Scott • BBB .460
8. Hairston • IC .435
9. Baker • KCM .425
10. Ware • CBE .425
On-Base Plus Slugging
1. Brown • KCM 1.161
2. Wilson • BBB 1.092
3. Steele • BBB 1.039
4. Thompson • KCM .986
5. Davis • BBB .977
6. Hairston • IC .866
7. Neil • IC .841
8. Scott • BBB .838
9. Scott • KCM .798
10. Ware • CBE .798
Games Played
1. Thompson • KCM 47
2. Baker • KCM 46
Brown • KCM 46
Roberts • KCM 46
Souell • KCM 46
6. Taborn • KCM 44
7. Scott • KCM 33
8. Hairston • IC 31
Cooper • KCM 31
10. Britton • BBB 29
Robinson • BBB 29
Steele • BBB 29
Wilson • BBB 29
At Bats
1. Souell • KCM 196
2. Baker • KCM 181
3. Roberts • KCM 180
4. Thompson • KCM 175
5. Brown • KCM 174
6. Taborn • KCM 147
7. Britton • BBB 128
8. Wilson • BBB 120
9. Hairston • IC 115
10. Robinson • BBB 111
Plate Appearances
1. Souell • KCM 211
2. Thompson • KCM 206
3. Baker • KCM 200
4. Brown • KCM 197
5. Roberts • KCM 196
6. Taborn • KCM 170
7. Wilson • BBB 136
8. Britton • BBB 134
9. Hairston • IC 131
10. Scott • KCM 129
Runs Scored
1. Thompson • KCM 50
2. Brown • KCM 43
3. Souell • KCM 41
4. Baker • KCM 39
5. Wilson • BBB 31
6. Steele • BBB 27
7. Davis • BBB 25
Hairston • IC 25
Roberts • KCM 25
10. Scott • KCM 24
Hits
1. Brown • KCM 71
2. Thompson • KCM 59
3. Souell • KCM 56
4. Wilson • BBB 52
5. Baker • KCM 45
6. Roberts • KCM 44
Taborn • KCM 44
8. Davis • BBB 42
9. Hairston • IC 41
10. Steele • BBB 35
Total Bases
1. Brown • KCM 119
2. Thompson • KCM 97
3. Souell • KCM 82
4. Baker • KCM 77
5. Wilson • BBB 71
6. Davis • BBB 57
7. Roberts • KCM 56
8. Steele • BBB 54
Taborn • KCM 54
10. Hairston • IC 50
Doubles
1. Brown • KCM 23
2. Thompson • KCM 13
3. Roberts • KCM 10
Taborn • KCM 10
5. Baker • KCM 9
6. Davis • BBB 8
Souell • KCM 8
8. Boyd • MRS 7
Wilson • BBB 7
10. Scott • KCM 6
Neil • IC 6
Steele • BBB 6
Britton • BBB 6
Triples
1. Baker • KCM 7
2. Wilson • BBB 6
Souell • KCM 6
4. Thompson • KCM 5
5. Howard • KCM 3
Cooper • KCM 3
Robinson • BBB 3
Hyde • MRS 3
9. Colás • MRS 2
Brown • KCM 2
Mesa • IC 2
Ware • CBE 2
Renfroe • CBE 2
Minor • CBE 2
Jethroe • CBE 2
Grace • CBE 2
Miles • CAG 2
McNeal • CAG 2
Steele • BBB 2
Scott • BBB 2
Davis • BBB 2
Home Runs
1. Brown • KCM 7
2. Thompson • KCM 5
3. Scott • BBB 3
Steele • BBB 3
Baker • KCM 3
6. Greene • CBE 2
Neil • IC 2
Souell • KCM 2
Harris • CBE 2
Perry • BBB 2
Miles • CAG 2
Zapp • BBB 2
Runs Batted In
1. Brown • KCM 54
2. Thompson • KCM 29
3. Baker • KCM 28
4. Scott • KCM 23
Taborn • KCM 23
6. Souell • KCM 22
7. Robinson • BBB 21
8. Britton • BBB 20
Roberts • KCM 20
10. Steele • BBB 18
Bases on Balls
1. Thompson • KCM 27
2. Brown • KCM 22
3. Taborn • KCM 21
4. Steele • BBB 20
5. Cooper • KCM 16
Scott • KCM 16
7. Baker • KCM 15
Hairston • IC 15
Wilson • BBB 15
10. Roberts • KCM 14
Souell • KCM 14
Stolen Bases
1. Thompson • KCM 12
2. Brown • KCM 8
3. Scott • KCM 7
Steele • BBB 7
5. Davis • BBB 6
Souell • KCM 6
Wilson • BBB 6
8. Baker • KCM 5
Jethroe • CBE 5
Roberts • KCM 5
Boyd • MRS 5
Robinson • BBB 5
Singles
1. Souell • KCM 40
2. Wilson • BBB 39
Brown • KCM 39
4. Thompson • KCM 36
5. Hairston • IC 35
6. Taborn • KCM 34
7. Roberts • KCM 33
8. Davis • BBB 31
9. Baker • KCM 26
10. Cooper • KCM 25
Scott • KCM 25
Adjusted OPS+
1. Brown • KCM 208
2. Wilson • BBB 191
3. Steele • BBB 178
4. Thompson • KCM 162
5. Davis • BBB 161
6. Hairston • IC 132
7. Neil • IC 124
8. Scott • BBB 124
9. Scott • KCM 114
10. Ware • CBE 113
Runs Created
1. Brown • KCM 56
2. Thompson • KCM 41
3. Wilson • BBB 35
4. Souell • KCM 27
5. Davis • BBB 25
Boyd • MRS 25
Steele • BBB 25
8. Baker • KCM 24
9. Hairston • IC 22
10. Taborn • KCM 21
Adj. Batting Runs
1. Brown • KCM 28
2. Thompson • KCM 16
3. Wilson • BBB 16
4. Boyd • MRS 13
5. Steele • BBB 13
6. Davis • BBB 9
7. Hairston • IC 6
8. Colás • MRS 5
9. Trouppe • CAG 4
10. Wells • MRS 3
Adj. Batting Wins
1. Brown • KCM 2.5
2. Thompson • KCM 1.5
3. Wilson • BBB 1.5
4. Steele • BBB 1.2
5. Boyd • MRS 1.2
6. Davis • BBB 0.9
7. Hairston • IC 0.6
8. Colás • MRS 0.5
9. Trouppe • CAG 0.3
10. Wells • MRS 0.3
Scott • KCM 0.3
LaMarque • KCM 0.3
Neil • IC 0.3
Scott • BBB 0.3
Extra Base Hits
1. Brown • KCM 32
2. Thompson • KCM 23
3. Baker • KCM 19
4. Souell • KCM 16
5. Wilson • BBB 13
6. Roberts • KCM 11
Davis • BBB 11
Steele • BBB 11
9. Taborn • KCM 10
10. Howard • KCM 9
Neil • IC 9
Boyd • MRS 9
Scott • BBB 9
Times On Base
1. Brown • KCM 94
2. Thompson • KCM 88
3. Souell • KCM 71
4. Wilson • BBB 68
5. Taborn • KCM 65
6. Steele • BBB 60
Baker • KCM 60
8. Roberts • KCM 58
9. Hairston • IC 56
10. Davis • BBB 52
Offensive Win %
1. Brown • KCM .871
2. Wilson • BBB .858
3. Steele • BBB .791
4. Davis • BBB .781
5. Thompson • KCM .748
6. Hairston • IC .685
7. Neil • IC .620
8. Ware • CBE .588
9. Scott • KCM .557
10. Scott • BBB .553
Hit By Pitch
1. Steele • BBB 5
2. Davis • BBB 3
Scott • BBB 3
Kellman • CBE 3
Jethroe • CBE 3
6. Pigg • IC 2
Newberry • BBB 2
Thompson • KCM 2
Scott • KCM 2
Harris • CBE 2
Rodríguez • CAG 2
Sacrifice Hits
1. Tatum • IC 4
Renfroe • CBE 4
Baker • KCM 4
Cooper • KCM 4
5. Bell • BBB 3
Merchant • IC 3
7. Robinson • BBB 2
Ferrer • IC 2
Neil • IC 2
Britton • BBB 2
Newberry • BBB 2
Grace • CBE 2
LaMarque • KCM 2
Roberts • KCM 2
Taborn • KCM 2
Thompson • KCM 2
Power-Speed #
1. Brown • KCM 7.5
2. Thompson • KCM 7.1
3. Steele • BBB 4.2
4. Baker • KCM 3.8
5. Souell • KCM 3.0
6. Scott • KCM 1.8
7. Davis • BBB 1.7
8. Jethroe • CBE 1.7
Boyd • MRS 1.7
10. Hairston • IC 1.6
AB per HR
1. Brown • KCM 24.9
2. Scott • BBB 29.0
3. Steele • BBB 32.7
4. Thompson • KCM 35.0
5. Neil • IC 49.0
6. Baker • KCM 60.3
7. Howard • KCM 80.0
8. Souell • KCM 98.0
9. Davis • BBB 107.0
Cooper • KCM 107.0
Outs Made
1. Baker • KCM 140
Souell • KCM 140
3. Roberts • KCM 138
4. Thompson • KCM 118
5. Taborn • KCM 105
6. Brown • KCM 103
7. Britton • BBB 99
8. Robinson • BBB 84
9. Cooper • KCM 80
10. Scott • KCM 78

A ** by the stat's value indicates the player had fewer than the required number of at bats or plate appearances for the BA, OBP, SLG or OPS title that year. In order to rank the player, the necessary number of hitless at bats were added to the player's season total. The value printed here is their actual value and not the value used to rank them, therefore some numbers may appear out of order.

For batting rate stats, generally a minimum of 3.1 Plate Appearances/G, 1.0 IP/G, 0.67 Gm and Chances/Team Game (fielding), 0.2 SB att/Team Game (catchers), and 0.1 SB att/Team Game (baserunners only since 1951), and 0.1 decision/G for single-season leaderboards generally needed for rate statistics. For pitcher fielding the minimums are reduced by a third. For LF, CF, RF fielding stats, we only have reliable data since 1901, so all leaders are since 1901. Explanation of min. requirements

More 1948 Negro American League Pages

1948 NAL Season

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